Lisa Whelchel was introduced as a child actress when she was 12, playing the role of a Mouseketeer on “The New Mickey Mouse Club” from 1977 to 1978. But that was the beginning of something bigger.
Indeed, Lisa landed the role of Blair Warner, a wealthy, uptight preppy, on the popular show “The Facts of Life,” and literally a star was born. The premise of the show was a group of four girls — Blair, Tootie (Kim Fields), Natalie (Mindy Cohn) and Jo (Nancy McKeon) — set at Eastland School for Young Women with Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae) as the caretaker and confidante for the girls.
The show lasted nine seasons, making it one of the longest-running sitcoms of the 1980s. Lisa later played Blair again on “Diff’rent Strokes,” a spinoff from “The Facts of Life,” and she also appeared in the TV movies: “The Facts of Life Reunion,” “The Facts of Life Goes to Paris” and “The Facts of Life Down Under.”
Whelchel’s fame from the ’80s only grew from there. She’s now written 10 books, starred in the reality TV series “Survivor” and has managed to raise three kids in the meantime. Here’s what she’s been doing in recent years.
She Looks Exactly the Same
Charles Sykes / AP Photo
In May 2022, Lisa turned 59 years old. What is amazing about that is Lisa nearly looks exactly the same as she did when she was with “The Facts of Life” four decades ago. Where is the gray hair? Where are her wrinkles? She never had plastic surgery!
Apparently, fans took notice when she made an appearance with Jennifer Aniston in a “Facts of Life” redo on ABC and saw she hasn’t changed. According to the Daily Mail, one fan commented, “I want what she’s eating to look so young.”
Yep, she still has the blonde curls going, and the suit that she wore for “The Facts of Life” still fits her. So, what’s her secret? “The truth is, I have great genes,” she told NewBeauty.com. “My mom looks young, my grandmother looked young, so I just inherited the young genes.”
Some people have all of the luck.
She Launched a Christian Music Career
John Simon / AP Photo
Lisa first became a Christian when she was 10 years old, and she has used her faith with hopes of helping others. That launched a musical career that began in 1984 when she released a Christian pop album titled “All Because of You.” Her album was nominated for a Grammy Award. She did not make a second album; however, she later appeared in a music video.
Meanwhile, Lisa also did inspirational speaking at churches and conferences all over the country, and she also founded Momtime Ministries in 2000, a religious network of mothers’ groups that met on a weekly basis to “equip and refresh and encourage” each other.
What’s interesting is Lisa went on Mindy Cohn’s podcast, “Mondays with Mindy,” in which she said that her faith has changed over the years. She noted that she does not speak at faith-based ministries anymore because she no longer operates from a “fear-based, punishment-based” mentality.
Starring on ‘Survivor’
Lisa took quite a leap in August 2012 when she was named a contestant in “Survivor: Philippines” as a member of the Tandang tribe, and she joined former baseball star Jeff Kent as one of the season 2 “celebrity” contestants.
However, being a former TV star, Lisa decided to keep her true identity a secret from other contestants who were too young to know about “The Facts of Life.” Only three other contestants, including the eventual winner, knew about her secret.
Meanwhile, Lisa went on Twitter to tell users she was suffering from West Nile fever, and it would take one year to recover. It’s not known if she got the disease while filming “Survivor.” Yet, she persevered and wound up finishing tied for second place; plus, she was voted the Sprint Player of the Season and won $100,000.
