'Wife Swap' Reboot No Longer Coming to CMT, Airing on Paramount Network Instead

Ahead of its long-awaited return to television, the revival of Wife Swap is switching [...]

Ahead of its long-awaited return to television, the revival of Wife Swap is switching networks.

Instead of CMT, where it was initially slated to air beginning in February, the reboot of the reality series is moving to Paramount Network and will premiere in April, answering the question of where Wife Swap went after the show "missed" its premiere last month at CMT.

The move comes less than five months after Viacom restructured its network groups, streamlining its brand groups from five to four — putting Comedy Central, Paramount Network (previously Spike TV) and TV Land under Comedy Central president Kent Alterman, with MTV chief Chris McCarthy gaining oversight of CMT.

Keith Cox, president of development of Paramount Network and TV Land, who developed Wife Swap for CMT, pushed to keep it at Paramount Network after CMT moved out of the network group, according to The Wrap.

The revived series will follow the original show's formula with one added twist: husbands will be swapped as well. The show will see two families from different walks of life switch spouses for two weeks. At first, the swapped spouses are forced to adhere to rules and lifestyle of their new families, only to later establish their own rules on the family. Before the series was switched to Paramount Network, CMT promised that the new version would have families who switch lives "slowly learn to embrace their differences to come together and find common ground" over "politics, classism, gender and race."

Wife Swap first ran on ABC from 2004 to 2010 and was briefly revived in 2013. A celebrity edition ran for four seasons, going off the air in 2015.

"Wife Swap is an iconic international hit that's more relevant now than ever. There are plenty of fireworks in each episode that audiences expect, but they'll also be surprised as they watch these families learn about new lifestyles and choices to find resolution," Cox said in a Paramount press release earlier this month.

Wife Swap premieres on the Paramount Network on Thursday, April 4 at 9 p.m. ET.

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