Should I go on Wife Swap?

Ha ha ha. Yes its true. The wife swap team have contacted me for a second time asking whether I would like to go on their show! The email is below. Its absolutely hilarious. If I had never watched the show I'd think it was a something entirely different from this letter. LOL.

Wife Swap emailed me many months ago asking me to go on their show. They were looking for a home educating family, had read my blog and liked that I also grew vegetables etc. I politely declined. The kids were not too keen to have a new Mum for two weeks, Dan wasn't keen on getting a new wife, and I was not keen on having our home life mocked, inspected and ridiculed on Channel 4.

This time they have found me on a raw food forum. I don't think they even realise that I also home educate, or that they have contacted me before. I guess they really are struggling to find different families for the show. But if they think I'd be mad enough to go on it, well they will be sorely disappointed. As Deb said in her email to me, I "don't know whether I should be flattered or offended by their attentions".

It's actually such a shame that Channel 4 have made this show into such a laughable mockery of peoples family lives. The same program, portrayed differently, could be very educational, mature, enjoyable and show different lifestyles and cultures in a positive light. Someone should start a better version of it. The idea behind it is good, but the editing process tends to show everyone very unfavourably. It would make for a good blog post though, wouldn't it? I wonder if I could charge them for our appearance on the show? Would 20K be too much to ask? LOL. That's at least what it would take for me to go through with it.

Anyway, the email is below... (If any other raw eaters would like to go on the show feel free to contact Lucia with the details below)



Hi there,

I got your contact details from Rawveg.com- hope you don’t mind me emailing you. I wonder if you could help?

I work for RDF Television and we are currently making an observational documentary series for Channel 4 that looks at family life in the UK and celebrates different lifestyles in modern Britain. The documentary, Wife Swap, is primarily about people learning from the way others lead their lives.

As part of this out-reach we are looking to speak to families (preferably with younger children) who are passionate about the way they lead their lives and who could provide an educational and inspirational insight into their life. We are very keen to take Wife Swap back its documentary roots and make it a programme that another family and of course the viewers, would find informative and valuable.

The programme also provides a great platform to show the reality and the rewards of caring for the environment and having a healthy attitude to living and eating.

I was wondering whether you could recommend any families that you may know or whether you may be interested yourselves in finding out more about the show? I can be contacted on lucia.bartolo@rdfmedia.com or 0207 0134593.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or would like some more information.

I hope to speak to you again soon- any advice or contacts you can offer me would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks and best wishes,

Lucia Bartolo


Lucia Bartolo Researcher
RDF MEDIA GROUP PLC The Gloucester Building Kensington Village Avonmore Road London W14 8RF
tel. 0207 013 4593