Maitland Ward Says ‘Boy Meets World’ Producers Set Up Rivalry

Maitland Ward has only fond memories of working on “Boy Meets World,” but says producers initially warned her that her time on the show would be less than pleasant.

Ward joined the ABC coming-of-age series for its final two seasons in the role of Rachel McGuire. Speaking to E! News in an interview Saturday, the actor said some members of the show’s production team, including series creator Michael Jacobs, tried to instill a rivalry between her and co-star Danielle Fishel, who played Topanga Lawrence.

“A lot of people said Danielle would hate me because I was the girl coming in,” Ward said. “But she didn’t. She was very nice to me when I came in. It’s weird that people would like, set that up.”

As to why Fishel might dislike her, Ward said she was repeatedly told: “Oh yeah, she’s gonna hate you because you’re the new girl and you’re tall and like, the sexy girl or whatever.”

“Boy Meets World,” which aired from 1993 to 2000, followed chronicled the life of Cory Matthews (played by Ben Savage) as he transitioned from his pre-teen years through college. Over the course of the series, Cory develops romantic feelings for Fishel’s character, Topanga. Ward’s character, Rachel, popped up during Cory’s college years as Topanga’s roommate.

Though Ward would go on to appear in the 2004 film “White Chicks,” she stopped pursuing mainstream acting work after appearing on the CBS series “Rules of Engagement.” Since 2019, she’s worked primarily in adult films. Her new memoir, “My Escape from Hollywood: Unapologetic, Unfiltered and Unashamed,” delves further into her decision to pursue a porn career.

In her book, Ward writes that Fishel “definitely didn’t seem to hate me” while they were working together on “Boy Meets World,” though she was never able to shake her distrust of her co-star based on what she’d been told.

Ward has said Savage has been “very supportive” of her work in X-rated films. In her E! News chat, she also suggested that the origins of her future career could be spotted throughout her “Boy Meets World” performance.

“I was so much part of the sexual butt of the joke and a lot of them,” she said. “At the time I had no thoughts of like, it was anything fetishy or sexual but looking back now, I’m like, ‘Wow, that if I did that naked, I could sell that on OnlyFans.’ You know?”