Danielle Fishel recalled her and “Boy Meets World” co-star Will Friedle’s weight gain becoming a storyline on the hit ’90s sitcom.
On the latest episode of the pair’s “Pod Meets World” podcast, Fishel — who played Topanga Lawrence on the series — claimed showrunners “called [her] into the office” to inform her that her extra pounds would be incorporated into an episode.
According to Fishel, 43, both she and Friedle, 48 — who played Eric Matthews on the show — were told, “Obviously, you guys have gained a little bit of weight, so we’re gonna write an episode about it, and we just wanted you to know, and here’s what it’s gonna be, and it’s gonna be really funny.”
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“Full House” star Candace Cameron Bure, who was the podcast guest, interrupted to say her jaw was “on the floor.”
“I remember that being the hardest part for me, was that meeting,” Fishel went on, “because Will was very much like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’m totally fine with it!’ Just immediately. I know now he was very insecure, and it was very painful and hurtful for him.”
The duo’s other co-host, Rider Strong — who played Shawn Hunter on “Boy Meets World” — pointed out that Friedle, who was absent for the recording, was “dying inside” despite his response.
“But I didn’t know that,” Fishel explained, adding that the conversation took her by surprise.
“For me, it was more like, ‘Oh, wow.’ No one had said anything to me about it. I had been aware that I’d gained weight, but I was still a size 4,” she said.
“I remember thinking, ‘Wow. These people think I’ve gained enough weight [that] we have to write an entire episode about my weight gain, and right now, I have to say I’m fine with it because they didn’t even present to me another alternative.'”
The actress confessed that “even if they did,” she “probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable being like, ‘Yeah, I don’t wanna do that.'”
She shared that the situation “was just in [her] head forever.”
Though Cameron Bure, 48 — who played teen D.J. Tanner on “Full House” — could relate to the ordeal, she said her ’90s sitcom’s producers approached her about it differently.
She explained she had “lost like 20 pounds from the end of one season to another,” and because they “thought it was so great,” they suggested she be “on an exercise bike” in the opening credits “to promote that.”
“Looking back, I don’t think that was bad. I mean, I really put a lot of hard work and effort into losing 20 pounds,” Cameron Bure shared, later adding, “They actually talked to my mom and dad, and they talked to me and said, ‘Would you feel comfortable if we wrote an episode like this?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, sure!'”
Though she was OK with the idea, she admittedly felt “a little awkward” doing it.
