ThisisLondon
By Anne Campbell, Metro
9 December 2005
Producers of the hit TV series
Wife Swap are being sued for
£5.8million by a participant after his wife was swapped with a gay man.
American Jeffrey Bedford filed a lawsuit against RDF Media, claiming the TV company misled him by replacing his wife with a homosexual man rather than a woman.
The episode featuring Mr Bedford was broadcast on Channel 4 last month but has not yet been shown on US TV.
His claim, filed at the US district court in Oklahoma, says he was threatened that the whereabouts of his wife would not be revealed to him if he did not participate in the show. He also alleges he was forbidden from contacting his wife during filming and was told several times by producers that she was leaving him.
In the lawsuit, which is also against US TV network ABC and its owner Walt Disney, Mr Bedford claims he was so emotionally distraught he became physically and mentally ill.
Mr Bedford, of Haileyville, Oklahoma, also says he was not allowed to continue his college studies during filming and as a result was dropped from a class.
His £5.8million action consists of a £2.9million claim for mental stress, humiliation and hospital bills, and £2.9million in punitive damages.
RDF Media, ABC and Disney reject Mr Bedford's claims.
RDF chief creative officer Stephen Lambert said: 'As with all contributors to Wife Swap, Mr Bedford was made fully aware of what was going to happen, including the fact his new "wife" might be of either sex.'
The case will be heard in September.
