Tragic Details About Danielle Fishel's Life

Child stars who keep their careers in entertainment as adults don't always have the best reputations. For example, there are plenty of tragic details about Macaulay Culkin's life. A handful of former Disney stars have struggled in young adulthood, too. But not all of them have had it quite so tough. Some former child stars, like Danielle Fishel who played Topanga on "Boy Meets World," have transitioned into adulthood seemingly well.

Although Fishel tried to escape her "Boy Meets World" fame after the series ended, she's made peace with her lot in life and has embraced all the good things that have come from being a child star in the '90s. But that doesn't mean Fishel's life has been all rosy. No, she hasn't had the intense and public struggles that some of her peers have faced, but she's proof that no person ever escapes life without heartache. Here are the tragic details about Danielle Fishel's life. 

Growing up in front of the camera comes with lots of challenges, and Danielle Fishel has experienced them firsthand. The actor starred on the hit sitcom "Boy Meets World" as a teenager, and during her time on the series, she struggled with her body image. The actor found herself comparing herself to others, which eventually led to some disordered eating habits. "'I found out Jen, my best friend next to Jess, said that the other day when she saw me, it looked like I had gained weight. I wanted to cry ... I really hated Jen then,'" Fishel wrote in her diary as a young girl, as she shared in an episode of "Pod Meets World."

As Fishel told People, when she was 16 years old, she weighed less than 90 pounds, only ate lettuce, took laxatives, and sometimes purged. "I was terrified to eat ... I realized this was not a game," Fishel said of the wake-up call she experienced after passing out one day on the set of "Boy Meets World." Thankfully, as she told the magazine, she now embraces exactly who she is. "I've learned to be comfortable in my own skin," Fishel shared.

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

The life of a child actor seems charmed, but in reality, many child actors are thrust into situations that are far too mature for their age and are victims of various forms of abuse. As a child actor, Danielle Fishel was on the receiving end of inappropriate sexualization from adult male executives. She opened up about her experience on an episode of "Pod Meets World."

"As a kid, I always wanted to be older. I always wanted to be an adult. I wanted to be seen as an adult. So getting adult male attention as a teenage girl felt like — I didn't think of it as being creepy or weird," Fishel said, adding that she had to age before she realized the men's actions were wrong. "I had people tell me they had my 18th birthday on their calendar. I had a male executive — I did a calendar [shoot] at 16 — and he specifically told me he had a certain calendar month in his bedroom."

Fishel was also harassed by people she didn't know. On another episode of "Pod Meets World," the actor shared that a fan catfished her by writing letters pretending to be a 12-year-old girl. Fishel connected with the fan, but she discovered that she had actually been communicating with a male. "He started showing up at my school and telling people he was there to pick me up," Fishel said.

It's tough to be a woman, and it's tough to be a woman in Hollywood. While starring on "Boy Meets World," Danielle Fishel experienced something many women in the workforce go through — she was out-earned by her male co-stars who were doing the exact same job. On an episode of "Pod Meets World," Fishel shared that because she didn't start on the series as a main cast member of "Boy Meets World," she didn't earn as much as the series regulars. However, after she did become a main cast member in Season 2, her salary didn't reflect that.

Fishel fought for what she deserved, though. "I had to threaten to not show up to a table read," Fishel claimed, adding that she switched agents in order to get a pay increase. However, it wasn't an easy time for the actor. "I didn't want to lose the job. I was willing to do it for whatever. I was like, 'Whatever, I don't get to see this money anyway. It's going into an account. Please just don't lose this job for me.' I remember crying on the phone to [my agent] and my dad saying, 'I'm going to trust you. But just please don't lose this job for me,'" she said.

Being in the public eye, unfortunately, opens people up for criticism, and thanks to social media, celebrities are hyper-aware of the constant scrutiny. Danielle Fishel has experienced plenty of criticism online, both concerning herself and her loved ones. In 2013, after marrying Tim Belusko (a marriage that came well after Fishel's relationship with NSYNC icon Lance Bass), she was criticized for her appearance at her wedding, particularly noting her weight.

"I hope you'll look at your own miserable lives and learn to stop judging others on their weight and looks. Love and happiness wins again," Fishel fired back on X, formerly Twitter. "You know what makes dealing with rude comments easy? Love & happiness. I'll just keep being the happiest me & you keep being the rudest you," she said in a separate tweet.

Fishel was also criticized for marrying Belusko despite the two having about an seven-year age gap. But the actor took to social media to defend her then-husband and relationship. "People are giving me s**t for marrying someone younger than I am. Tim is mature, responsible, loving, & kind. Way to judge people, Internet," Fishel said in a since-deleted tweet, as reported by ABC News.

Divorce is common, but it's even more common in Hollywood. Danielle Fishel is among the majority of celebrities who's had more than one spouse. Her first marriage was to Tim Belusko, a man who was working as a craft beer salesman when they wed. As noted, the two have a noticeable age gap, and although Fishel was criticized for it, it's something she worried about prior to dating him, too.

"I was hesitant because he's seven years younger," Fishel told People. But her tune quickly changed. "But he's so mature. I just want to keep calling him 'husband.' It's awesome. We're on the same team forever," she said. Unfortunately, forever didn't last as long as Fishel anticipated. In 2015, the actor filed for divorce, and in 2016, their relationship was officially over.

Fishel didn't live in her heartbreak forever, though. Not too long after her divorce, the actor started dating Jensen Karp, a man she first met in high school. By 2018, the pair was engaged, and later that year, they got married. "I love @jensenclan88 more than breakfast food, sleep, silence, reading, chain restaurants, and animals. And those are my most favorite things!" Fishel said of her husband on Instagram on their first Valentine's Day as a married couple.

Danielle Fishel is the proud mother of two boys, but motherhood for the actor began on a scary note. Fishel was over 35 when she started having children, and therefore her pregnancies were considered geriatric, which can lead to complications. Though not necessarily because of her age, Fishel did experience significant complications with her first son, Adler Karp.

Adler was born one month premature, and he developed a rare condition that caused fluid to build in his lungs. The baby had to stay in the hospital where he was born for a couple of weeks, and then he was transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles because his condition was not improving. "To hear, 'We have bad news: The fluid has tripled, and now we no longer think we're the best place for him. This feels much more like an emergency and we need to rush him to Children's Hospital,' was extremely scary," Fishel told People of her son's health scare.

Adler eventually healed and was able to go home, and Fishel and her husband, Jensen Karp, continued growing their family. In 2021, the couple brought home their second child, Keaton Karp. "Adler is a super(hero) big brother and @jensenkarp and I are thrilled to have him home, healthy and safe, with us," Fishel said on Instagram.

Anyone who's been in Hollywood as long as Danielle Fishel is bound to lose some friends in the entertainment industry. And for a few years, it seemed that the actor was mourning someone regularly. In 2021, she lost her friend Willie Garson, an actor best known for his work on "Sex and the City" whom Fishel had worked with in the past. "I'm so sad Willie is no longer with us. He was incredibly kind and funny and I will miss him," Fishel said on Instagram upon his death.

Just a few months later in 2022, Fishel lost her friend Bob Saget. As she noted, the two first met when Fishel guest-starred on "Full House," and they reconnected when she was an adult. "I've been lucky to call him and his incredible wife, Kelly, my friends. I'm going to miss him terribly," she said on Instagram.

Just a year later, Fishel lost her friend Matthew Nelson, a writer on "Boy Meets World." Fishel honored him at a memorial service, and just over a month later, the actor grieved another loss, this time a little more personal. Fishel lost her grandfather, whom she called Papa Joe, who served as her second child's namesake.

Danielle Fishel has remained close with her "Boy Meets World" co-stars. Will Friedle and Ben Savage attended her wedding to Jensen Karp. Savage visited Fishel after the birth of her first son. She even hosts a podcast with Friedle and Rider Strong. But things between the podcast hosts and Savage aren't like they used to be. As Fishel shared in an interview with Variety, the co-stars wanted Savage to be part of their podcast, but he had no interest. "He was very adamant that it was not for him. He was also very clear, 'I don't want it to stop you. If you guys want to do it, go ahead,'" Fishel said.

But around the time the podcast launched, Savage vanished from the lives of his co-stars. "He disappeared — I wish I knew why, to this day. We didn't have a fight. There's no falling out. There was no animosity. He just woke up one day, and decided 'I don't want this person in my life anymore,'" Friedle told Variety of the situation. But Fishel hasn't given up on her friendship. "I will always love Ben and want what's best for him. I don't think this is the end of our story — but time will tell," she said.

In 2024, many former child stars opened up about the abuse they faced while on the sets of various sets, particularly those for Nickelodeon shows. Much of the unsettling alleged information was documented for the documentary "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV." While the stars of "Boy Meets World" have not stated that they were victims of abuse on set, they were friends with a castmate, Brian Peck, who was later convicted of child molestation.

Danielle Fishel and her former co-stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle discussed their relationship with Peck on an episode of their podcast, "Pod Meets World." "This was the type of thing where the person he presented was this great, funny guy who was really good at his job, and you wanted to hang out with ... I saw him every day, hung out with him every day, talked to him every day," Friedle said.

Fishel brought up Peck's sexuality and wondered if that played a part in his behavior going unchecked by adults. "There was probably a part of them that didn't say it because they were afraid it was going to be taken as homophobia, instead of, 'This is a boundary, gay or not. This is a boundary between adults and kids,'" Fishel said.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Danielle Fishel went through puberty while filming "Boy Meets World," which meant the whole world had a front-row seat to her body changing as she matured. The writers of the sitcom noticed, too, and as Fishel revealed on an episode of "Pod Meets World," they used her bodily changes for a storyline.

Per Fishel, she and her co-star Will Friedle were sat down and told that their weight gain was going to be written into the show. "So I remember thinking, 'Wow, these people think I've gained enough weight, we have to write an entire episode about my weight gain,'" Fishel said. The actor wasn't happy with the storyline, but she had no choice but to participate.

Fishel continued in the episode stating that she still has to fight thoughts about disordered eating. "It has taken a lifetime to get to a place where I feel like, 'Okay, I've got a handle on it.' And even still, the bad habits and the bad thoughts can creep up and I have to rein it back in," she said.

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who does, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

The year 2024 brought some health scares for Danielle Fishel. The actor shared on an episode of "Pod Meets World" that she was diagnosed with breast cancer, specifically ductal carcinoma in situ, or DCIS. Per Johns Hopkins Medicine, DCIS is "a condition that affects the cells of the milk ducts in the breast. The cells lining the milk ducts turn malignant (cancerous) but stay in place (in situ)."

Luckily for Fishel, doctors caught her cancer early. "It's technically stage zero ... And I'm going to be fine. I'm having surgery to remove it. I'm going to be on some follow-up treatment. I've had to make a lot of decisions over the last couple of days," she said on the podcast.

Fishel said that she hopes sharing her story will motivate others to check in on their own health, adding that doctors were able to detect her cancer so early because she was on top of her mammogram schedule. "If it's time for your appointment, if you've never had an appointment before, get in there. If you have to find out that you have cancer, find out when it's at stage zero, if possible," she encouraged listeners.