Drew Barrymore's 49th Birthday surprise left her 'speechless'

Drew Barrymore is celebrating a memorable 49th birthday on her show set.

In honour of the momentous anniversary, The Facts of Life cast surprised television presenter Drew Barrymore on Thursday's episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. She started shouting the lyrics of the famous sitcom's theme song as soon as she heard it, but then she lost her voice.

"Oh, my God, do you know what a gift this is for everyone? I mean, you are our life!" said the 50 First Dates star as Lisa Whelchel, Nancy McKeon, and Mindy Cohn joined Barrymore and Ross Mathews on stage.

As if the reunion wasn't enough, Barrymore was given a monogrammed The Facts of Life bag by her former co-stars, which was exclusively provided to the cast and crew. In memory of the late Charlotte Rae, who portrayed Edna Garrett in the sitcom that ran for nine seasons from 1979 to 1988, it was stuffed with baked delicacies.

Barrymore described to guests the influence the NBC series had on her life, saying, “I think for those of us who also didn’t grow up in a traditional mother-father or two-parent household — and I love my mom and my dad; I love our dynamic, wouldn't change a thing — but I saw myself with you guys because you were raising yourselves, you were raising each other, and Mrs. Garrett was, like, at the helm of that.”

"It made more sense to the life I was living than any other environment," she added. "Television (was) a lot on heavy family and I didn’t relate and I didn’t identify, didn’t see myself there.”