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Archive through November 24, 2005

The TVClubHouse: Other Reality Shows ARCHIVES: Archives for 2006 - 1: Trading Spouses and Wife Swap: ARCHIVES: Archive through November 24, 2005 users admin

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Rslover
Member

11-19-2002

Monday, November 21, 2005 - 9:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Rslover a private message Print Post    
Wife Swap participant sues ABC because the show swapped his wife with a gay man

A Wife Swap participant is suing ABC for $10.225 million because producers swapped his wife with a gay man.

Jeffrey D. Bedford says he was misled because producers “misled him by not sending a female from a heterosexual family to his home,” according to the Muskogee Daily Phoenix. And he “was distraught over the misrepresentation to the point of nonparticipation.” The show started taping on Oct. 14, 2004.

He also claims that producers “repeatedly told him his wife was leaving him. He claims he became emotionally distraught over his and his family’s situation to the point of becoming physically and mentally ill,” the paper reports. He also says that producers basically held his wife hostage, as they “threatened if Bedford did not film the show that they would not tell him his wife’s location and would not pay for her to be sent home.”

Here’s how the $10.225 million in damages breaks down, according to the paper:

As a result of intentional infliction of mental distress he has incurred medical bills, public humiliation, embarrassment and undue grief. He seeks $5 million for that distress and punitive damages of $5 million.

He seeks $75,000 for breach of contract and in excess of $75,000 because of defendants’ fraud or misrepresentation, and punitive damages in excess of $75,000. He also seeks court costs and attorney fees.”


In a statement, the network said, “ABC is confident that RDF Media, the producer of ‘Wife Swap,’ treats participants professionally and with respect. The show is meant to challenge a family’s norms and moreover, the agreement between the plaintiff and RDF specifically stated that the swapped spouse could be either male or female.”
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Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Monday, November 21, 2005 - 7:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
WOW! that Rebecca was a peice of work..can we say denial????????? sheesh

Seabreeze
Member

09-05-2004

Monday, November 21, 2005 - 7:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seabreeze a private message Print Post    
She is very closed minded and self absorbed. She thought she was doing 50/50 with her husband and yet she wasn't. She got on Mr Johnson for working too much and not spending time with his daughter, but she could not even be bothered to spend time with her own child. It seems the Johnsons got the positive outcome from the show but rebecca and her husband did not get anything except, it seems that he might be doing more exercise.

Dahli
Member

11-27-2000

Monday, November 21, 2005 - 9:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Dahli a private message Print Post    
can we say control freak...????? good grief!

Lilfair
Member

07-09-2003

Monday, November 21, 2005 - 10:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lilfair a private message Print Post    
I felt sorry for the lazy hypochondriac’s little girl. You could tell she didn't give a hoot about her daughters interests. The daughter deserves better. Shock Jock dad is a real piece of work too…but at least he was willing to give it a try…until big momma came back….eeeek.

Is there anyone out there that thinks she was continually ill and that was the reason she sat and watched TV instead of participating in the swap?

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 3:36 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
I think the idea of work made her ill!
I felt so sorry for that little girl.

Kep421
Member

08-11-2001

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 4:52 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kep421 a private message Print Post    
This is the first time I've actually been disgusted by a contestant on this show.

I've been bored, surprised, entertained, awed, flabbergasted and at times down right dumbfounded by others, but Rebecca has the dubious distinction of actually making me angry and disgusted over a TV show!!!

If I had been the drill instructor dad, you all would be raising bail money for me today....grrrr

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 6:38 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
I agree with being disgusted. She is totally in denial... She actually made Maraget (God Warrior) look good.

Jami
Member

10-08-2003

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 7:00 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jami a private message Print Post    
I fell asleep right when the fitness couple was waiting at the table for the other couple. What happened?

Native_texan
Member

08-24-2004

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 7:58 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Native_texan a private message Print Post    
I work with a woman who attends the boot camps this couple instructs. The wife told her they didn't even scratch the surface on how bad Rebecca is. According to her, she wasn't even allowed to sleep at the house but was sent to a hotel every night. Apparently they did not show all of the dogs and when Lynn first went into the house she said there was dog poop everywhere.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 10:42 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
NT..Rebecca slept at a hotel every night?

Native_texan
Member

08-24-2004

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 10:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Native_texan a private message Print Post    
Texannie, that's what I was told. From what I understand, she was so "bipolar" (I don't know if that was a layman or actual clinical diagnosis) the camera crew couldn't even stand her.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 10:57 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
And Lynn said that Rebecca's house was full of poop?
I thought it was very telling that they showed so much of the producers trying to talk with her. It will be interesting to see if there are any follow up articles on them.
I felt sorry for Rebecca's dh that he didn't end up taking the radio job.

Tishala
Member

08-01-2000

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 2:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tishala a private message Print Post    
I was honestly so taken aback by the haircolors on these women that I barely noticed anything else. Is it true that one husband was fit and the other wasn't? The competing stripes in Rebecca's and Lynn's hair were too distracting to me.

In fact, I could have sworn that, in the last scene (when they went back a week later), Lynn had a tuft of palce blond "highlighted" hair in the crown of her hair in addition to the thing in the front. I don't think I was seeing things, but I might have been.

Native_texan
Member

08-24-2004

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 2:59 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Native_texan a private message Print Post    
Tish, you poor thing. You really were distracted. Lynn and her husband run fitness boot camps. Rebecca's husband weighed 370 lbs. at his physical.

Willwillbee
Member

09-20-2001

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 7:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Willwillbee a private message Print Post    
NT - Why was Rebecca not allowed to sleep at Linn's (bootcamp mom's) house but was sent to a hotel every night????

Native_texan
Member

08-24-2004

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - 8:49 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Native_texan a private message Print Post    
Will, I was told it was because Rebecca was so intolerable that no one could stand to be around her. It did appear that she spent at least one night there because Lynn's husband (I can't remember his name) was at her door trying to get her up and she was refusing.

Please remember the information I was given was second-hand so don't hold me to any of this. However, after seeing her behavior, it seems it could be very accurate.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - 3:34 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
Have there been any articles in the Morning News about all this?

Sunshyne4u
Member

06-17-2003

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - 3:34 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sunshyne4u a private message Print Post    
I hate to say it but that Bootcamp dad was a brash aggressive guy. I would have downright refused to even TRY had I been in that situation.

He was continuously making 'fat comments' and verbally abusive retorts on that first day that the Swapped Wife TRIED to follow the real wife's lifestyle.

This was a case of two EQUALLY aggressive abusive people chosing NOT to take part in the show. The guy didnt act respectful in any way...he was sarcastic and derisive.

Mind you, that woman was not shown to be likeable.

SICK?? yep, bet she learned that excuse in school to try and get out of PE. LOL

On a final note, I'd stay in a hotel as well IF I had a cold and the nutty bootcamp guy kept pounding on my door at 4am!!

Trouble is.......I think BOTH of these families were on the show to Promote their businesses. Bootcamp family were shown in a better way than Bottle filling MysteryCompany Family.

Yep mystery business family was doing WAY BETTER financially from the look of it.

Whoami
Member

08-03-2001

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - 3:43 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Whoami a private message Print Post    
Oh well. I went to watch my DVR recording of this week's Wife Swap, and ended up with an infomercial instead. At least I can get the gist of it from your discussions!

Kep421
Member

08-11-2001

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - 4:06 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kep421 a private message Print Post    
Rebecca was so traumatized by boot camp dad's aggressiveness she was forced to console herself with 3-4 days of sofa lounging and watching soaps...

Poor thing... how did she ever survive???

Sunshyne4u
Member

06-17-2003

Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 1:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sunshyne4u a private message Print Post    
she had a cold/flu.

Ever have a cold/flu? I have and I find my tolerance for snotty people very very low. The man was mean. The woman was definitely deluded as to her 50/50 split with her husband but that man was really cruel.

There was no need for that kind of abuse. My friend's husband was aggressive like that because she was 10lbs overweight.

A good example of the bootcamp dad's aggression is when he starts yelling at the producers/ camera people during the "table meeting". Why was HE mad? Because things werent going HIS way.

I dont think that the Man learned anymore than the woman did. Taking a few pics of his daughter who has the delusion that she might want to model is NOT getting to know her and spend quality time with her. Taking pics from far away is not really communicating...it is taking the easy way out.

In my opinion.

Kep421
Member

08-11-2001

Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 7:44 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kep421 a private message Print Post    
Like the producers pointed out, Rebecca's illness miraculously came and went at the most opportune times. During the day she was so weak she could only lounge on the sofa... yet she mustered up the strength to go to a fancy dinner with the guy she so hated. Doesn't sound like any trauma I've heard about.

I really don't blame the dad for being upset at the table meeting. Rebecca had them sitting at that table for lord knows how many hours, all because she was having an immature hissy snit out in the car. Who does she think she is? She wanted to control EVERYONE, not just the dad, but the production company as well.

The boot camp dad saw her for what she really is, and the only times she became "traumatized" by him was when boot camp dad showed her for who she truly is. At the dinner, Rebecca stormed out when boot camp dad asked what exactly did she do when she was supposed to be following his house rules. He was right, she did NOTHING. She didn't even take the little girl to school. And how in the heck can Rebecca know what a little girl needs? She basically ignores her own daughter....

Boot camp dad did learn more than Rebecca. The after part showed him doing dinner for his family one night a week, and his daughter noted a difference in their relationship as well. His attempts at getting to know his daughter may be clumsy to some, but at least he is trying. I didn't hear Rebecca's daughter say Mom went to cheerleading practice with her... Nor did her husband say that things had changed all that much.

Just because a man is loud and obnoxious doesn't mean he's a "bad" person. He has issues, but he also has an open mind and was willing to explore the possibilities. He is a man who clearly adores his wife and child, and that was very evident during the show.

In contrast, Rebecca seems to treat her family as beings who exsit solely to support HER, and I didn't see any love coming from her towards her daughter or husband.

For me, sitting on the sofa all day letting your husband and child tend to their own needs AND yours is taking the easy way out....but that's just my opinion....

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 7:56 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
I didn't think bootcamp dad was mean to Rebecca. I did not see him say any mean things about her weight. He made a few "honest" observations, along the lines of it's important to stay healthy for your kids. He was tough and he was loud, but I did not see him being mean.

If anyone needed someone to snap them out of it and maybe even be mean to them, it is REBECCA.

She is by far the "worst" person I have seen on a reality show. (I can't think of a better word than worst.) The hypocritical mean vegetarian mom comes to mind though. (The one who switched with ZZ's mom in Louisiana. She insisted that ZZ spell monkeys wrong and she was so mean to her daughter Lucy. Poor kid. Mean mom.)

Anyways, Rebecca was insisting that she did 50% of the work with Tony. HUH? The way she treats Tony is much more like a slave than a spouse. (50% my ass!)

She insisted that she spent so much time with her kids. HUH? The only time we saw her spend with her kids was when she barked orders at them or when she said something like "I don't like my kids." or "My kids are a pain." I know that was not exactly what she said, but that is what she meant.

Julieboo
Member

02-05-2002

Thursday, November 24, 2005 - 7:57 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Julieboo a private message Print Post    
Oh yeah, I don't think she was sick one bit. (Unless sick in the head with denial counts.)