'The Facts of Life' Star Lisa Whelchel Remembers the Show (Exclusive)

There are a lot of Classic TV shows celebrating significant anniversaries this year, and The Facts of Life is one of them. A spinoff of Diff’rent Strokes, the show’s housekeeper Edna Garrett (the late Charlotte Rae) becoming housemother at a dormitory at Eastland Academy, an all-girls school in upstate New York. Among the students she oversees are the wealthy and spoiled Blair Warner (Lisa Whelchel), the humorous Natalie Green (Mindy Cohn), the youngest among them, Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsey (Kim Fields); and tomboy Jo Polniaczek (Nancy McKeon).

Running from 1979 to 1988, The Facts of Life is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, which provides the perfect opportunity to look back at the series through the eyes of Lisa Whelchel. Born May 29, 1963, in Littlefield, Texas, when she was only 10 years old, Lisa became a born-again Christian, and ever since has devoted her life to the Christian faith. Two years later, she became a Mouseketeer on The New Mickey Mouse Club, which saw her relocate to California. When her time on that show ended, she segued over to The Facts of Life. Since then, she’s become a singer, songwriter, author, public speaker, life coach, a contestant on Survivor(!) and will next be seen in ME-TV’s first original reality series, Collector’s Call.

lisa-whelchel-survivor — Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

The focus of Collector’s Call is, as the title suggests, on people who live their life as collectors, taking their passion for a subject and focusing it on memorabilia that they acquire. “I’m a lifelong learner, and I homeschooled my kids, and so I know the power of really hands-on learning, and using images and symbols, and not just kind of abstract, rote knowledge,” Lisa explained to Closer Weekly in an exclusive new interview. “And I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned by seeing these collections. As far as [something like] pin-back buttons, you can really trace the history of political debates, and where we were in our country with them. And, of course, the vintage movie posters over the years, and certain classic television memorabilia, and books, and presidential artifacts. So, that struck my fancy right off the bat. What I didn’t realize was going to end up being the most fun of all, though, was the collectors themselves. As you can imagine, anybody that’s passionate about one certain thing is going to be a character, and that has proven to be true.”

For more on our exclusive interview with Lisa and our look back at The Facts of Life, just scroll down!

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When you think about ‘The Facts of Life,’ what comes to mind?

So many memories of working on that show come to mind. The overall memory that I have is that we really genuinely had so much fun. And I’ve learned since then, I don’t think I even realized how rare is was to be on a set where we really did get along. There wasn’t a lot of fighting or competition; we were kids and we were able to act like kids. I mean, we knew how and when to be professional, but they also gave us room to play and to be silly, and to just be girls. And so the overall vibe of the time was genuine fun.

I would also have to say that if I were to choose a certain memory, looking back, I mean, golly, I’d be a fool or I’d have to check my pulse if one of them didn’t have to do with George Clooney, and his years on the set. You know, he was actually as charismatic then, but I don’t think I would have predicted the meteoric rise to fame — he was still kind of awkward, gawky, and finding his way as an actor, but he was always tons of fun. And it was just nice to have some testosterone on the set after so many years of estrogen, as well.

From the first episode to the last, what sense do you have of the way that Blair changed as a character?

You know, that’s a great question. And I think it’s a beautiful commentary of the power of safe, intimate relationships that stand the test of time. They heal us. And I do believe that when we first meet Blair, and all of the girls, there’s an element of heartbreak to each one of their stories. And yet they stick together, for at least a decade, and go through things together. And that healing not only softens them, but rounds them out. They never lose the empathy that comes from having gone through hard times, but it doesn’t show up as much, whether it’s in acting out behaviors, or, in Blair’s case, her obsessiveness about money and clothes and boys and superficial things. So, I really do think that she didn’t have to have that protection and those defenses; she was able to let the more tender and deeper parts of herself come to the surface, because there was a safe connection with the girls. And I think that’s true with all the characters.

You were all growing up yourselves at the time; what was it like to be growing up together? And who are you still close with today?

I’m actually still close with all of the girls. We have remained in contact, and you know, I don’t think there’s been a year gone by that we haven’t seen each other at some point — and we’re all over the country. Nancy’s in Texas, I’m in Tennessee, Kim is in Georgia, Mindy’s in Los Angeles, Charlotte, when she was still alive, was in L.A. So, it was hard to all get together, except for certain events, like the TV Land Awards or something like that. But, any time we were anywhere close to the city where we lived, we would always make a point to get together. And now, even with social media, we all follow each other on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. I just commented on something that Nancy wrote. It’s nice to stay connected, but we’ve stayed connected the whole time. And I think that has to do with the fact that, as I mentioned, we really were good friends. And it’s like your childhood friends, you’re super close, and even if you go your separate ways, there’s nothing like those childhood friends. And when you get back together, it’s just like old times.

Actors who were part of ensemble casts often didn’t realize how good they had it until they’d moved on. Did you?

No, I really didn’t. I think part of it has to do with our ages as well. When you’re just teenagers, perspective is so limited. You know, you get older and you look back, and you go, “Wow, that was really special.” And that’s certainly been the case for me and everything related to The Facts of Life. I appreciate the opportunity more every day, I appreciate the impact the show had more every day. Whereas maybe when I was a teenager, you know, I’d wear a ball cap and glasses, because I didn’t want to get recognized and be bothered. Now, it’s like, “Wow, what an opportunity to make somebody’s day!” And they’re always so excited, but also genuinely touched, and they share memories of what the show meant to them. Now that I’m older, I really do appreciate it that much more.

Given your faith, did you come across a conflict in the scripts that you weren’t comfortable with? And do you feel your morals were tested in Hollywood?

It’s kind of a two-part question, and I have a different answer for each one. So, yes, there were some parts and story lines that came up while I was on The Facts of Life, and I have to say that the producers were always very supportive of my beliefs. Case in point: the second season, understandably, they have a show called The Facts of Life. They felt like they needed to deal with that, and so they assumed Blair would be the more logical one to lose her virginity and write a story about it. So, when I heard that that was going to be one of the storylines for that year, I did come to the producers and say, you know, I don’t think I can be a part of that. Because for one thing, I really felt a big responsibility of knowing that there were young girls watching this show, and that you can’t deal with that topic in 20 minutes with a couple of commercials. I really didn’t want to be responsible for that, and so they were very supportive. They didn’t write that show until the ninth season, and they had Natalie’s character. I just asked if it would be okay if I was just written out of that show completely, because I also understood that there’s just no way to deal with that really complicated topic in a sitcom. And I really do feel such responsibility to the girls watching the show. Again, they were very supportive. I think it would be surprising to a lot of people that, unless I’m just totally not aware of it, Hollywood has really respected my beliefs. I’m sure there was some parts that I wasn’t offered, but that’s okay. I don’t feel like I had any backlash because of it.

What kind of impact would you say ‘The Facts of Life’ had on your life professionally and personally?

Wow, in so many ways. I’m going to say it from this perspective now, at my age. I wanted to be an actress since I was 8 years old, and I knew at that age … I remember watching Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights, and there was a child actor, a young girl, and I said to my mom, “I want be an actress now, I don’t want to wait until I grow up. I want to be like her.” And pointing to the little actress on TV, and so then I went on to be on The Mickey Mouse Club and then a couple other things, then Facts of Life. And so, at least in my life, I reached a level of success in my career that has given me more freedom after that. Really what I feel like is I’ve been able to enjoy some of the things that are important in life that aren’t always as applauded. And so after The Facts of Life went off the air, I left show business behind to be a stay at home wife and mother, and didn’t work at all in show business for a couple of decades. Even now, I’m a life coach, and I’m finding such fulfillment in really impacting lives individually. And, of course, as a wife and mother or a life coach, you’re not making the same kind of money. You’re certainly not famous, you’re not getting the level of respect, and yet I don’t feel like I have to prove anything. I think we all really want to prove something, and prove it to ourselves. I was just fortunate that I got to do that early enough in life, that now I’m not trying to prove anything, I can actually just do what brings me joy.

Tune in to the premiere of Collector’s Call on April 7 at 10pm Eastern, following a Facts of Life three-hour marathon on MeTV that Lisa will be hosting starting at 5pm ET/PT.