A Model and a Farm Mom Switch Next Week on Wife Swap  1/16/07

AN ASPIRING MODEL FROM NEW YORK AND HER CAREFREE FAMILY SWAP LIVES WITH A TRADITIONAL GRANDMOTHER, HER FARM-LIVING FAMILY AND THEIR ONE-TON PERFORMING BUFFALO NAMED CLYDE, ON ABC'S "WIFE SWAP"

This week in "Koopman/Early," a young, fun-loving aspiring model mom swaps lives with a traditional, conservative grandmother, on "Wife Swap," MONDAY, JANUARY 22 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

Each week from across the country, two families with very different values are chosen to take part in a two-week long challenge. The wives from these two families exchange husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover just what it's like to live another woman's life. It's a mind-blowing experiment that often ends up changing their lives forever.

For New Yorker Danielle Koopman (36) and her children, Amanda (11) and Stephen Jr. (10), doing what you want when you want is the most important thing in life. Danielle quit her full-time job in order to follow her dream to become a model. She frequently wears skimpy clothes and posts provocative photos of herself on the internet. She feels that it's more important for her children to enjoy themselves than to work hard or learn responsibility. Accordingly, Amanda and Stephen Jr. do not have to do any chores and are encouraged to do whatever pleases them, like spending hours in front of the television playing video games. All the responsibility in the house falls on husband Stephen (33), who, after a long workday and a two-hour commute, comes home to care for his kids and cater to his wife.

Danielle travels to the Earlys' Texas farm, where Jae (34), his parents, Lynn (54) and Len (53), Aunt Ruth (85), and Jae's two daughters, Justina (14) and Brianna (12), live a traditional, conservative life on their farm and petting zoo. The Earlys spend all their time caring for the 30 animals on the farm (and in their house), including camels, donkeys, alpacas, a zebu, a pig and a beloved one-ton performing buffalo named Clyde. Jae's wife died when his girls were babies, and since then his parents and Aunt Ruth have taken over all parenting duties, since Jae is away from home for weeks at a time for work. Grandma Lynn has instilled in the girls the values of hard farm work and strict 1950s values. Dating and wearing revealing clothes is not tolerated. Lynn's boy advice for the girls: Don't date anyone until you're 35.

In the first week of the swap, Danielle trades her tube tops for overalls and gets down and dirty on the farm, dealing with a pig in the bathtub, a zebu in the living room and a dad who acts more like a big brother to his daughters. Meanwhile, Lynn is forced to spend her time tanning and doing bathing suit shoots while handling two kids with no sense of responsibility.

In the second week of the swap, when the wives change the rules and turn the tables, Danielle forces Jae to take on the task of raising two teenage girls without his parents' help, and Lynn gives the Koopman kids a strong dose of old-fashioned hard farm work.

At the end of the swap, when the couples are reunited, will the Koopmans learn that sometimes boundaries are necessary? Will the Earlys learn to let their son take over and raise his kids with modern-day values?

"Wife Swap" is an RDF USA production. It was created by Stephen Lambert and is executive-produced by Wendy Roth and Stephen Lambert of RDF Media ("Faking It" and "Junkyard Wars") and Michael Davies of Embassy Row ("Who Wants to be a Millionaire"). Cristin Cricco, Stephanie Schwam Adams and Mike Gamson are the co-executive producers.

"Wife Swap" is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. A TV parental guideline will be assigned closer to airdate.

Source: ABC Press Release