We didn't watch "Wife Swap" because it all worked out nice.
We came for the crying!
The fights!
The moms tryna twerk and the dads forced into doing pedicures!
Miss this mess?
Here's why this trainwreck went off the rails.
"Let's kick off the changing of the rules!…Oh, jesus!"
“Okay!”
We all know reality shows like "Keeping up with the Kardashians" and "The Bachelor" are
clearly produced.
But it seems like "Wife Swap" was exaggerated a bit more than the rest.
And some family members were reportedly portrayed in a way that didn't line up with their own
reality.
Season 1's Christy Oeth, told The New York Times in 2005, that she was depicted as a
money-hungry mom who chose work over her kids — when that was not the case at all.
"You know there's really no reason to cry, but when somebody deliberately tries to humiliate
you…"
She said,
"There is a very big element of unreality to the way they pigeonholed me."
And multiple other cast members also came forward to the outlet about feeling misrepresented.
During the same swap, there was mom Nancy Cedarquist, whose family was shown living
out of a so-called "treehouse."
Producers ran with the idea that the Cedarquists had left society behind and that Nancy's husband,
Keith, was the only one to ever leave home and go to work.
But the show reportedly failed to mention the after-school activities their kids were
involved in.
Nancy said,
"I really thought reality television was more real than it is."
Reportedly, some of the "Wife Swap" kids weren't exactly thrilled to appear on the show.
Take influencer Heidi Mae, for example.
After posting on TikTok in 2021 that signing on for Season 6 of the show was the, quote,
"worst mistake" her family ever made, Heidi shared her experience during filming.
When she first began shooting the series, she was 20 years old.
And according to the Daily Dot, producers implemented a 700-question psychiatric exam
to uncover cast members' deepest insecurities.
And then they used those against them.
"20-year-old Heidi has never been on a date."
Heidi alleged that her swapped mom leveraged this information by throwing Heidi's traumatic
experiences in her face.
Explaining that she was often plagued by bouts of loneliness from traveling constantly with
her family's show, Heidi recalled of her swapped mother,
"She looks me dead in the f—ing eyes and she says, 'You are alone.
Nobody cares about you.
You have no friends.
I don't care about you.'"
"I think friends are people that care about you."
"They don't care about you."
"Who are you to tell me who cares about me."
Then there was Season 4's Alicia Guastafarro, who sued for $100 million, stating that the
show ruined her public image by portraying her as spoiled.
Claiming that she was bullied at school for how she appeared on her episode, her lawsuit
stated per The New York Post,
"For their own profit, ['Wife Swap'] purposefully, intentionally and knowingly caused severe
emotional and psychological harm to a fragile 15-year-old."
"I do feel sorry for people that are not gorgeous people."
There were multiple off-screen scandals that may have played a part in the show's ultimate
demise.
If you were a loyal fan, then you might remember the "devoutly religious" Stockdale family
from Season 4.
But after the show, tragedy struck when son Jacob Stockdale was charged with murder after
killing his mother, Kathryn, and brother, James, in 2017.
He later turned himself in to the police after recovering from a gunshot wound to his head.
And on a bit of a lighter note, how could we ever forget the biggest hoax of 2009; "Balloon
Boy."
"Authorities tracked that balloon for two hours, fearing that six year old was inside
on a misguided joyride."
Parents and fame-seekers Richard and Mayumi Heene, claimed that their 6-year-old son Falcon
was trapped in a massive homemade helium balloon as it soared across the sky.
The balloon flew for over two hours and was monitored by police, the National Guard, and
the entire world.
But little did anyone know that Falcon had actually been hiding in the attic the entire
time.
The Colorado family pleaded guilty and admitted that they were just trying to land a reality
TV deal.
They were eventually pardoned by the state.
At first, "Celebrity Wife Swap" sounded like a winner.
A spin-off that features your favorite stars?
What more could anyone really ask for!
Still, after just four seasons, ABC pulled the plug for good in 2015.
The spin-off featured some major celebrities, including Coolio, Gary Busey, and Corey Feldman.
Reality TV stars Kate Gosselin, Sean Lowe, Heidi Montag, and Spencer Pratt also made
an appearance.
"I am a bit eccentric, a bit avant-garde, but if I was just like everybody else, I wouldn't
be on your TV sets."
But despite the famous faces, the ratings slumped.
And once they tuned out, fans lost interest in the series completely.
"Wife Swap" was a sensation in the early 2000s.
So naturally, a reboot was in the works in the late 2010s, so fans could relive the glory
days of their favorite cringeworthy show.
CMT Network was originally set to air the reboot, but, as Variety noted, the reins were
taken by the Paramount Network in 2019.
This version was hyped as featuring more modern-day themes, like fun stay-at-home dads and happy
same-sex marriages.
"Am I allowed to say gay?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Yes."
Although Paramount had high hopes for the freshened-up series, the "Wife Swap" reboot
would eventually be canceled altogether.
The network later revealed that it was changing directions in 2020, and was revamping its
programming lineup to feature less unscripted content.
"I'm laughin' to keep from cryin', honestly, because I don't know what is happening."
According to Variety, the new goal of the network was to produce fewer long-form reality
TV series and focus more on TV movies moving forward.
The network canceled other unscripted programs as well, including "Ink Master" and "Battle
of the Fittest Couples."
Sorry "Wife Swappers."
Looks like we'll just have to get our hot mess fix by streaming the series somewhere
else!
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