Wife Swap (British TV series)

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.

Wife Swap had 11 total seasons, as well as a celebrity version.^[5][6][7] This table is approximate as exact dates are not known for all seasons.

• 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.