Maitland Ward was on a Disney show; now she’s a household name for a completely different reason.
From the moment she stepped onto the college set in 1998, 21-year-old Ward’s Rachel McGuire became an important part of Boy Meets World. Who can forget that red hair, quick wit, and how she was always in the middle of Eric and Jack’s nonsense? It’s been 25 years since the Disney series ended, but Ward has managed to keep people talking. Only this time it’s not for her work on the small screen. She’s made a huge career shift.
Before her time on Boy Meets World, Ward actually showed up on TV via The Bold and the Beautiful in 1994. She was just 17 when she played Jessica Forrester – a role she kept for two years.
But it was her waivy red hair that actually got her the gig on Boy Meets World. “They were like, ‘We want the red hair to look different on the show…’” she recalled in an interview. Rachel sure looked different. She was a lot more mature-looking than the other characters on the show at the time, and she soon became the interest of teens growing up on the show.
But after the show ended in 2000, Ward didn’t get many other big parts. Instead she appeared in a few small roles, like Brittany Wilson in White Chicks andRachel Newman in an episode of Boston Public. In fact, her last big role came in an episode of Rules of Engagement, where she played Dani.
It soon became clear that the traditional Hollywood route wasn’t working and she instead shifted towards the adult industry in 2019. “It’s a natural progression… I have taken baby steps,” Ward explained. “If you have followed me… you have seen me go through a metamorphosis.”
Today, she’s become one of the most recognizable names in that industry. And while former Boy Meets World cast members have some thoughts on her move, Ward claims it opened plenty of doors for her. “I really think people treat me with more respect now… they’re so positive about my story,” she said in a 2024 interview.
Surprisingly, her personal life felt steadier too. She married Terry Baxter in 2006. “He is very supportive… a very good photographer, too,” Ward said about her husband. It’s a very unconventional relationship.
Over the last few years, she had a small reunion with her Boy Meets World co-stars on the Pod Meets World podcast, which turned rather tense quickly. According to Ward, working on the show was “a very toxic situation”. She even went on to accuse Danielle Fishel of being “very two-faced.”
Still, none of that has put off the idea of returning as the character in a reboot – even if she was left out of Disney’s Girl Meets World, which saw many of the characters from the original show return.
Until then, Ward is focused on her own brand and her very dedicated fan base.
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