It's a Fact of Life: Lisa Whelchel will be on Survivor: Phillippines

Lisa Whelchel, who played rich student Blair Warner on NBC's The Facts of Life comedy in the 1980s, has been announced as a participant for the upcoming season of Survivor: Philippines. Joined by 14 other contestants, including baseball's 2000 Most Valuable Player in the National League Jeff Kent, Whelchel will be one of three teams to try to outwit, outlast, and outplay the others. Each team will also have a veteran player from a past season added to it as well.

The blonde actress' career began in 1977 when she was part of The New Mickey Mouse Club. After a few Disney projects, she was cast for The Facts of Life and that really has been the bulk of her career. In fact, her last TV role was in the 2001 reunion movie for the show.

A religious person, Whelchel released a record album in 1984 that was nominated in the Inspirational category of the Grammy Awards. She wed in 1988 and settled down to raise a family. In the process of raising and homeschooling three children, she also has written a few books, including Friendship for Grown-Ups: What I Missed and Learned Along the Way.

On Survivor, Whelchel will be part of the Tandang tribe along with an engineering graduate from New Jersey, a Los Angeles business student who owns a beverage company, an investment banker, and a stage four cancer survivor who is a computer engineer.