{"id":561812,"date":"2026-04-03T08:17:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/561812\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T08:17:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:17:08","slug":"boy-meets-world-star-danielle-fishel-admits-body-shaming-nearly-ended-her-on-camera-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/561812\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Boy Meets World\u2019 star Danielle Fishel admits body-shaming nearly ended her on-camera career"},"content":{"rendered":"

Danielle Fishel \u2014 who famously portrayed Topanga Lawrence in the beloved \u201990s series \u201cBoy Meets World\u201d<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 faced significant body image struggles during the height of the show\u2019s success.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a new interview, Fishel opened up about navigating life as a child star and explained how her years of insecurities nearly ended her on-camera career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was aware, even if nobody said it to me directly . . . that as far as the people in power were concerned, my body was a problem,\u201d Fishel, 44, said in an interview with\u00a0Us Weekly<\/a>. \u201cI remember around the time of [1998\u2019s] prom episode being aware that they didn\u2019t want me wearing something sleeveless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toward the end of the series, Fishel felt she was \u201cno longer attractive,\u201d because she had put on weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just so did not want to be there; I was uncomfortable on set every day,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was this feeling that I was no longer attractive, because I had gained weight. I just wanted to be anywhere other than on set. I was probably a curmudgeon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danielle Fishel attends iHeartRadio 102.7 KIIS FM\u2019s Jingle Ball on December 05, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Getty Images for iHeartRadio<\/p>\n

During the show\u2019s last season, the executives addressed her weight gain in one episode titled, \u201cShe\u2019s Having My Baby Back Ribs.\u201d In the episode, Topanga pretends to be pregnant as she struggles with body insecurities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, watching back, Fishel said those feelings of inadequacy almost ended her on-camera career moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel some cognitive dissonance because I\u2019m aware that what my eyes are seeing doesn\u2019t match up with the way I feel watching,\u201d she admitted. \u201cIt just doesn\u2019t feel good. The season 7 episodes are tainted with the feeling of incredible insecurity and fear of being on camera, which was hard for me to shake and probably why I didn\u2019t really want to go forward with a career on camera.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fishel and Ben Savage in a scene from \u201cBoy Meets World.\u201d \u00a9ABC\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say or do [anything] differently other than be more accepting and loving of myself,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Fishel became a household name on the hit series \u201cBoy Meets World,\u201d starring as Topanga Lawrence<\/a>. She landed the role at age 12 and starred in the show for seven years.<\/p>\n

The former child star, who recently competed on \u201cDancing with the Stars,\u201d<\/a> previously spoke about how her loved ones kept her grounded in Hollywood, despite her childhood fame.<\/p>\n

Pasha Pashkov and Fishel performing on \u201cDancing with the Stars.\u201d Disney via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family is the thing that keeps me grounded,\u201d the \u201cBoy Meets World\u201d star told Fox News Digital, while standing next to her dance partner Pasha Pashkov<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family didn\u2019t need me to have a job, but they allowed me to have a job, because I wanted it. And because of that, they then made sure I still came home from work and picked up the dog poop in the backyard,\u201d the actress said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery morning I still had to make my bed, and they never let me go to like, you know, teen nightclubs,\u201d Fishel explained.<\/p>\n

Fishel attends SiriusXM and Pandora PopRocks: The Holidays on December 09, 2025 in New York City. Getty Images for SiriusXM<\/p>\n

The star said\u00a0her mom told her, \u201c\u2018If you don\u2019t want to do this anymore, you just say the word, and I will whip this car around so fast your head will spin.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Fishel explained that her mom\u2019s advice would always come to mind when she started taking things for granted.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom would remind me that this was, at one time, a dream for me. And if it no longer becomes a dream, then let it go.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I would think to myself, \u2018Is this still a dream? No, it\u2019s still a dream.\u2019 And you just keep going,\u201d the actress said.<\/p>\n

During her time on \u201cDWTS,\u201d Fishel said she was feeling \u201ccomfortable in my body, more like I kind of know what I\u2019m doing, more familiar with just the space and what the days and nights are like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy confidence has definitely grown each week,\u201d despite how difficult the choreography can be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Danielle Fishel \u2014 who famously portrayed Topanga Lawrence in the beloved \u201990s series \u201cBoy Meets World\u201d\u00a0\u2014 faced significant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[36060,58635,110326,44210,88,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-561812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-body-image","9":"tag-body-shaming","10":"tag-boy-meets-world","11":"tag-danielle-fishel","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=561812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}