Lisa Whelchel Snuffs Blair's Torch on 'Survivor'
Lisa Whelchel is trying to break free from her Facts of Life character Blair when the Survivor super fan becomes a castaway on Survivor: Philippines. But, her motto matches the theme song of her claim to fame-- "You take the good, you take the bad…."
"I'm not Blair and I'm not some snobby TV star. I'm Lisa, a momma of three," she tells ET. "There's no way [Blair] would play Survivor because her idea of suffering would be breaking a nail and she'd probably do that on day one and then she would vote herself out."
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Fellow castaway Michael Skupin still associates the actress with her famous sitcom role. "She's still Blair to me," he admits. "I don't know if she'll ever be Lisa!" While Michael confesses to having "dated her in my mind," Russell Swan vied for the affection of her Facts of Life co-star. "I had the hots for Tutti," he exclaims.
As a devout Christian, Lisa was surprised when her underlying competitive spirit came to the surface on Survivor. Comparing the real-life game to Monopoly, she explains, "They're not playing pieces. I'm not playing with a top hat and a little iron and a shoe. I'm playing with real people and you care about them and you don't want to hurt them."
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Lisa's unsure if she's up for an encore appearance on Survivor. Likening it to childbirth, when moms forget the pain because of the reward of a cute baby, she jokes, "I would want there to be an epidural somewhere on the island to anesthetize me from the suffering."
The 25th installment of Survivor premieres September 19 on CBS.