In what will so not be a trainwreck at all, Ted Haggard and Gary Busey are both slated to appear on a new reality show called Celebrity Wife Swap. 

The Wife Swap concept isn’t new to viewers, and the celebrity version has been done in the UK before. If you haven’t caught an episode in the years it’s been aired on ABC and in syndication on Lifetime, the concept is basically this- two families with radically different profiles are selected and the wives/moms are “swapped.” (So it’s not nearly as compelling as it sounds.) For instance, a conservative, religious family who lives in the mountains are matched up with a city-dwelling, high-style materialistic clan- and predictable hijinks ensue, with everyone usually learning something and tearfully reuniting with their family of origin at the end.

The “celebrity” riff is a bit new to US audiences, and the choice of Haggard and Busey is particularly interesting. Haggard, as you may recall, was a mega-church preacher and highly regarded in the evangelical movement until a 2006 scandal involving a male escort and crystal meth. Haggard’s struggles and eventual removal from the church he founded were documented in the HBO documentary The Trials of Ted Haggard, and the ex-preacher came out as bisexual earlier this year. Gary Busey, is, of course, Gary Busey.

It seems Haggard’s trials have softened his stance on sin, as the former leader had this to say in a TLC special earlier this year:

“I’m a broken man. I know why poor people drink. I think I know why rich people drink. I think I know why they take drugs. I know why they get to a place where they’ll just have sex with anyone or anything. And that’s not the best that God has.”

Filming for the Ted Haggard/Gary Busey edition of Wife Swap began today in an interesting choice of venue- GLBT Pride Center in Colorado Springs.

Ted Haggard, Gary Busey to Appear on ‘Celebrity Wife Swap’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Alicia Guasteferro, a teen beauty queen from Upstate New York who appeared on ABC’s “Wife Swap,” is suing ABC and a company affiliated with the production of the show, claiming fallout from the episode ruined her life.

Guasteferro claims that the episode in which she appeared when she was fifteen so drastically affected her public treatment that she went from being an “honor student” to finishing out high school in a “special program.” (The teen’s claims about her previous academic prowess seem to run contrary to footage from the show where her mother did all of her homework for her.) Guasteferro’s parents said on the show that their daughter’s looks superseded her need to complete her own schoolwork and that they feared upsetting her:

“We want Alicia to get good grades but school projects can take too much time, especially with all of her extra-curricular activities,” she said. “To help her out Ralph and I have done all of her school projects for her.”

She added later, “If she has projects that involve design or drawing one of our staff members does them for her because they are great artists. Teachers are always very impressed with her projects and she enjoys taking credit for them. When you look as good as Alicia having brains is just an added bonus.”

The teenager says that her mother was responsible for the way she appeared on the program, and that the elder Guasteferro pocketed the $20,000 compensation afforded for appearing on “Wife Swap,” sharing none of it with her daughter. Alicia Guasteferro claims she now suffers from panic attacks and “other psychological disorders.” She is seeking $100 million in damages, and her lawyers had this to say in court documents filed against ABC and RDF Media:

“For their own profit, defendants purposefully, intentionally and knowingly caused severe emotional and psychological harm to a fragile 15-year-old,” say her lawyers in the lawsuit.

Guasteferro’s parents Karen and Ralph currently face 16 and 57 months in federal prison for fraud charges unrelated to their appearance on “Wife Swap.” Video below shows the start of the episode of “Wife Swap” featuring Alicia Guasteferro.

[Vancouver Sun]

“Wife Swap” teen sues ABC for $100M is a post from: The Inquisitr

Around 0:35, when asked why Falcon didn’t respond to calls, Falcon replies, “…you guys said… uh…  we did this for the show…”

Things get all quiet, then mom Mayumi Heene just says unsteadily, “…no.”

Whoops?

Did Falcon Heene out balloon incident as a publicity stunt on CNN? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Police are searching the skies for a Fort Collins, Colorado boy who floated away from the family home on an “experimental aircraft” this morning.

Police say that the homemade dome-shaped, 20 foot, 5 foot aircraft (covered with foil) was tethered with a rope while the family constructed it. Some time this morning, the family’s six-year-old son entered the craft and released the rope. Neighbors have spotted the craft nearby, and the Federal Aviation Administration is helping track the aircraft on its radar tower. Denver International

Airport has been notified about the situation.

The FAA is reporting that the craft was last spotted twenty-six miles east of Fort Collins in Greeley, Colorado.

Update: The craft has not yet been located, but aviation expert Greg Feith spoke to News 9 about the logistics of the rescue:

“It is an unusual event and the big thing now is trying to get that child down from this balloon. It’s all going to depend on of course the environment. It’s windy outside so it’s going to keep it adrift for quite a while. The helium, depending on the size of this thing, if it ran into very cold air, it may help it come down as you know if you let a helium balloon go the higher it gets it’ll stagnate only because of the cold air,” Feith said.

Feith added that without knowing the structural integrity of the aircraft it is difficult to know how it will withstand any turbulence.

“The other key here is the structural integrity. Not knowing how it’s constructed and given the fact that we do have these wind conditions which of course create turbulence we don’t know how much turbulence this airship, if you will, can actually withstand so there’s a lot of external factors here,” he added.

Update 2: The family are the storm-chasing Heenes featured on an episode of ABC’s Wife Swap.

Update 3: The craft has landed. The boy has not yet been removed from the craft, and it is unlikely he is still inside. Reports indicate the boy may have fallen from the craft elsewhere. The boy has been identified as 6-year-old Falcon Heene.

Update 4: Reports indicate the child may have never been in the balloon to begin with.

Update 5: The child, Falcon Heene, remains missing at 2:59pm local time. The boy’s brother reports that Falcon may have been in a box attached to the craft. He has been missing for several hours.

Update 6: Experts claim that the balloon couldn’t have supported the weight of the child (60 lbs.) and some news sources are speculating that the incident may be a publicity hoax.

Update 7: Falcon Heene has been found safe, and is reportedly home with his family. Reports indicate he was hiding in the attic the entire time.

[9News]

Updated: “Balloon Boy” found alive, home with family is a post from: The Inquisitr

Jamie Czerniawski, consummate Jersey Girl and ex-Wife Swap … (er, star?) was accused in June of stabbing her husband.

In the course of the divorce, new details have emerged, and it appears Jamie was getting hot and heavy via mobile Facebook with a scandal prone member of the NYFD just prior to the violent incident. Michael Biserto of Brooklyn’s Ladder Co. 131 was known previously for a pre-NYFD full-frontal video he did for Guys Gone Wild that came to light when he graced the NYFD’s 2008 calendar. Now he’s in the news for being named in court in the ugly Wife Swap split-up.

The New York Post printed excerpts of the sexting:

“I want to let you know just how f- – -ing bad I wanna f- – - you right now!!!! Can you get out??” Czerniawski, 30, asks Biserta, 25, in a May 18 text.

Earlier that day, she wrote Biserta: “I miss your lips!”

“Want you,” the handsome hose man replied.

“Mmm, can’t wait!!!!!!!!!”" she texted.

The NYP adds that they then “appeared to discuss firehose hookups.” Uh huh. It also seems that Biserto admits to being a serial workplace-schtupper, when he says:

“If your [sic] in Brooklyn you can stop by. [It] won’t be like last time so I wouldn’t even bother . . . it’s usually not that quiet around the fh [firehouse] but we’ll work something out . . . “

Czerniawski wasn’t the only one creeping in the scenario. The Post reports that Biserto is engaged to a Staten Island woman. Documents filed in Jamie Czerniawski’s divorce indicate that ten hours before she stabbed her husband in what she claims was self defense, she received a suggestive message from Biserto.

Wife Swap’s Jamie Czerniawski was sexting before stabbing husband is a post from: The Inquisitr

For this little dude, bacon is the last straw.

You can take his momma away for the week, but God help you if you touch his bacon.

[Via Jezebel]

Video: Give me bacon or give me death! is a post from: The Inquisitr

Wife Swap‘s Jamie Czerniawski has been charged with aggravated assault after an incident that landed her husband in the intensive care unit. Or as they call it in Jersey, having a discussion.

Czerniawski, 30, claims she was acting in self defense. Her husband Charles, 34, spent two days in ICU, lost four pints of blood and remains unable to use his right arm. Jamie contends the late night fight over Memorial Day Weekend started over an innocent phone call from a friend, who happened to be a dude. From the New York Post:

A jealous Charles, she said, grabbed her wrist and said, “If I can’t have you, no one can.”

He pinned her against the kitchen island, but Jamie said she broke free and grabbed a knife. When Charles grabbed her and pinned her shoulders to the floor with his knees, she said, she struck him with the blade.

She said she initially didn’t tell cops her side of the story because she “didn’t want him to get in trouble.”

Jamie told the post if she hadn’t fought back, she might have been killed. She contends she came clean after her husband emptied all their bank accounts and cut Jamie and the kids off financially.

Wife Swap’s Jamie Czerniawski accused of stabbing husband is a post from: The Inquisitr