Kendra Wilkinson and Kate Gosselin Swap Lives on Celebrity Wife Swap
Image credit: Donna Svennevik/ABC
ABCNEWS.COM: In the second season premiere of ABC’s “Celebrity Wife Swap,” former Playboy model Kendra Wilkinson and reality TV star Kate Gosselin changed households and saw the other’s daily life on the opposite coast.
Wilkinson is used to a Hollywood lifestyle that includes a helper in her Los Angeles mansion with her sports star husband Hank Baskett and two-and a-half-year-old son Hank Baskett IV. Kate Gosselin has a regimented schedule for her eight children in their Pennsylvania home.
When the two exchanged houses and children, mom styles were put in focus. Wilkinson started her East Coast day a lot earlier than she was used to with a 5:30 a.m. start. The only helper on hand for the eight children was Gosselin’s friend Deanna. Wilkinson soon learned that the children have a chore list that includes feeding the chickens.
Wilkinson even teared up over the Gosselin children, saying, “These kids have so many jobs to do. I’m a big believer in a kid being a kid. This is so hard.”
When Wilkinson was overwhelmed by the routine, Gosselin was amazed by the social life that Wilkinson enjoys. “It feels great to relax. This is what I’ve been missing,” she said. “I am very focused on my kids and maybe I do need to step away a bit and start dating.”
Both women learned from the other when they tried to impose their lifestyles on the other’s household.
In order to make life less hard and more fun, Wilkinson decided to have taco picnic on the floor and took the kids on a day out. When a taco mess resulted and a lack of control over the children occurred, Wilkinson wanted more rules.
“I’m starting to get why these eight kids have their strict schedule,” she said after juggling a schedule for eight times the amount of children. “It made me realize if I can do it with eight kids, I can do it with one.”
With just one child, Gosselin tried to impose responsibility through chores and a family dinner together at the same table.
“It’s like he’s craving structure,” Gosselin said about Wilkinson’s son.
By the show’s end, both women were happy to return to their own lives but glad to have seen how the other lives.