A Mother's Guide to Getting on ABC's Hit Show Wife Swap

Reality television is one of my guilty pleasures. I admit to watching them with that little twinge of shame inside. Some of my favorite shows are the shows centered on family life such as Trading Spouses, and Wife Swap.

If you are not familiar with the premise of ABC's Wife Swap and Fox's twin Trading Spouses let me fill you in. On both shows the mothers from two families with vastly different life styles, beliefs, and morals switch places while cameras watch the drama that unfolds as cultures clash.

Trading Spouses usually is more drama driven and lacks in structure but makes for an entertaining night when there is little else on television. ABC's Wife Swap has a kinder and gentler approach to their show. Although the show is still all about the fire works that fly when you mix up punk rockers and pastors or a vegan with a cattle rancher they don't just toss everyone together and hope for the best. During the swap the wives must first live for a week by the rules of the house. In the second week of the swap it is her time to turn the tables on her new family and they must live for a week by her rules. It all makes for some good laughs and some shocking moments. While Trading Spouses gives each mother fifty thousand dollars to allocate to her host family however she feels fit Wife Swap does not offer a prize. Wife Swap pays a small honorarium of twenty thousand dollars to the families who participate in the show when their show airs.

After watching these shows you may be wondering if these people are for real and I have to tell you that in fact they are. How do I know? I have been through casting with my family for the show Wife Swap and I want to share what the process is like with you.

The first thing I had to do to apply to be on the show was to fill out a very long and detailed questionnaire. This document asks everything from what your family's diet is like, what your religious beliefs are, to how you discipline your children. It also asks you a lot of questions about past criminal history and the likes. You will need to agree to a criminal background check on this application as well. Along with your application you will need to submit pictures of your family. This is the first phase and few people will get past it.

If your family's application is one of the few who stand out a casting person will call you. This person will interview you further on the phone and build on the questions asked in the application. At this point they will ask you to submit a video to them about your family. In this video you will need to answer a long list of questions on camera with your spouse. These questions are the same or similar to many in the first questionnaire. The casting department will ask you to put as much personality and energy into your video as you can to really show off your family. In our original video we were very detailed and used two tapes, which was really not needed. Try and keep your answers lively but focused. Again few people will get past this stage in the process.

Once the casting department views your family's video they will decide if they would like to further pursue your family for the show. The folks in casting will then try and see if they have another family in their files that would make a good match for you, or in reality a mismatch. In your interviews you will be asked what your nightmare swap and dream swaps are. You will most likely get your nightmare so be prepared. Now if they like your family you will move on to the next step. In this step a casting director will come to your home and film your family. This filming again will include a lot of interviews. They will interview each spouse alone and then together. Children who are old enough to understand and answer questions will be interviewed one on one as well. They will want to take some shots of you doing some of the things you do every day and will want to film in all areas of your home. Sometimes they even want to film the inside of your closets, as was the case with my family.

At this point in the process things move very quickly. You will be hit with a flurry of paper work and you will get to know your local Fed Ex driver quite well. Everyone in the home at some point will need to fill out several release forms. These documents are legal in nature extremely long although they are easy to understand. If you have children from another marriage or who you do not have sole custody of you will need your children's other parent to sign these forms to show it is ok for the child to appear on television and that they agree to also follow the rules in the documents. At this time you will also be asked to have an interview with a psychologist and everyone in the home will need to submit to a physical examination and blood test which can be done by your own physician. Anyone other the age of sixteen will need to have a drug test as well. If you have reached this stage you are almost to the end of the application process and it is likely you will appear on Wife Swap. Things move even faster at this point and you will be given a shoot date in the near future.

When your shoot date for Wife Swap arrives you will spend about a day shooting at your own home with your complete family. This is where they put together the beginning of the show that will show what your family's typical life is like. Next you will board a plane with a producer and head out to meet your new family. You are not told until you are actually on the plane where you will be going. Because of this you will need to pack everything from bathing suits to a coat just to be on the safe side. You will spend about twelve to fourteen days total shooting the show. The last day of shooting will be when you reunite with your family. What a joyous day that will be. Now you just wait for your show to air and soon your honorarium will come to pay you for a job well done.

A couple final notes. My family reached the final stage of the application process for Wife Swap and had a shooting date but our match fell through at the last minute. We never made it to filming. However I do have some insight on the inner workings of the show. The show is real. There is no doubt that the people who go on this show; their life styles and beliefs are genuine. There are times when some coaching may happen or an event may be reenacted because the camera missed it. You must be prepared to do things that may be out of your normal character and you will need to be headstrong and stand your ground. This process and participation in this show is not for the faint of heart. If you think you have what it takes to make the swap visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/wifeswap/casting.html or call RDF USA at 1-800-509-5638.