'The Facts of Life' 's Lisa Whelchel on Fame and Self-Doubt at 16 as She Endured 'Puberty in Front of Millions'

The actress recalls the "sadness" of learning she wouldn't get to continue Blair Warner's story after nine years with a spinoff full of future stars, including Mayim Bialik and Juliette Lewis

Lisa Whelchel is candidly looking back at her time on The Facts of Life, reflecting on the moments of struggle and disappointment along with her joyous memories of the beloved sitcom.

Whelchel, who booked the show at just 16 years old, acknowledges "it was" hard to shoot to stardom during her formative years.

Tucked away with her less happy moments playing Blair Warner, Whelchel recalls having to step on a scale on set and being sent to a "fat farm" on three separate occasions while the series was on hiatus.

"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, 59, told Yahoo Entertainment. "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."

She continued, "They hired me to play a certain character that looked a certain way. 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."

Related:The Facts of Life Cast: Where Are They Now?

Because of what she was enduring off screen, Whelchel said "there was emotional eating involved." But she is "really grateful" social media didn't exist at the time "because it was difficult enough to go through puberty in front of millions of people."

Of course Whelchel has many fond memories tied to the show. Speaking highly of costars Nancy McKeon, Kim Fields and Mindy Cohn, Whelchel said: "We really did have a good time, and we were like sisters. And we continue to be close. We were and still are good friends."

"I was a teenager when I started the show — I was 16," she shared. "Young and dumb [and thought I knew] better than everybody. But it's really 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,"

Related:The Facts of Life Cast Members Reunite for the Show's 35th Anniversary

The Facts of Life ran for nine seasons on NBC between 1979 to 1988. The series, which was a spinoff of Diff'rent Strokes, followed the ups and downs of a group of girls navigating adolescence while attending a boarding school.

When The Facts of Life's series finale aired 35 years ago, it was intended to set up Whelchel as the star of her own spinoff that positioned her character in a similar role to Charlotte Rae's Mrs. Garrett on The Facts of Life, with Blair purchasing the school she once attended and shepherding a new generation of students. Unfortunately that series never made it to air

"What I remember most about the finale was really just the sadness that it didn't get picked up, because the kids that they hired were phenomenal," she also recalled. "It would have been an amazing show because the next generation of kids — Mayim Bialik, Juliette Lewis and Seth Green. The talent was astounding."

Whelchel felt there were several stories to highlight on "puberty and going through those adolescent years. And they were going to add the boy dynamic" by making the fictional Eastland Academy coed.

"I would have really enjoyed it," she said. "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 in July. 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."

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