Danielle Fishel's breast cancer diagnosis pushed her out of her comfort zone and led her to join this season of "Dancing with the Stars."
The "Boy Meets World" alum told People that once she finished her cancer treatment, she knew she wasn't done experiencing all the joy in the world.
"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.'"
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"I'm going through every day, performing tasks and being there for my family and being there for work. Where's the fun?" Fishel told the outlet.
The 44-year-old actress continued, "When they asked me to do this, I was like, ‘This is the perfect way to cap it off.'"
In August 2024, Fishel shared that she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer on the "Pod Meets World" podcast that she shares with former co-stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong.
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"I would like to share something with our listeners, something that Rider and Will were actually two of the first people I told the news to," she began before saying, "I was recently diagnosed with DCIS, which stands for ductal carcinoma in situ, which is a form of breast cancer."
Fishel continued, "It is very, very, very early. It’s technically stage zero. To be specific, I was diagnosed with high-grade DCIS with micro-invasion. 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."
At the time, Fishel told People that she considered a double mastectomy, but since her cancer was caught early, doctors recommended a lumpectomy. They advised that this was the best treatment "to get back to my normal life as quickly as possible."
"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. I was not expecting in any way that it was going to find anything. It was really shocking," she told the outlet about receiving her diagnosis.
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Fishel underwent 20 rounds of chemotherapy that made it "hurt to be awake."
A year later, Fishel was selected to compete with Pasha Pashkov for the 34th season of "DWTS." This season premieres on Sept. 16 on ABC.
Other stars joining this season are Hilaria Baldwin, Dylan Efron, influencer Alix Earle and "Mormon Wives" stars Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck.