Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel describes the shocking ‘sexualization’ she faced as a teen actress – revealing men joked about the countdown to her 18th birthday, while a male exec on the show told her he saw an image of her at 16 age in his BEDROOM
- The actress was only 12 years old when she joined the cast of the ABC sitcom
- She talked about her experience on an episode of the Pod Meets World podcast
- Danielle, now 42, has only recently come to terms with the impact of being sexualised
Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel shared that she was constantly sexualized as a teenager while appearing on the hit show – revealing that a male manager once told her he was counting down the days until she turned 18.
The actress, who was just 12 years old when she joined the cast of the ABC sitcom, spoke about her experience on a recent episode of the Pod Meets World podcast.
The now 42-year-old co-hosts the show with her former co-stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle as a way to discuss memories of their time together on set.
She revealed how a male manager on the show confessed to “counting down” to her 18th birthday — adding that she had only recently come to terms with how being sexualized from a young age had affected her.
Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel (pictured on set in 1994) has opened up about being constantly sexualized as a teenager after appearing on screen
The actress, who was just 12 years old when she joined the cast of the ABC sitcom (pictured), spoke about her experience on a recent episode of the Pod Meets World podcast
In the latest episode, the hosts were joined by special guests Ceej and TJ, who have their own Bruh Meets World podcast.
The trio were asked what it was like to be ‘an object of desire at such a young age’, and how it affected their ‘dating life and sexuality’ – all had joined the cast as young guests.
Danielle gave the most poignant answer when she revealed, “As a kid, I always wanted to be older. I always wanted to be an adult, I wanted to be seen as an adult and thus get adult male attention as a teenage girl… I didn’t think it was scary or weird.
“It felt like it was an affirmation that I was mature and mature and capable and that they saw me for who I was, not because of the number on a page. And in hindsight that is completely wrong.’
She continued, “I’ve always been able to carry on a conversation with an adult. I can look you in the eye, I’ve always been all those things, but in the sense of a romantic, masculine look, I shouldn’t have talked about me when I was 14, 15, 16 years old.”
More shockingly, Danielle explained, “Even directly to me, people told me they had my 18th birthday on their calendar.”
She further revealed that a man who worked on the show joked to her that he had a calendar for which she had posed in his bedroom at the age of 16.
‘I had a male supervisor, I did a calendar [shoot] at age 16, and he specifically told me he had a certain calendar month in his bedroom,” she shared.
“And at that point, my first thought was kind of like ‘oh,’ but the immediate thought after that was, ‘Yeah, because we’re peers and this is how you relate to peers.'”
The now 42-year-old co-hosts the show with her former co-stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle as a way to discuss their memories of their time together on set.
Both Rider and Will also shared how they were also left uncomfortable on the Boy Meets World set as teenagers
She said she only started to process how sexualization had affected her in the last few years, when she was able to look back and “connect the dots.”
The star also said she struggled to set boundaries throughout the experience and shied away from setting “expectations” about how she should be treated.
Danielle had previously revealed how she was caught by a grown man posing as a young girl in an attempt to talk to her on a regular basis.
But the situation escalated after the man showed up at her school and told others he was there to pick her up.
Both Rider and Will also shared how they were also left uncomfortable on the Boy Meets World set as teenagers.
They discussed how it was “completely normal” to hear the adults involved talk about their sex lives and discussed “how horny the guest stars are.”
The series, which ran for seven series between 1993 and 2000, chronicles the life of Cory Matthews – and his friends – as he endured the trials and tribulations of growing up.