ABC: Wife Swap

UK-based RDF Media and Stephen Lambert conceived and created the amazing concept of this kind of first ever show in TV history. Wife Swap was first aired in 2003 on the UK's Channel 4, and since 2004 its American version is breathing the air on the ABC network. Channel 4 had aired two international versions of Wife Swap, one where a British family had altered lifestyles with a German family, and in other, a British family exchanged their lifestyles with an Australian family.

If glancing on the plot, it reveals a reality trail where wives from two entirely different families toggle their lives for two weeks where they exchange their places in respective families. Both the wives take over each other's family and home duties where they bound to follow the house rules for the first week, but in concluding week they are free to handle the home and home tasks in accordance with her own will.

The producers and creators crafted the series not as a competition but a reality show, where kitchens became the battlefield and living rooms were subjected to forceful and fiery arguments. Interestingly, the outcome was not a cash prize, but a chance for those respective couples to re-discover their love. Different.

This reality drama crawled in controversies when a participant on the show, accused ABC network for trading his wife for a gay man and sued the network for not disclosing her whereabouts. However, the network has discarded the allegations and claimed the argument as sheer homophobia.

Other than that, the show has solid ratings and continues to grow each year.

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Tags: ABC, Wife Swap