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Why Ben Savage Isn’t Hosting ‘Pod Meets World’ With Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle: ‘We’re Respecting His Decision’ (Exclusive)

Cory Matthews is taking a rain check. Ben Savage’s former costars Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle revealed why the actor isn’t hosting the “Pod Meets World” podcast with them in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.

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“We have been talking about this podcast since 2019, it was Rider’s idea. When he brought it up, we talked about it all, the four of us. It was something we all were back and forth. What’s the best way to do it because that was before the ‘Office Ladies.’ It was before this was its own genre,” Fishel, 41, explained on Monday, June 27. “And so we talked about all the different ways we could do it. And at the end of our conversations, Ben said, ‘I just don’t think it’s for me.’ And we get it. So we’re respecting his decision. And if he eventually wants to come on, we’ll leave that door open.”

Friedle, 45, added: “I hope he wants to come on.”

Why Ben Savage Isn’t Hosting Pod Meets World With Main Cast
Ben Savage Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

“For right now he said, ‘Have fun. It’s not for me,’” Fishel noted.

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“Pod Meets World” launched earlier this week as the trio officially kicked off rewatching the very first episode of the beloved family series, which ran for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000. As the costars and longtime friends revisit their iconic characters — Shawn Hunter, Topanga Lawrence and Eric Matthews, respectively — they will also be joined by some guest stars including William Daniels, Trina McGee, Betsy Randle, William “Rusty” Russ, Maitland Ward and Matthew Lawrence along the way.

Why Ben Savage Isn’t Hosting Pod Meets World With Main Cast Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle
Ben Savage, Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle Touchstone Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock

“[This show] was the entirety of my teenage years. I was on the show from 12 until I was 19 years old. I’m looking at this as opening a time capsule. I’m kind of digging through the time capsule and letting whatever emotions come to me, kind of come to me for the first time,” Fishel told Us. “This podcast is really giving us an opportunity to quiet everything else and really focus on this.”

“I wanna take that answer,” Friedle joked. “That’s pretty great.”

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“There’s no other answer,” Strong, 42, chimed in. “The only other thing I would add is that it’s also been already so fun to just be together and hang out every couple of months. Now we’re hanging out once a week.”

“Pod Meets World” is distributed by the iHeartPodcast Network. For more, follow the podcast here.

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