Channel 4 seeks upmarket contestants for Wife Swap

LONDON – Channel 4 is looking for some more upmarket contestants to appear on its car-crash TV hit show 'Wife Swap' and is advertising in Horse & Hound magazine to find them.

The ads will appear in the upmarket magazine, which describes itself as the "bible of the equestrian world". Channel 4 is also advertising in another country title, Country Life.

Channel 4 is looking for contestants to take part in the coming third series of 'Wife Swap', which sees two families swap wives for 10 days. The programme begins filming next month with a summer broadcast date, according to the Daily Express.

David Wise, producer of the RDF Media programme, said eccentric aristocrats or posh landowners would be ideal.

"It would be great if we had some really eccentric aristocrats or posh land owners. The idea of getting a farmer or fox-hunting enthusiast to swap homes with an ordinary household is brilliant," Wise said.

Channel 4 has already has some posh contestants on the show when it ran a celebrity edition of 'Wife Swap' featuring 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' cheat Major Charles Ingram, who appeared alongside former 'Big Brother' contestant Jade Goody.

Contestants have to fill in a form to appear on the show that includes questions about the state of their relationship and who does the housework.

Earlier this week, 'Wife Swap' swept the boards at industry magazine Broadcast's awards, winning four prizes.

The show won for best popular factual, independent production, international sales and best new programme.

The judges, who included Endemol UK chairman Peter Bazalgette and BBC controller of entertainment Jane Lush, said: "It's absolutely stand-out. Everyone's trying to copy it but every imitation is just a pale one."

Last year Channel 4 sold the series to the US where it will run as 'Trading Moms'.

At its peak, the show racked up more than 5m viewers last year.

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