BOY MEETS WORLD Star’s Cancer Battle Inspired Her to Join DWTS

Published: September 11, 2025

By India McCarty

For BOY MEETS WORLD star Danielle Fishel, joining DANCING WITH THE STARS was “the perfect way” to mark the end of her treatment for breast cancer.

“The minute I was done with my cancer treatment, I thought to myself, ‘If this has shown me anything, it has shown me that I am not experiencing enough joy in my life,’” she told PEOPLE. “I’m going through every day, performing tasks and being there for my family and being there for work. Where’s the fun?”

Fishel added, “When they asked me to do this, I was like, ‘This is the perfect way to cap it off.’”

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The actress was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer called ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), which she revealed last year.

“I was feeling healthy, I was looking healthy. But I went in for my mammogram and they said it looked suspicious and the results are abnormal,” she explained. “I was not expecting in any way that it was going to find anything. It was really shocking.”

After 20 rounds of radiation, Fishel was “saying yes to this year” — and DWTS.

In a recent episode of “Pod Meets World,” the podcast she co-hosts, the actress revealed that she broke an NDA to tell co-hosts and BOY MEETS WORLD co-stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle about her new gig on DWTS.

“I broke my NDA,” she admitted during an appearance on GMA. “I did pretty much call them immediately — we had some scheduling things I had to work out! But they were very excited for me and they did not give me any advice, which is probably for the best because neither one of them have any dance experience either!”

There were two people Fishel did keep her DWTS role a secret from: her sons, Adler, 6, and Keaton, 3.

“I waited to tell my sons until we got closer and closer to the announcement day because you know how kids are, you tell them something is a secret and then the next day they’re like ‘Guess what? My mom is doing ‘DANCING WITH THE STARS, so I couldn’t take that risk,” she joked in an interview with Parade.

For Fishel, taking part in DANCING WITH THE STARS is a fun new challenge, as well as a reminder to keep finding the joy in life, post-cancer-treatment.

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