A Kickboxer Mom and a Karaoke Mom Tonight on "Wife Swap"

A Kickboxer Mom and a Karaoke Mom Tonight on "Wife Swap" 4/2/08

APRIL 2

A DISCIPLINED CHAMPION KICKBOXER MOM STEPS OUT OF THE RING TO SWAP LIVES WITH A CAREFREE KARAOKE-LOVING MOM, ON ABC'S "WIFE SWAP"

This week in "Figaratto/Martinez," an extreme fighter mom who runs a martial arts studio with her black belt husband swaps lives with a soft-hearted stay-at-home mom whose life is devoted to her kids and karaoke, on "Wife Swap," WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on ABC.

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.

Kate Martinez (26), her husband, Adam (35), and stepson Alex (10) live to fight, and teaching over 150 students at their Colorado family-run martial arts studio is their passion and livelihood. Kate and Adam insist that the most important thing they instill in their students, and in Alex, is self-discipline. Kate and Adam are teaching Alex that nothing in life comes easy -- not even parental affection. Alex is a self reliant boy who makes his own dinner, can put himself to bed and does chores in the family home and at the family's martial arts studio. He has to be independent, as Kate lavishes most of her affection on her beloved pet cockatoo, Maki.

Kate travels to Maine to the home of the fun-loving Figaratto family, where wife Roxie (36), husband Ron (39) and children Megan (17), Katie (13) and Christian (9) sing karaoke seven nights a week. The Figarattos throw karaoke parties in their basement, which they have dubbed the "R&R karaoke bar." Roxie even runs an internet karaoke business from the basement, but as soon as the kids get home, she turns her undivided attention to them. In the Figaratto home, the kids are center-stage, and as a result they sometimes behave like spoiled rock stars -- Christian won't brush his teeth, comb his hair or take a bite of food without supervision. At dinnertime, Roxie visits several different fast food restaurants to get each member of the family whatever strikes their fancy.

In the first week of the swap, Kate must cater to the pampered Figarattos' every whim, doing the kids' chores herself and driving all around town to fetch food for the family of finicky eaters. Later, Kate finds stage fright to be a worthy opponent when it's time for her to step up to the mike at one of the Figarattos' karaoke parties. In Colorado, peace-loving Roxie has a tough time kick-boxing, but she has even more trouble ordering Alex around like an employee.

In the second week of the swap, when the wives change the rules and turn the tables, Kate bans karaoke and trains the Figarattos in martial arts to teach them some much-needed discipline. She also puts her foot down with the coddled kids, enforcing chores and making immature Christian take care of himself. Meanwhile, Roxie throws a karaoke party to loosen up the ultra-serious Martinezes, and rules that Adam must close the martial arts studio to spend more time with Alex.

At the end of the swap, when the families are reunited, will Roxie change her tune and add discipline to her family's life? Will Kate put her stepson before her martial arts studio, or at least before her cockatoo?

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

"Wife Swap" is broadcast with Spanish subtitles via secondary closed captioning. This program carries a TV-PG,L parental guideline.

Source: ABC Press Release