Wife swap families get feisty in TV showdown

9:24am Thursday 10th May 2007

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SPARKS are set to fly when an episode of the hit reality series Wife Swap stars a Basingstoke family on Sunday.

As revealed exclusively in The Gazette in March, Tina Griffiths, of Warwick Road, Winklebury, traded places with a mum from Colchester for 10 days for the Channel 4 show.

Miss Griffiths, who enjoys evenings at the pub and has never voted, found herself stepping into the shoes of teetotal, church-going borough councillor Julie Young.

The 39-year-old said: "I thought they were counsellors, not councillors. 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 churchgoers, which was another of my worst nightmares."

One of the show's most fiery clashes involved the Youngs' oldest daughter Harriet, 16, having a showdown with Miss Griffiths.

Her new "husband" Tim, also a borough councillor, said: "Me and the kids were expecting some twin-set-and-pearls and we got a woman who describes herself as a chav with Burberry clothes and bling.

"She is up-front and in-your-face but once you peel back some layers she is a tender and caring person underneath."

His wife also had to adjust to her new family in Basingstoke, and said just minutes after meeting the eldest son, Gareth, he was involved in an anti-social behaviour problem.

Cllr Young said: "We were expecting to swap with a Tory or other political family. As it turned out, the family had no political, philosophical or religious role in life. They live life without rules."

But she added: "One of the most positive things centres on the relationship I developed with their eldest child Gareth - someone you would traditionally call a hoodie."

The show is screened on Channel 4 on Sunday at 8pm, followed by Wife Swap: The Aftermath at 9pm on E4, where the couples reunite to watch the programme.