Wife Swap is a British reality television programme that aired on Channel 4 from 7 January 2003 to 15 June 2017.

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Quick Facts Wife Swap, Genre ...

Wife Swap
Genre	Reality
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	11[1]
No. of episodes	66 (inc. 13 specials)[1]
Production
Running time	60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company	RDF Television[1]
Original release
Network	Channel 4
Release	7 January 2003 (2003-01-07) – 15 June 2017 (2017-06-15)

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In the programme, two families, usually from different social classes and lifestyles, swap wives/mothers – and sometimes husbands – for two weeks. In fact, the programme will usually deliberately swap wives with dramatically different lifestyles, such as a messy wife swapping with a fastidiously neat one. Despite using a phrase from the swinging lifestyle, couples participating in the show do not share a bed with the "swapped" spouse while "swapping" homes.

In November 2009, Channel 4 announced that they had cancelled Wife Swap, and no new episodes of the show would be made for the channel.^[2] The final episode was broadcast in December 2009.^[3]

It was announced that Wife Swap would return for a special Brexit episode to air on 15 June 2017 on Channel 4.^[4]

During the first week, the new wife must adhere to exactly the same rules and lifestyle of the wife she is replacing. Each wife leaves behind a house manual which explains her role in the family and the duties she holds. This almost always determines what rules the wives will apply at the "rules change ceremony".

During the second week, the new wives are allowed to establish their own rules, and their new families must adhere to these new household rules. It usually takes a while for the families to adjust to this policy, meanwhile the wives disburse a sum of money to the family they have become involved with, to do what the wives see fit to spend it on.

At the end of the two weeks, the two couples all meet together for the first time, and the wives, along with their husbands, discuss how they felt about the two weeks. This often descends into personal insults and has degenerated into violence at least twice. More often than not, however, both families reach toward a middle ground and express that they have learned from the experience. Sometimes, the table meeting is a very heartfelt and emotional time for the two families who sometimes have complete and mutual respect for each other. A few weeks later, the cameras return to record what changes have occurred since the wife swap.

• In 2007, Richard Thomas's BBC Two series Kombat Opera Presents included a musical parody of the USA version of Wife Swap, under the title Spouse Change.
• In The Vicar of Dibley, Alice Tinker mentions going on the programme.
• In 2009 during a week of EastEnders, Max Branning and Tanya Branning swapped lifestyles with Ian Beale and Jane Beale for a week.
• The programme was parodied in the children's programme Horrible Histories, where it was called Historical Wife Swap. In the sketch, wives from different positions, such as a Viking and a thrall, or a Pharaoh and a peasant would swap, showing how these people lived. There were seven sketches in total, appearing in series 1–5.