Former Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel grew up on TV, but these days, she finds her happiness at home with her family, she tells Closer exclusively.
“I’m a grandmother now, I have two grandchildren [5 and 3], I keep them once a week and just love watching them grow up,” Lisa proudly shares. “I’m also recently married; we’ve been together about eight years. It’s a lovely thing to have such a wonderful love later in life when you can really appreciate it and enjoy it so much more.”
Lisa, 61, grew up in show business starting out as a Mouseketeer on The New Mickey Mouse Club in 1977, then quickly rose to fame when she landed the role of Blaire Warner on the beloved sitcom, The Facts of Life. “I grew up on television at age 12, so I really don’t know any other way to actually contrast it [childhood] because I’ve been on television since I was so young,” she says.
Despite what being a teen actor can be like, Lisa describes her time on The Facts of Life as nothing but fun. “It was genuinely a fun place to go to work every day. We were very blessed in that the producers let us still be kids. Nancy McKeon lived with me for a couple of years after she graduated. Then when George Clooney joined the cast, it was like adding some fun testosterone! He was quite like a prankster.”
While Lisa describes the set as nothing but fun, she notes that the girls’ relationship with Charlotte Rae wasn’t much like the relationship the girls had with the character of Mrs. Garrett. “She always treated us as peers, we were coworkers. It was very much mutually respectful, but we really enjoyed working together,” Lisa tells Closer.
And what about that rumored The Facts of Life reboot that was rumored to be in the works? Lisa set the record straight on what happened after former costar Mindy Cohn said the revival was squashed due to a “greedy” costar.
“We were all very, very disappointed that it didn’t work. We’d been trying to find a way to work together in some capacity for probably the last 10 years,” she explains. “So, when it looked like this was going to happen, we were all really excited. The contracts were signed and then the writers’ strike happened, the actors’ strike happened, and then unfortunately Pa and Norman Lear passed. After that it just kind of dissolved. We were all quite disappointed.”
When she’s not babysitting her grandchildren or spending time with her husband, Lisa is hosting the MeTV series, Collectors Call.
“We have over 100 episodes and travel all over the country, we find amazing collections, and not only amazing collections, but amazing people with amazing stories,” she shares. “What we’ve discovered is the common theme is childhood and really trying to keep alive those feelings that happen in childhood of connection, enjoyment, relationships, or just simpler times.”
Season 6 of Collector’s Call featuring a Hot Wheels collection premieres Sunday, April 6 at 6:30/5:30c on MeTV.