Andy Dick’s multiple partners, Eric Robert’s house of cats, and Margaret Cho’s bondage
dungeon.
Thanks to "Celebrity Wife Swap," some things can’t be unseen, even if they may have been
forgotten.
With his unmistakable cadence, comedian Gilbert Gottfried pushes the boundaries of bad taste.
But despite his racy jokes, Gottfried is actually a family man who's been happily married to
wife Dara since 2007.
He ventured into reality TV for Season 2 of "Celebrity Wife Swap," squaring up against
Alan Thicke when their wives, Dara and Tanya, traded places.
Of course, the families didn't get along too swimmingly, with Gottfried making a slightly
humorous move on Tanya, stating,
"Not too many women I would turn down at this point."
"I thought Tanya was hot.
And I'd like her back."
Accustomed to a life of wealth and luxury, Tanya didn't anticipate that Gottfried would
shop at the 99 cents store and dine in restaurant kitchens.
Gottfried later revealed his initial reluctance to do the show, relenting only because of
the influence of reality TV.
As he told The New York Times,
"To the public, Kim Kardashian is a much bigger name than Robert De Niro."
Heidi Montag is highly attuned to the reality TV limelight.
As one half of Heidi and Spencer Pratt — a.k.a. "Speidi" — Montag made her debut with MTV's
"The Hills."
Considering she's an easy target in the press, Montag was an unlikely star on "Celebrity
Wife Swap" Season 3.
She switched places with Olympic Swimmer Amanda Beard, who was immediately thrust in front
of the cameras with Pratt.
As for Montag, she moved in with Beard's husband, Sacha, and their kids.
She later told Fox News,
"I thought that it was that guy who lived in a tree and builds the tree houses!"
"I fill my day with a lot of busy things.
I dress my dogs and go shopping."
Montag spent a large portion of the episode complaining about raking leaves and refusing
to help out around the house.
But, regarding her decision to appear on the show, Montag explained to Fox News,
"My mom saw the preview and she told me, 'I can tell this is the first opportunity that
you've ever had to be you.'
It's just great to have that moment.
It was really fun to just be more authentic and be in a situation and see what happens."
Despite having a career spanning 50 years, Gary Busey has become somewhat of a parody
of himself in recent times.
That said, the iconic actor is nothing if not a man full of surprises.
As he said at the start of his episode,
"Prepare for the best, prepare for the worst, and expect the unexpected."
Busey made an appearance on the first season of the show alongside former evangelical pastor
Ted Haggard.
The actor welcomed Haggard's wife, Gayle, into his house and creeped her out by discussing
all of the people he has already been, in his past lives.
While promoting the show, Busey and Haggard dropped by Good Day L.A., at which time Busey
quietly accepted the host's assertion that he might be a little bit, quote, "crazy."
It seems that even "Celebrity Wife Swap" simply couldn't contain The Busey.
Comedian Andy Dick has built himself quite the checkered reputation.
But he saw "Celebrity Wife Swap" as an opportunity to present himself in a different light.
As it turned out, Dick was leading a non-traditional life at the time, living in a trailer with
his much younger girlfriend, Jennifer, while his former partner, Lena — whom he co-parents
with — had the house.
His daughter joked on the show,
"Our house is a crazy house.
Dad just popping in, and Jennifer just popping in and making a scene."
"How many of these rules start with 'Andy'?"
The comedian swapped places with '80s soap star Lorenzo Lamas in the show's second season,
exposing the actor's wife, Shawna, to a markedly different environment.
When asked about meeting his new "wife," Dick quipped,
"They better be ready to cook, clean, and change my diaper."
According to the Huffington Post, Dick hoped that his stint on the show would remedy his
tarnished public image.
Jury's still out on whether it had any positive effects.
Once part of the highly influential hip-hop group Public Enemy, Flavor Flav has gone on
to become a reality TV sensation.
His emergence in the genre began with VH1's "The Surreal Life," leading to his most popular
offering, "Flavor of Love."
Forever decked out in a giant clock, Flav made an unexpected appearance on "Celebrity
Wife Swap” Season 1, where he lived with Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider's wife,
Suzette.
Unfortunately, Suzette squarely targeted Flav as public enemy number one.
During a heated moment, she branded the rapper as, quote, "disrespectful and rude and childish."
After a disastrous swap, the two couples shared a somber meeting, which culminated in Suzette
yelling at Flav,
"You're like a kid that needs to be reprimanded and punished.
I'd spank you if I could."
Julia Roberts' brother Eric Roberts, isn't typically associated with reality TV, but
when it comes to "Celebrity Wife Swap," clearly anything can happen.
Trading places with late British icon, Robin Leach, on Season 3, the contrast between Roberts'
humble lifestyle and Leach's swanky living was apparent from the very beginning.
Roberts and his wife and manager Eliza enjoyed a simple life, complete with lots of furry
friends.
Meanwhile, Leach found fame hosting shows about the super wealthy, most notably the
'80s series, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."
Leach's glam pal, former model Joan Severance, stepped in to swap with Eliza Roberts.
Severance immediately turned her nose at Roberts' home and didn't take too kindly to his feline
friends.
But things got heated when Roberts insisted that Severance feed the squirrels in his garden.
She said,
"I don't want to feed the squirrels because I don't think it's safe.
I think it's a hazardous thing to do."
"I'm just a little worried that Eliza's gonna come home to anorexic squirrels."
Severance had previously fed the cats, but absolutely drew the line at rodents.
Wrestling icon Rowdy Roddy Piper, achieved the incredible feat of appearing in the very
first Wrestlemania event, ever.
He also wasn't afraid to poke fun at himself, playing the washed-up wrestler Da' Maniac
on Season 5 of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."
The late wrestler turned actor was also game for a spin on "Celebrity Wife Swap."
In Season 2, Piper swapped partners with fellow former pro wrestler Ric Flair.
While Piper was nestled in a modest home in Portland, Flair was living the high life.
Piper explained,
"Some people thrive on being a celebrity and that's where their head's at.
Me?
I'm not looking for any attention."
Flair's girlfriend Wendy was used to living in luxury, in a household that employs an
entire staff.
And of course, she was pretty grossed out when she moved in with Piper, doing farmyard
chores for the cameras.
"How many more days is she gonna be here?
Where's my wife?"
Fans discovered just what happens when you cross two stars who are both living in their
celebrity brothers' shadows.
On Season 3, Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine swapped lives with Alec Baldwin's younger
brother, Daniel.
Jackson's home was filled with suitcases — and his tendency to hoard clothing, shoes and
accessories was clear from the moment Baldwin's girlfriend, Isabella, arrived.
Things eventually got so heated, that Jackson refused to continue with the show.
Hoffmann told Jackson,
"You're a shopaholic and it's crowding everyone out.
There's no other way right now."
"You are a Hollywood hoarder."
"I was furious."
The confrontation led Jackson to retreat from the cameras, before he was convinced by producers
to continue filming.
After his "Wife Swap" appearance, Jackson confirmed he wouldn't do the show again.
Or, like he said it,
"Never in a billion years."
The late acting legend Cloris Leachman was renowned for her riotous comedic performances.
And her willingness to poke gentle fun at herself made her a prime candidate for "Celebrity
Wife Swap."
A lifelong vegetarian, Leachman was famed for her animal rights activism, according
to PETA.
So when she swapped places with meat-eating actor, Pia Zadora, for Season 4, high anxiety
ensued.
"I'm gonna make 'Wife Swap' my b----."
A steak lover living the high life, Zadora wasn't prepared for Leachman's animal-filled
hippie home.
Meanwhile, on her way to Zadora's place, Leachman claimed that Las Vegas has, quote, "death
on every corner."
But despite their differing sensibilities, the two ultimately found common ground.
Following the experience, Zadora told Yahoo,
"It was great working with Cloris.
She got to live the Vegas lifestyle and I got to spend some time in a legend's very
Bohemian house.
We are two fish way out of their familiar water.
What's wonderful is that even though filming is over, we've become friends."
We all remember "Thong Song," but most of us probably don't remember that Sisqó also
starred on "Celebrity Wife Swap" Season 2.
The singer-songwriter traded places with rapper Gerardo Mejia, who is known for his 1990 hit,
"Rico Suave."
Sisqó's then-girlfriend Elizabeth — who later became his wife — traded lifestyles
with Gerardo's wife Kathy.
And during the show, Elizabeth cleaned up dog poop at Gerardo's house, something that
the partner of a millionaire singer likely wasn't used to doing.
Gerardo explained to TV Guide,
"The thing is, it's the little dog, and the little dog's my wife's dog.
So I was like, that's not my dog.
So my new 'wife' in the house had to clean up that mess.
I don't think she really enjoyed that part of it."
"Yeah, me and my girl, we talkin' about sharin' our feelings."
Sisqó later claimed that he is the actual innovator of wife-swapping in real life, telling
Rolling Stone,
"Right before 'Thong Song,' I was dating one celebrity while she was dating this other
celebrity and then me and that celebrity swapped.
[…] Before 'Celebrity Wife Swap,' I was on 'T--- Swap.'"
If "Celebrity Wife Swap" is to be believed, there's only one girl in Mötley Crüe frontman
Vince Neil's life; his girlfriend Rain.
In what sounds like the premise of one of his band's songs, Neil traded spouses with
fellow rocker Gunnar Nelson on Season 4.
The storyline emphasized that Nelson is an all-round family man, devoted to his wife,
Lila, and their kids — while Neil is still busy enjoying the rockstar lifestyle.
"Who doesn't love beautiful women?
We wrote 'Girls, Girls, Girls' in 1986 and it still plays today."
One issue that Neil really struggled with was being asked by Lila to go grocery shopping.
As he admitted to the Las Vegas Sun,
"I hadn't been in a supermarket to do grocery shopping since Mötley Crüe first went out
on the road in 1981.
I didn't know where to find any of the ingredients."
By the end of the episode, he did manage to cook up a mean meatloaf for his friends.
Comedian Margaret Cho quipped during her Season 4 debut on "Celebrity Wife Swap,"
"Wife swapping — it's old hat.
I've been doing that for years."
A vocal opponent of monogamy, Cho was the antithesis of fellow swap-ee, straight-laced
actor Holly Robinson Peete.
Peete moved into Cho's house with the comedian's BFF Selene Luna, while Cho settled in with
Peete's hubby Rodney in the couple's fancy mansion.
While Peete was a little perturbed by Cho's creepy aesthetic, Cho also felt out of place
in Peete's suburban home.
When Rodney asked the comedian about her philosophy on relationships, Cho replied,
"I feel like we can have […] variety in our lives without threatening our partner."
Still, in spite of their differences, the couples were able to find common ground in
the end.
Just don't expect Cho to ever embrace monogamy.
Likewise, the Peetes won't be installing an S&M dungeon in their home any time soon.
WWE icon Mick Foley brought hardcore wrestling to the masses.
But despite his rough exterior, he's actually a lovable family man.
He's also a New York Times best-selling author!
And the wrestling superstar appeared on Season 1 of "Celebrity Wife Swap."
Foley's wife of three decades, Colette, traded places with Antonio Sabato Jr.'s fiancée,
Cheryl, and the families clashed over hygiene habits.
Antonio and Cheryl were clearly branded as the "clean freaks."
Meanwhile, in the Foley household, the wrestler was firmly focused on love and family, as
part of his somewhat chaotic life.
But Cheryl wasn't buying it.
She said,
"The house was a disaster.
You know, there was the poop on the floor and I'm like 'Oh my gosh, how can anybody
live like this?'"
"There I was, dancin' around my living room, vaguely aware of the fact that my children
were all ridiculing me, and not even caring."
Regarding his appearance on the show, Foley says it was a largely positive experience,
later telling The Roman Show,
"It was my finest work.
I got a free haircut from it.
I enjoyed the experience very much.
It's nice to know your wife is spending time with the most handsome man in the world."
The late, comedic legend, Joan Rivers, was famous for her scathing celebrity put-downs.
But she was also a trailblazer for a generation of female stand-up comedians — as well as
a star of "Celebrity Wife Swap" Season 2.
"Are you outta your minds?"
Rivers and her daughter, Melissa, traded places with Sarah Palin's daughters, Bristol and
Willow, the former living with Joan and the latter with Melissa.
Despite some initial hesitation, Rivers and the conservative Palin girls got along pretty
well.
During one especially emotional scene where Rivers revealed she had learned not to judge
people so harshly, she told Bristol,
"Here I go — I adore you.
I just think you're great."
"Don't make me cry."
Discussing her appearance on the show with Access, Rivers later said of Bristol,
"She'd never been to a Broadway musical.
[…] She's never been to Europe.
That's why I said, 'Come live with me for a month, boy, oh boy, would we have a good
time!'
[…] I liked her tremendously, and [she is] so nice, not a mean bone in her body."
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