- Boy Meets World star and podcaster Danielle Fishel is a celebrity contestant on Dancing With the Stars season 34.
- She’s still going strong in the competition, despite suffering a torn hamstring earlier in the season.
- Her Boy Meets World co-stars, Will Friedle and Rider Strong, came to her defense during an episode of their Pod Meets World podcast and accused the DWTS judges of having a “personal vendetta” against her.
We’re now eight weeks into Dancing With the Stars season 34, and actor Danielle Fishel is still going strong. However, that hasn’t stopped her Boy Meets World co-stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle from calling out the judges—specifically, Carrie Ann Inaba—for having a “personal vendetta” against Danielle throughout the season.
The guys came to their friend’s defense during the latest “Pod Meets Twirl’d” episode of their Pod Meets World podcast. “Carrie Ann has her favorites, and she’ll have two or three that no matter what they do, they could walk on the stage, trip, hit their face, and she’d be like: ‘You tried so hard, 9!’” Will said. “Danielle could do the best thing where she’s doing triple flips and she’s like: ‘You’ve got to hold your shoulders different, too,’ and it’s like, ‘What the fuck?’”
“I’m with you, man,” Rider added. “I held back the anger. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. At this point, it’s starting to feel like a personal vendetta.”
Will also noted that the judges’ scoring “totally feels personal,” as Rider hypothetically asked them, “Are you guys open to the potential that Danielle might be working her ass off?”
Drama surrounding the reality competition series has seemingly been at an all-time high this season, but this latest DWTS upset ties back to Danielle’s performance during the Halloween-themed episode on October 28. Danielle and her partner, Pasha Pashkov, performed the Viennese Waltz to “Die With A Smile” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars and received a total score of 33.
The kicker: Danielle’s performance only received one point above Elaine Hendrix’s performance of “Bad to the Bone” by 2WEI & Bri Bryant, which was pre-recorded during dress rehearsals before she was rushed to the hospital for an injury.
As for Carrie Ann’s feedback that rubbed the Boy Meets World alum the wrong way? “I have mixed emotions about it. I love that you always take feedback with an open heart and grow from it,” Carrie Ann (who gave Danielle a score of 8 following the performance) explained. “There are moments that I really see this progress—it’s elevated and beautiful, and sometimes, these moments get small.”
According to Will and Rider, the judges might be holding Danielle to a “higher standard,” and that’s why her scoring has been inconsistent.
“She looks young, so I think they’re treating her like she’s in the same category as the 30-somethings, or even 20-somethings, and it’s just not the case,” Rider shared. “This is a mother, this is somebody who is 45 years old, and I think that—because she looks so young and they still associate her as Topanga—they think of her as a young American sweetheart, and that’s not really fair.”
Will later added that Danielle might have a disadvantage in being “good at everything” and “working hard,” suggesting that she should be more vulnerable with the stories she shares on the reality show.
“I mean, this woman was dealing with cancer, and she hasn’t mentioned that since the very, very first episode, because she’s like: ‘I don’t want to, I want to dance, I don’t want to go out and mention that,’” he said, referencing her September 2024 breast cancer diagnosis.
Despite her scoring debacle, fans voted Danielle through to the next week of the competition as The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ Jen Affleck got eliminated.
