Lisa Whelchel says her ‘Facts of Life’ character would be Instagram famous

Lisa Whelchel knows something about crazy obsessive collections. As the host of Collector’s Call (Sundays at 6:30 p.m. ET on MeTV) Whelchel has spent six seasons perusing some of the oddest and most comprehensive fan collections in the country — including this coming Sunday’s edition on what the show labels as “quack cures and weird weight-loss schemes.”

“This guy is in marketing, and he was fascinated with what we could get away with in marketing back in the day,” Whelchel explains. “So he has a bar of soap that’s marketed as you lather up and it actually washes off the weight!”

Whelchel’s latest TV gig couldn’t help but get us thinking about her most famous one, playing privileged prep school student Blair Warner for nine seasons on The Facts of Life. What kind of weird collections would Blair have had? Not unlike the character herself, we had a “brilliant idea” and asked the actress who played her to reveal three treasure troves the former Harvest Queen may have had tucked away deep in the bowels of Eastland School.

1. Designer handbags

“Even though Collector’s Call has already done an incredible episode on handbags, that would not thwart Blair,” explains Whelchel. “Because she would just assume that person must have gotten them at Kohl’s or Ross, but certainly not as good as her collection.”

So what kind of handbags are we talking about in Blair’s hoard? “Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, all of the big fancy ones that I as Lisa Welchel would have no idea even what they are,” says the actress. “But Blair would have all the latest editions, the ones that you have to be on a waiting list to get.”

And those aren’t the only ones. “She would also probably also have a lot of handbags that were previously owned by celebrities like Audrey Hepburn, maybe Kim Kardashian. So she would definitely have a different handbag every day, and every handbag would have a story.”

And where exactly would all these handbags be stored? “They would have their own room, in glass cases, of course. All of her collections are in glass cases.” Obviously.

2. High-end travel mementos

“This one’s kind of a not-so-humble brag,” says Whelchel of Blair’s next stockpile. “It’s disguised as a collection, but it’s really more about, ‘Look at all the places I’ve been and how much money I have to be able to live this luxurious life!’”

And that comes in form of a boarding passes, menus, and other items from luxury travel. “So Concorde memorabilia, Orient Express menus, Ritz-Carlton receipts from all over the world, the little plastic room keys from all over the world,” explains Whelchel.

“This is just her way of saying, ‘Look at how I have traveled the world and I have been in the most luxurious and expensive places, and I brought a little something back with me — a little memorabilia, a little token, a little souvenir.’”

Naturally, Blair’s cache would have to include items from her overseas TV-movie trips seen on The Facts of Life Goes to Paris and The Facts of Life Down Under.

“She would just be able to kind of say, ‘Oh, yes, I remember as a teen when I was in Paris with my bestie Jo and she had a little relationship while she was there,” the actress says. “And it was so fun to just coach her along that relationship. And how heartbreaking when he did dump her immediately upon her returning home.’”

Of course, such a collection in the 1980s would make Blair quite the precursor to today’s Instagram age of travel-bragging. “I can absolutely imagine her on Instagram,” says the star. “And I think she’d have a huge following, of course, because she would have lived this big, exciting life. I do think that that would be the focus of her life. It would be: Is it Instagram post-worthy? And if not, it’s not even worth it.”

3. Debutante memorabilia

Lord knows Blair appreciated the finer things in life, and that would be reflected in her third collection of debutante memorabilia.

“She would think, ‘What is a thing that is a dying art and needs to be preserved?’” says Whelchel. “And that is the coming out of the debutantes. So she’s got programs and gloves and tiaras and invitations from cotillions across generations.”

Again, it doesn’t stop there. Not when Blair Warner is involved. “And then she also has collected debutante memorabilia from very famous royalty and celebrities from all over the world. So it’s not only hers, but it’s from very famous people and very famous themes. She’s got something from the best.”

Which begs the question: Did Whelchel have her own coming out debutante ball while growing up? “Zero,” says the star, laughing. “That is so not me. I am about as not-Blair as you can get.”

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