Lisa Welchel, who played the role of Blair Warner on the popular sitcom The Facts of Life, recently opened up about the challenges she faced while working on the series. As a teenage star, she struggled with the long hours on the movie set, and this took a toll on her mental health. She also felt the pressure to maintain a certain image on and off-screen.
However, the 59-year-old revealed that she is grateful for the opportunities it provided her as an actress while sharing positive experiences from her time on the set.
Lisa Whelchel reveals that the show producers forced her to maintain a particular image
Whelchel recalled that in order to play her character perfectly, she was sent to a “fat farm” so that she can maintain the needed body shape. However, the actress revealed to Yahoo! Entertainment that this had a negative impact on her as a young girl. “Obviously, we’re in a different time. We’ve learned a lot. We’re a lot more body positive right now, which I’m grateful for,” Whelchel admitted to the news outlet. “I mean, it’s still an issue. But certainly, as a teenager [that] was a lot. Though even back then, I understood it’s a business.”
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The actress further stated that the instability in her family also contributed to the challenges she faced during the production. “They hired me to play a certain character that looked a certain way,” Welchel added. “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.”
The actress says she had a lovely time with her colleagues in ‘The Facts of Life’
Welchel also spoke positively about her experience working with other co-stars, Nancy McKeon, Kim Fields, and Mindy Cohn, who she had a lot of memories with and learned from.
The actress maintains a good relationship with them. “We really did have a good time, and we were like sisters,” Welchel said. “And we continue to be close. We were and still are good friends.”