‘Facts of Life’ Fans Speculate Lisa Whelchel Is ‘Greedy’ Star Who Stalled Reboot: What to Know

After Mindy Cohn alluded to one of her costars being a “greedy bitch” for stalling The Facts of Life reboot talks, fans presumed that she was referring to Lisa Whelchel .

Cohn claimed during a July 2024 episode of Jeff Lewis Live that TV legend Norman Lear floated the idea of doing a spinoff in late 2021. (Lear later died in 2023 at the age of 101.)

“We got into talks and we hired a writer. The four of us got together on a Zoom — this was during COVID — and we had meetings with Norman about it,” Cohn recalled on the SiriusXM radio show. “One of the girls went behind our backs to try to make a separate deal for a spinoff deal just for herself and devastated the rest of us.”

According to Cohn, future revival hopes have since been “very dead.”

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“A couple of people don’t want to move past it,” she alleged. “We are not as united; we were united for 40 years over not talking about each other, not doing dirty [and] all-for-one, one-for-all. This kind of wrecked that, which is sad.”

While Cohn declined to comment on which fellow Facts of Life stars — she costarred with Whelchel, Kim Fields and Nancy McKeon — she hinted that there are clues.

“It’s not me and then if you go on my Instagram and see [who I hang out with more]. I will not deny or confirm,” Cohn said.

Social media sleuths attempted to do their due diligence, finding a December 2022 photo of Cohn, Fields and McKeon hanging out without Whelchel, who has not publicly commented on the speculation. Us Weekly has reached out to all four stars for comment.

Keep scrolling to learn more about Whelchel:

Who Did Lisa Whelchel Play in ‘The Facts of Life?’

In the Diff’rent Strokes spinoff, Whelchel portrayed spoiled rich girl Blair Warner, who was one of the students at the Eastland School for Young Women boarding school. Blair and peers Tootie Ramsey (Fields), Natalie Green (Cohn) and, by season two, Jo Polniaczek (McKeon) lived alongside caretaker Mrs. Garrett ( Charlotte Rae ).

“I was a teenager when I started the show — I was 16,” Whelchel told Yahoo! Entertainment in March 2023. “As I've gotten older — and especially in the last year with the celebration around Norman Lear turning 100 — that I've come to appreciate the privilege of being on a Norman Lear show. Because he really did create shows with a purpose.”

Why Lisa Whelchel Turned Down Initial ‘Facts of Life’ Spinoff

The OG series ended in 1988 with the four classmates going their separate ways. Welchel said she was approached at that time for a spinoff where Blair would have taken over Mrs. Garrett’s role at the newly coed Eastland.

“I would have really enjoyed it, but it turned out it wasn't as painful for it not to be picked up as it could be typically because we filmed that pilot in March and I got married [that] July,” Whelchel told Yahoo! Entertainment. “I got pregnant 10 months later and had three kids, three years in a row. So I really was going from nine years of an incredible show to a whole other wonderful adventure."

Has Lisa Whelchel Worked With Any ‘Facts of Life’ Costars After the Show Ended?

Two decades after the show wrapped its 2001 TV reunion, Whelchel joined Fields in Hallmark’s For Better or Worse , released in 2014 .

“To have Lisa Whelchel and Kim Fields reunite is a big TV event,” Hallmark’s Executive Vice President of Programming, Michelle Vicary , said in a 2014 statement. “Hallmark Channel is the perfect place to see these iconic stars together again.”

Ten years later, Whelchel had another reunion though it was off camera. In July 2024, she met up with frequent guest star Geri Jewell .

“We aren’t technically family but since we played one on TV (Cousin Geri) and we’ve known each other for almost a half a century, it sure feels like it,” Whelchel wrote via Instagram . “So good to catch up with the funny and wise and deep and talented, Geri Jewell!”

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What Are Lisa Whelchel’s Other TV and Movie Credits?

Whelchel got her big break on the New Mickey Mouse Club — years before Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Ryan Gosling ’s respective tenures — in 1977. She has also appeared on The Love Boat, A Madea Christmas, Hearts of Spring, You Light Up My Christmas and more.

Lisa Whelchel Has Been Married Twice

She was previously married to Steven Cauble between 1988 and 2012, during which they welcomed daughters Clancy and Haven and son Tucker. After their divorce, she moved on with Pete Harris and they wed in 2019. (Harris joined her at Lear’s 2023 funeral service.)