WHAT happens when a mum who enjoys evenings at the pub and has never voted in an election trades places with a teetotal church-going borough councillor?

That's the question that television viewers will soon have answered after a Basingstoke family took part in the hit Channel 4 show Wife Swap.

Tina Griffiths, of Warwick Road, Winklebury, switched homes and families with a woman from Colchester, Essex.

The 39-year-old applied to be involved in the show after spotting a notice in The Gazette asking for volunteers to take part - and being chosen to go in front of the cameras meant she fulfilled a lifetime ambition to be on television before her 40th birthday.

After she was picked by the show's producers, Miss Griffiths, a housewife and part-time carer, found herself at the home of two local politicians.

She said: "I thought they were counsellors, not councillors, and it didn't click until I went into the garage and it said Vote Labour' on posters, which was my worst nightmare. They were also church-goers, which was another one of my worst nightmares.

"I had to put leaflets through doors and go canvassing. I also had to get up at 7am on Sunday to go to church."

When it was her turn to make the rules, Miss Griffiths said she helped her "new" family - which included three children - to unwind and spend more time together.

She said: "There was no fun, no laughter and that was what I introduced. They enjoyed themselves."

Meanwhile, her partner of 12 years, Dean Caparn, 31, and the couple's four children had a new "wife" as the Colchester woman headed to Basingstoke. Here, she struggled to keep up with Tina's housework and forced Mr Caparn to abandon his regular Saturday night at the pub.

He said: "I had to go to church on Saturday night. That was the saddest, worst experience I have ever had. But I also had to go and volunteer with disabled people at the Shaw Trust and that was quite rewarding. The woman said it is something I should do all the time."

Now that filming is over, the couple said they have no regrets about taking part in the show.

Miss Griffiths told The Gazette: "It was brilliant. It was a real eye opener. We had our arguments but I really did enjoy it."

The show is set to be part of the new series, which will be broadcast in April and May.