Throughout most of the ‘80s, Lisa Whelchel was known for playing the role of Blair Warner on TV’s “The Facts of Life.”
The character was known for being pretty, wealthy and a bit snobby, but behind the scenes, Welchel was just a teenager herself trying to get through those turbulent years while starring on a hit series. She recently revealed she was sent to a “fat farm” for gaining weight during the show’s breaks.
Welchel revealed that a scale was kept on set to weigh the actresses, and on three separate occasions she was deemed too heavy and sent off to a camp to lose weight.
“Obviously we’re in a different time,” she explained during an interview with People. “We’ve learned a lot. We’re a lot more body positive right now, which I’m grateful for. I mean, it’s still an issue.”
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Lisa Whelchel is best known for playing Blair on “The Facts of Life.” (Paul Archuleta)
“But certainly as a teenager [that] was a lot,” she went on. “Though even back then, I understood it’s a business. They hired me to play a certain character that looked a certain way. And it was also really, really hard because I was going through puberty and my parents were going through a divorce and I was living in California and they were in Texas, so there was emotional eating involved. All the things that are not atypical of teenage girls.”
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“But I think everybody was doing the best they could back then. And as Maya Angelou said: ‘When you know better, you do better,'” she told the outlet.
While that time in her life was difficult, Whelchel said she’s thankful that social media wasn’t around while she was going through it.
Lisa Whelchel wore her old “Facts of Life” costume for a late-night show. (ABC/Christopher Willard)
“I’m really grateful for that because it was difficult enough to go through puberty in front of millions of people, who were judgmental at times,” she said. “There was some difficult press that I had to navigate. But at least it wasn’t on the same level as social media!”
Welchel also said that even though many young actors in similar situations went the route of heavy partying, she avoided the scene completely because she was always religious.
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“I was also very shy,” she admitted. “My mom put me into an acting class when I was 8 to see if it helped me overcome my shyness — and that really never went away. So I didn’t live the Hollywood life. That wasn’t something that was attractive to me.”
“It was actually quite anxiety-producing,” the actress added. “So being a big star in the ’80s, I kept to myself quite a bit.”
“The Facts of Life” cast, clockwise from top: Nancy McKeon as Joanna ‘Jo’ Marie Polniaczek Bonner; Mindy Cohn as Natalie Letisha Sage Green; Charlotte Rae as Mrs. Edna Ann Garrett; Lisa Whelchel as Blair Warner; and Kim Fields as Dorothy ‘Tootie’ Ramsey. (Frank Carroll/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
From left: Mindy Cohn, Geri Jewell, Lisa Whelchel, Nancy McKeon and Charlotte Rae (seated) attend the PaleyFest Fall TV Previews – Fall Flashback: “The Facts Of Life” 35th Anniversary Reunion in 2014. (JB Lacroix/WireImage)
After “The Facts of Life” went off the air in 1988, Welchel was set to star in a spinoff that showed her buying the boarding school she and her friends attended in the series. The pilot featured her as headmaster, with stars like Juliette Lewis and Mayim Bialik appearing as students, but the show was never picked up.
Welchel got married soon after wrapping the TV classic, and had three children in quick succession. Since then, she’s done the occasional acting gig and a handful of appearances as herself in various shows.
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Since 2019, Welchel has hosted a show called “Collector’s Call” on MeTV.
