A former Wife Swap star has reflected on her time in the show, and she called it the ‘worst mistake’ of her life – claiming the series made her answer a 700-question psych evaluation and ‘exploited her pain’ for views.
The ABC show, which originally ran from 2004 to 2010 and was rebooted multiple times over the years, followed two women from different backgrounds as they traded their homes and families for two weeks.
During the first week, the moms had to follow the other’s rules, but during the second week, they were allowed to run the household their way.
At the end of the two weeks, the two women and their spouses would meet for a discussion.
Heidi Herrington, 36, appeared in a 2010 Season 6 episode of the show when she was in her early 20s.
In it, her mom, Lory Herrington, switched spots with another mom named Tera Trevino.
A former Wife Swap star has reflected on her time in the show, and she called it the ‘worst mistake’ of her life – claiming the series ‘exploited her pain’ for views
Heidi Herrington, 36, appeared in a Season 6 episode of the show when she was in her early 20s. Heidi (second to the right) is pictured with her family on the show
In the 2010 episode, her mom, Lory Herrington, switched spots with another mom named Tera Trevino. Lory is pictured with the Trevino family in the show
Heidi said that before appearing in the series, she had to take a 700-question psych eval. She claimed they then used her answers ‘to find her pain and exploit it for television’
But now, more than 10-years after it aired, she opened up about the experience, and she said the network did ‘horrible things’ to her and her family.
‘My family was in Wife Swap and it was the worst mistake of our lives. It was really bad,’ she said in a viral TikTok video.
Heidi claimed that before appearing in the series, she had to take a 700-question psych evaluation and have an hour-long interview with a psychologist.
She explained: ‘They phrased it as, “This is what we need to do to make sure you’re mentally sound enough to be on the show.” That sounded fine.
‘I filled it all out, but during my interview with the psychologist, I don’t remember all of the questions because it’s been a while but the one that stood out to me was, “What is something that really makes you sad? Something that makes you cry?”
‘I thought about it for a while and I said, “Well, growing up travelling full-time I get really lonely sometimes. When I feel alone, it makes me cry, it makes me really sad.”‘
According to Heidi, when Tera came to live with her and her family, she used that information against her.
‘I kid you f**king not, the first conversation I had with the other mother, it became a fight and she looked me dead in the f**king eyes and said, “You are alone. Nobody cares about you. You have no friends. I don’t care about you,”‘ she continued.
The ABC show followed two women from different backgrounds as they traded lives for two weeks. Heidi is pictured in the series with Tera and her family
In a press-release, Heidi’s family was described as ‘uptight Christian entertainers,’ while the Trevino family were called ‘low-riders.’ Heidi is pictured in the series with Tera and her family
Heidi said: ‘They decided that my family was “bad” and the other lady’s family was “good” and would do whatever it took to make that point.’ Heidi is pictured in the series with Tera and her family
The show originally ran from 2004 to 2010 but has been rebooted multiple times over the years. Heidi is pictured with Treva in the episode
More than a decade after swapping with Tera, Lory and her husband, James, are still together. Lory is pictured with her husband (left) and her daughter Heidi (right) in 2019
‘I just f**king like broke down, this was my trigger. They used the psych eval to find my pain and then exploited it for television.’
In a press-release for the episode, Heidi’s family was described as ‘uptight Christian entertainers,’ while the Trevino family was called ‘low-riders with few rules.’
Heidi added: ‘They had already decided during filming that my family was the “bad family” and the other lady’s family was the “good family” and they would do whatever it took to make that point.’
Now, more than a decade after swapping, Lory and her husband, James, are still together. However, since Tera does not use social media, it’s unclear if she and her husband are still married.
It turns out, this isn’t the first time someone has spoken out against the show. Back in 2010, a teen named Alicia Guastafarro reportedly sued the series for $100 million, claiming they ‘purposefully and intentionally’ exposed her to ‘ridicule, mockery and derision’ which ’caused severe emotional and psychological harm’ to the then-15-year-old.
She claimed she was instructed by the show to act spoiled which caused ‘incessant verbal and physical assaults from her peers.’ The suit was reportedly settled outside of court.