Will Friedle has certain regrets about his Boy Meets World character Eric Matthews’ story arc.
“In season 6, they kind of just let Eric out to dry by himself,” Friedle,49, lamented on the Thursday, June 25, episode of his “Pod Meets World” recap podcast. “Yes, it was funny, but I would have given him some sort of a love interest that lasted.”
Throughout the early seasons of BMW, Eric was seen as the suave, casanova older brother of protagonist Cory Matthews (Ben Savage). After Eric went off to college, he caught feelings for roommate Rachel (Maitland Ward) despite his BFF, Jack (Matthew Lawrence), similarly having a crush on her. The show ended with Rachel and Jack getting together, while Eric remained single. (It was later revealed in Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World spinoff that Rachel and Jack eventually went their separate ways, seldom keeping in touch.)
“Maybe people are gonna think this is harsh,” Friedle pondered on the podcast episode. “Maybe the Rachel character doesn’t ever come onto the show and you bring on a girl, an actual girl or guy for Eric, that is somebody that is a regular on the series that you see him try to develop his own kind of relationship with.”
Ward, 49, joined the cast at the start of season 6 in 1998, remaining on the show until 2000. Viewers first saw her room with Eric and Jack before moving in with Angela (Trina McGee) and Topanga (Danielle Fishel).
According to Friedle, Ward’s arrival on BMW “muddled that relationship” between Eric and Jack.
“You kind of go, ‘Well, what was the point of this?’” Friedle quipped, noting that Rachel was brought in solely to be “sexy” and “stand between two guys” interested in her. “It’s no knock on Maitland’s acting, they just never gave the character anything.”
Ward, who transitioned to working in adult entertainment in the years since BMW, has recently been at odds with her former costars. She previously claimed that Fishel, 45, wouldn’t speak with her during an episode of Girl Meets World. (Fishel denied the claims.)
“I was shocked that she didn’t even … she said ‘Hello,’ that’s it. It’s just a weird kind of thing, and I wish that we could be friends and I don’t know the full reasons behind it,” Ward exclusively told Us Weekly in September 2022. “I had heard maybe she didn’t like the whole old costars on the show, the girls to come back on there or something, but I don’t know why she didn’t or doesn’t like me … we didn’t, like, have a blowout. I was expecting bear hugs like I got from the guys [Ben and Rider Strong], and [with Danielle] it was like, ‘Oh … hi.’”
As for Fishel, she stated on a February 2025 podcast episode that GMW had a “difficult set” that affected her actions. Fishel and Ward eventually cleared the air on the perceived drama, but they have not remained in touch.
“We have not spoken at all,” Ward told Fox News Digital last month. “There’s been no contact. There’s been no ill will either. There’s been no fighting or anything. It’s just, we have not spoken, those three. [We’re] in a place where we are not connected right now, and it’s sad.”
