Anyone fancy swapping? (Wife Swap (Channel 4))

Member Name: thehonesttruth

Product:	Wife Swap (Channel 4)
Date:	12/08/09 (43 review reads)
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Channel Four seem to like dolling up reality television mby making it sentimental - something they have done with great success in many series, such as The Secret Millionaire, How the Other Half Live . The original show they did this with, was 'Wife Swap'.

No, this isn't a show about swinging, or car keys in a bowl parties, although they have had some swingers on the show before . The basic premise is that two women swap families and lifestyles for a while , and for the first half of the swap, each 'wife' has to live by the others rules . Halfway through, they get to change some of the rules, in order to make what they see as an improvement on each others lives .

The show seems to deliberately pick opposites - for example, a lazy stay at home mum on benefits might be paired up with a high flying businesswoman who is constantly on her feet . Or a strict Muslim, with strict religious views, might be put into a family with lots of lesbianism, drinking, and pre-marital sex .

Each wife, on entering her new home, is given a manual, written by the other wife, and detailing her daily routines . This is often an interesting insight into how the women view their own lives - You'll often hear rather heartbreaking lines being read aloud from the manuals , such as a woman saying ' I do all the housework, and I often find that this and caring for the children takes up all my time, But I never get any appreciation'. Some of the wives can come over as very unhappy in their manuals, and I often wonder if they've ever talked to their partners about this - because often , the partners seem completely oblivious to the fact that anything might be wrong.

For the first half, the new 'wife' has to abide by the manual, living her new families life. Often , this is done grudgingly, with plenty of criticism from both sides. You might, for example, have busy working mum complaining that now she has to relax a lot and is bored , and lazy benefit mum complaining that ow she is running around clearing up after everyone all day .

In the second half, when they swap, the new mum gets to change the rules - and I have to say, usually this works out pretty well, with some benefits for both families . I think perhaps sometimes it takes an outsiders perspective to look at what might be going wrong and make appropriate changes. Often this involves banning some things - such as smoking in the house, drinking, or excessively packed schedules- in favour of family time, days out, or sharing of chores .

At the end of the show, the couples meet up and talk about their thoughts on each other . Often this can descend into a fight as one wife criticises another. Often a wife will deny what she wrote in her own manual. She might have said her husband neglects her if the 'new' wife makes that statement, all hell can break loose . The majority of couples tend to be pretty civil, although a fair few do argue - and even rarer, two couples might become firm friends at the end of it .

The wives then go back to their families, and we are then informed of any changes that followed - whether new rules stuck, or were immediately disregarded. In most cases, a few subtle changes have been made which do seem to benefit the children of the families, and occasionally a previously shy housewife turns into a confident babe . Its always nice to see a good result in this part of the show .

Perhaps the most famous 'Wife' of the show so far is Lizzie Bardsley, who , with her eight children and husband ,was shown to be living exclusively on state benefit , netting £37,500 a year . Following wife swap, she was a little bit of a celebrity, appearing on Kilroy and the Weakest Link,a nd doing lots of interviews for magazines and newspapers. She failed to declare her earnings from these appearances and interviews though,and was charged with benefit fraud , given 30 hours of community service , and ordered to pay back £2400 . Bad publicity for her, great publicity for the show I would imagine .

I very much enjoy the show . I like the fact that no matter how different thw two families are, there are always changes made that provide some benefit to the children . I get annoyed when common sense changes, such as not drinking in front of the kids, are scrapped when things get back to normal though - perhaps because of my own experience of dating an alcoholic.

And I will admit to a certain amount of 'I may not be perfect, but I'm not THAT bad' while watching it too .

I find it especially touching when two families really seem to gel, and make friends over the conference table at the end .

Wife Swap is on Channel 4 on sundays at 8PM. Or, you can watch it at www.4od.com, where they have many episodes stored ,

I recommend this show - its good fun, and often quite touching . It does seem a little as though the format has gotten old, and that channel 4 are reaching now for the most extreme swaps they can get, but it's still good viewing .

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