Danielle Fishel Expresses Frustration Over Fat Jokes in Boy Meets World

Danielle Fishel recently admitted she felt “so uncomfortable” during an episode of Boy Meets World that focused on her character Topanga’s weight.

“When I joined the show at 12, I weighed 94 pounds, and now at 19, I’m around 115 or so—I’ve gained that weight,” Fishel, 45, shared on the May 7 episode of her “Pod Meets World” podcast, reflecting on how she felt reading scripts that mocked her character’s supposed weight gain. “As an actor, my body is a part of my instrument, and it’s my responsibility.”

Fishel was particularly conscious of her body during the season 7 episode titled “She’s Having My Baby Back Ribs,” where Topanga goes on a diet after finding it hard to button her pants. Her husband, Cory Matthews (Ben Savage), mistakenly believes his college student wife is pregnant.

“I think I understood why some parts were funny, but I still found myself asking, ‘If it’s funny, why am I taking it so personally?’” she reminisced. “During the wardrobe fitting for these jeans, they were either a size 26 or 27, which translates to a 2 or a 4. I couldn’t help but feel like, ‘I’m huge, I’m fat, I’m disgusting.’”

She went on, “I understood that a size four is often seen as borderline emaciated by most American women, yet we’re creating an entire episode based on the idea that this size four woman is extremely concerned about her weight, which infuriated me.”

As she filmed the scene where her pants wouldn’t close, Fishel became increasingly aware of the message the show was sending to its female viewers regarding their own body images.

“I was not happy at all,” the actress expressed.

Fishel’s podcast cohost Will Friedle also pointed out that the plotline originated when the two were “pulled into an office” by network executives. (Friedle’s character, Eric Matthews, also goes on a diet in this episode.)

“To protect ourselves, we both quickly chose to laugh it off, saying, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be fine, it’s going to be great,’” Friedle, 49, recounted on Thursday’s episode. “The alternative would have been sheer misery. So, we focused on the jokes because that was our only option.”

Upon rewatching the episode, Friedle also noticed how frequently people touched Topanga’s stomach during the scenes. This felt increasingly “uncomfortable” for both him and Fishel.

“I never connected the dots until now. I dislike anyone touching my stomach… even my husband,” Fishel shared about her spouse, Jensen Karp. “Even if he just rests his arm near my waist or stomach, no matter how fit I am, I want him to ‘Get your hand off my stomach.’ I wonder if this goes back to this episode.”