In the second episode of Wife Swap , the award-winning hit series, female comic JoJo swaps with Dawn from Doncaster.

JoJo is the mother of three children by her ex-husband: Ruaridh (aged 13), Eilidh (aged eight) and Ciara (aged 11); and Fynn (aged two) by current partner Allan. She’s a straight-talking woman who boasts that she’s not a “motherly mum”. She prizes self-reliance and independence in her kids; in the mornings, for example, she stays in bed until 11:00am, while the three older children make their own breakfasts and packed lunches and get themselves off to school. She’s proud of her family, and her parenting style, which she refers to as “healthy neglect”.

JoJo boasts that she’s got too much of a life to spend it doing housework; in fact, the cleaning is done according to a rota where the children do more than their parents.

By contrast, Dawn believes that cleanliness is all-important: “seeing lovely bubbles swishing around in a washing machine is every woman’s dream.” Her two children, Lewis (aged 12) and Kirstie (aged 11) do nothing in the house, and neither does her current partner, Garry. He and Dawn have been together for six years, but Garry doesn’t lift a finger in the house, and only contributes financially in the rare event of him finding a few days’ work. But Dawn believes that “the role of a perfect woman is to keep a clean house, put a hot meal on the table and be a tart in the bedroom.”

How will JoJo cope with a cleaning routine which includes 15 hours of ironing a week, and a partner who spends every night out with his mates? What will Dawn think of JoJo’s messy home and her philosophy of “healthy neglect”? And how will Dawn’s new husband survive two weeks with the “most controlling” women he’s ever met?

In another episode from the award-winning hit series, laid-back Kelly and regimented Donna try to impose their own rules on households with markedly different attitudes. Kelly lives with her partner, Lee, and seven children. She doesn’t believe in routine or timetables; her children do what they like when they like. There are no bedtimes, and no homework. Lee doesn’t lift a finger round the house, even when he’s out of work.

Donna’s family runs a little differently. She lives with househusband Craig and two sons, and the household runs on routine. Donna will check her sons’ homework, make sure that they’ve done their chores, and guarantee that they eat properly. How will Kelly cope in a house where routine and structure are so important?

Can Donna get Lee to take responsibility and help out with the chores? And how will schoolteacher Donna cope in a house where seven children are allowed to run riot?

Wife Swap airs on E4 on 15th January 2007

Wife Swap Star Lizzie Bardsley has admitted to looking for love on an online dating service.

The mother of eight who faced court charges on charges of benefit fraud after appearing on the show said to The People:

“I went on the website in May – nothing ventured, nothing gained. But to be honest I’ve still not found my Prince Charming.”

Her profile on girlsdateforfree.com states

“I would like a Prince Charming and not a frog prince, or do they only exist in fairy tales… well let’s hope they don’t,”

She adds: “Yes I’ve got kids but that doesn’t mean I’m looking for a dad for them, they’ve already got one of those. I’m on here for me!”

Another chance to see “obedient wife” Bonnie trade places with modern wife Derenda for two weeks. Bonnie lives with her husband Pete and son Zac in Peterborough, and has a particular reason for doing Wife Swap .

She wants to prove that her philosophy works – she’s a “mindful” wife. Pete is the absolute boss, and that’s how Bonnie likes it. “Everything I do is to please him,” she says, but that doesn’t just mean cleaning the house to his exacting standards, or cooking whatever he might want to eat; it’s about “treating him as a mix of the Prime Minister and the Divine.” Meanwhile, in Doncaster, Derenda has a very different view of men. As far as she’s concerned they are there for money and sex. After working shifts down a coal mine, her partner Alani comes home to do all the cooking and most of the cleaning for her and the four kids.

Can she learn to be a mindful wife and take pride in pleasing her new husband? And will Bonnie be able to show Alani the difference that having an obedient wife will make to his marriage?