Wife Swap Gets Australian Treatment

SYDNEY: Shine Australia has been tapped to produce the hit format Wife Swap for the Australian market, with XYZnetworks’ LifeStyle YOU channel to air the local version of the Zodiak Rights series.

Wife Swap has been produced in the U.K. and U.S. for more than eight years. The format has been sold to some 80 territories around the world. The U.S. and U.K. versions of the show have aired on LifeStyle YOU.

The series watches as two wives from very different families swap places for a week. The women will need to get used to a new family, while the husbands and children are given a wake-up call as they must adapt to new household routines. Shine Australia will begin production on ten hour-long episodes immediately, with the premiere slated for 2012.

“LifeStyle channels have brought the most amazing lifestyle formats to Australia. We know that Wife Swap, with its mirror on Australian domestic lives, will further expand on that,” said Nicole Sheffield, the general manager at LifeStyle channels. “We have a strong hold on property, makeover and food productions, and this series moves us into the next evolution of lifestyle content in this country—life change.

“As the home of all Wife Swap U.K. and U.S. series, it is well known by our viewers—and Aussies will take it to a whole new level. From white collar privileged households to domestic neat freaks and self described supernannies – no parenting, family, diet, racial or socio economic stone will go unturned. We’ll see Australian families through fresh eyes, it will be fascinating and heart-warming viewing.”

"Wife Swap is one of the great international success stories in factual entertainment. We’re truly excited to be bringing this brilliant and timeless format to LifeStyle YOU,” added Mark Fennessy, the CEO of Shine Australia.