It's time for healing.
Boy Meets World alum Trina McGee, who played Angela Moore for seasons five through seven, finally knows the truth about why she wasn't included in the series finale, which aired on ABC in 2000.
As McGee explained in the Sept. 12 episode of the Boy Meets World rewatch podcast Pod Meets World, she thought her co-stars Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle and Rider Strong orchestrated her exit. "I was told, in kind of a weird, off-handed way by a very important person," McGee said, "that you guys all went to [showrunner] Michael Jacobs, and you said, 'We don't want her in the last episode. She's somehow taking our light,' was the gist of it."
McGee said she's long believed that this is the reason her character went to Europe with her dad in the second to last episode "Angela's Ashes." She shared, "That was really hurtful to me for a long time."
However, Friedle, Fishel and Strong said they never spoke to Jacobs about McGee's role on the show. Friedle, who played Eric Matthews, insisted, "Can we say for the record, Trina, that never happened."
In fact, Friedle said it's deeply upsetting that someone let her think that was the reason for her abrupt send-off. "That's not competitiveness, that's sociopathy," he said. "This pisses me off. This is next level."
McGee said that she was inclined to believe the lie as there was some tension between herself and her co-stars, including Fishel. McGee noted that she regrets not befriending Fishel, who could've been an ally. Fishel agreed, saying, "We could've helped each other."
McGee also buried the hatchet with Friedle, who admitted to making a racially insensitive joke at the time of filming. Friedle recalled seeing McGee wear red and joked that she looked like Aunt Jemima, adding, "So right before I walked on for my part, I walked by and went, 'Love your syrup,' and walked on to the set, thinking 'Boom, zing! Just got her for her hat.'"
Friedle said he didn't realize how insensitive his remarks were until McGee spoke to him after the fact. "That moment was the moment where I was like, you can't just say stuff," Friedle said. "You can't just throw things out there, because you think it's funny and walk away. You could be hurting people because you think it's funny."
Pod Meets World is streaming wherever you get your podcasts.