Lisa Whelchel was teen actress back in the 80's on a little show called "Fact of Life" Looking back, it's hard to believe It was that long ago. Her character, Blair Warner was a typical spoiled princess type in contrast to Jo, the tomboy, played by Nancy Mckeon.

     Unlike the stereotypical child star, when Lisa left the whole of show biz behind, got married to a minister, raised children, and lived happily ever after (sort of). When she was a panelist on "Politically Incorrect", Bill Maher half jokingly asked where she went wrong.

     Recently, Lisa and her minister husband got a divorce, a fact I was unaware of until she became a contestant on the TV show, "Survivor". I just saw the first episode of season 24, and I must say I'm impressed. At age 49, she still looks somewhat the same. Make no mistake, she's nothing like her character of Blair. I noticed that she was working just as hard as the younger set. So far only one of her tribe-mates has recognized her, Mike, the guy who was forced to leave because he fell into the fire during the Australian game in season 2. If anyone else knows, they kept it to themselves.

     The theme song to "Facts of Life" tell us that "You take the good, you take the bad..."It's nice to see Lisa living that out. We all have to do that. Even though she's a "has been" in Hollywood, there are still a lot of people who are watching her. I for one am glad to see that despite whatever troubles she's had, that Lisa is able not to let it get her down. At least not publicly. That's something Blair could never do. I can hardly wait to how she handles herself in the coming chapters of this story!