Wife Swap 07/10/2003 - anyone watch it?

[Wile-E]

Man what a farce, but look at that welfare family, over £37k claimed benefit income - wonder if it's possible? Well here's my take on how it IS possible (posted this on the Channel4 forum for the show when people mocked the claim) -

Is it possible? A question a lot of people have raised. Well, yes it certainly is and potentially they could be claiming a lot more.

Child Benefit - £16.05 for the eldest and £10.75 each for the other 7 kids.

They mentioned Lizzie and the kids had "chronic asthma" so no doubt they are claiming Disability Living Allowance for that - the rates are £57.20 per week highest rate for an adult pluse another £39.95 mobility allowance. £53.55 per week highest rate for a child plus £39.40 mobility allowance (remember there's 8 kids there!)...

Then assuming Mark is actually claiming to be looking for work (JSA) rates are £85.75 per week for a couple over 18 with children PLUS £38.50 per child.

Now add onto that free rent, paid council tax, free prescriptions, dental, eyecare, milk tokens for the children etc etc etc.

Our welfare system needs a severe kick up the backside when people are allowed to breed freely like this with no means to support their families the payments limit should be the first 2 children.

[Blue Cow]

Hi Wile-E

I missed this last one, but after reading your post, I am now going to have to watch the E4 repeat out of principle.

I have a fundamental problem with most of the mothers on this program, in that they all say how much they love their children and put them first etc, but are still able to leave them for two weeks with a stranger and no contact. I seriously could never do that, even if Channel 4 were going to pay me a nice sum of money and all my mates could see me on the telly.

As for the benefit, £37k sounds quite a lot, but if they had 8 children, then yes I'm sure it could be done.

Take care

Blue Cow

[Beth]

they talked about this on the wright stuff this morning

and the lady in question rang in and spoke on the show.

it is important I think to bear in mind that up to 2 1/2 years ago the husband was working, by which point they had 5 kids, he was then made redundant from his council job.

yes, they did chose to have have 3 more offspring after he was made redundant.

there are pros and cons in this story, and I am not willing to judge them by my standards.

[rockbank]

I think it was clear that the couples were from two different worlds hence this is probably why they were put together. This is always the problem with these types of shows. It also happens with Neighbours From hell shows where the object is to entertain in a perverse voyeuristic way rather than trying to address the problem.

I think a lot of editing went into this programme.

But ask me who I'd want as neighbours and it definitely would not be Lizzie( the one with 8 kids)

[Mistyeyeddreamer]

Yes, I watched it. I think the welfare state has been used and abused by a lot of people so I'm not going to mention that.

But I did think the woman Lizzie was a little..er..unhinged! The language from her and her husband would make a trooper blush! I thought it was disgusting. There was absolutely no need for her to insult the other woman (Emma?) the way she did. She did not know her but decided she was everything she hated. And did her mouth ever stop? She could harangue for England :o Totally self obsessed, she was right and everybody else was wrong! She obviously didn't trust her husband. And she claimed to be working her a**e off, when she'd sat in her pyjamas all day! What a liar!

All in all I think Emma and Colin got the worse of the deal! I'm afraid as soon as I saw Lizzie I had an idea what she'd be like, she looked far too much like one of my NFH! Oh and selfish, she suffers from asthma as do some of her children but she still smoked! Even I, a smoker, think that was not on.



Misty

[Matthew]

I saw some of this as Beth was watching it, was this the episode where the guy (seriously) wanted his wife to treat/call him the master of the house?! :lol:

[Beth]

Originally posted by Matthew@Oct 8 2003, 9:16 PM
I saw some of this as Beth was watching it, was this the episode where the guy (seriously) wanted his wife to treat/call him the master of the house?! :lol:
umm I was flicking through the channels actually!

and it was a differnt one matthew!! :lol:

[mazza]

I saw the end of it but will try and catch the repeat on E4 too (a la Blue Cow!).

I did think that the figures they quoted sounded a little excessive...not sure how they exactly got to 37 K. It'd be very interesting to get a complete breakdown of that ;) .

Yes, Lizzie was totally outrageous, but I noticed that they did say 'goodbye' nicely at the very end, so I wonder how much we saw was 'whipped up' by the TV company :lol:

[hollygolightly]

The mother of the eight kids was particularly vicous towards the other woman on GMTV on Tuesday morning.

I didn't watch the programme last night, but on Tues am. she was saying that she had to leave early because she couldn't stand the thought of her husband being left with "that woman" who had stolen a married man.

It'll probably make some sense to those who watched it? :huh: ;) :rolleyes:

[Blue Cow]

I saw the end of it but will try and catch the repeat on E4 too (a la Blue Cow!).

Hi Mazza

It's on 10pm on E4 on Friday.

Please no comments everyone on how I need to get a life, I already know!

Blue Cow

[mazza]

BC -
You and me both then, eh?? :blink: :hihi:

As if we ain't got enough to do !! :lol:

[Blue Cow]

Mazza :lol:

I can always multi-task ....wifeswap + ironing / wifeswap + cleaning / wifeswap + finish decorating the living room / wifeswap + get my house ready for my little boys party on Saturday / wifeswap + wine .....take your pick!

;)

[Wile-E]

Beth, I only go off my own feelings based on the information I'm presented with. What you see on the programme is more than enough to make things very clear and it's been added to by the subsequent interviews.

They are clearly claiming either incapacity benefit or disability living allowance to be on that kind of benefit based income and yet they're chain smoking their heads off around 8 kids who are supposed to be chronic asthmatics!

The programme was a complete nightmare to watch for every hard working family out there, channel 4's own forums are being hammered with outraged viewers at the minute and it seems there's a few there that know these people. Someone posted their benefit office phone number, which has apparantly been deluged with calls of complaint.

But I mean all in all, they simply weren't pleasant people in any way shape or form, the house she (Lizzy) went too was nice but wasn't a palace yet she immediately rooted through the cupboards and made assumptions based on where the people shopped.. she was rude and obnoxious to the other womans husband even when he was going out of his way to be nice to her and acted the perfect host. Right from the start of the programme, before the swap had begun, she was assuming the other woman was going to be a "sl*pper" so she was clearly insecure about the whole thing from the word go. She called Emma a sl*pper, trollop and a housewrecker based on barely any information which I thought was a bit rich for someone with 8 kids and not all by the same father!

[rockbank]

Lizzie's milking her fame for what its worth in The Daily Mirror today. She comes across even worse IMO.

Daily Mirror Article (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/content_objectid=13494968_method=full_siteid=50143 _headline=-WIFE-SWAP-MUM--I-M-NO-WAYNETTA-SLOB--name_page.html)

[Wile-E]

Good lord, how many times do you hear this excuse from people trying to justify why they dont WANT to work - "But at the end of the day we are only getting what we are legally entitled to."

And this line is rich when the entire household is a smog of fag smoke - "One of the reasons we get so much is that we have eight children and three of my children are asthmatic."

Just makes me even more angry. If either one of them got off their backsides and into work they'd qualify for Child Tax Credits etc, but no that means they'd have to go out and do something everyday to get their money doesn't it. Makes me puke. So they're proud they are paying a mortgage on the house are they? nice, it's other people's tax's that are paying that mortgage, not their income.

sc*m, that's all I can say, sc*m.

[rockbank]

For those that missed it its on again tonight on Channel 4 at 11:40pm I believe.

I think Lizzie is now selling whats left of her soul. Problem is the devil usually has a nasty habit of coming round to collect.

[freakyfun]

I read the Daily Mail article ... OMG!

I really would not like her living next to me. She seemed arrogant, rude and most of all .. uneducated (either by choice or by lack of opportunity , I don't know which).

FF

[Mistyeyeddreamer]

According to the Daily Mail here's a breakdown of the Bardsleys' benefits:

Child benefit: £4,747.60 per year

Carers allowance (for Marky Jay whois has chronic asthma) £5,691.40

Income support for Mrs.B and children: £13,710.84

Incapacity Ben. Mr.B who has depression £4,446

DLA for Marky Jay £5,051.80

DLA for Vienna who is also asthmatic £3,754.40

Total: £37,402.04

And that doesn't seem to take into account the mortgage interest payments, council tax rebate, free prescriptions etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Misty

[Wile-E]

I hate it when I'm right.. I'd posted how it was possible for them to get that kind of money and hey presto... :(

The thing with CHB, DLA and Incap is that it isn't counted as part of your income for any other benefit and once you realise that you can also claim other tacked on benefits like the mobility and carrers allowances it adds a lot, especially when as you see they're all managing to wangle claims.

I mean come on, what has that lazy s*d Mark to be depressed about (apart from living with Lizzy!) the rest of the country are paying everything for them, WE are even being so kind as to pay for their house! What happens when their mortgage is paid? Does the country own the house? NO, they do and will probably make a hefty profit from selling it when they eventually do.

[Eskander]

The daily Mirror article was fascinating, i didn't see the prgramme but understand a bit more now. I really like the quote:

" It ended with me saying I knew he thought I was an arrogant, obnoxious ignoramus and storming outside for a fag" So the famous Lizzie does have some self-awareness then!

[lauraakafoxy]

Here here !!!!! i saw the last 5 mins and really find it pointless - why on earth would they do that??? even for money its not good i would never go on there

[Blue Cow]

Wile-E


I hate it when I'm right

Yeah - sure you do!! :lol: :lol:

[Wile-E]

Unfortunately I'm in a position where I can easily see how this sort of thing happens, worse I'm in a position where there is nothing I can do about it other than rant and rave :(

This week my favourite number is 240. One day I'll explain that little comment... Probably after another mess like this hit's the press ;)

[lauraakafoxy]

i couldn't take part in it - what if ur partner liked them and cheated and your humiliated on tv!!!! especially when they have kids - i think its a really bad idea!

[Wile-E]

No, nothing to do with LSD... lol...

It's just something I've got to allow for in a programme I'm coding that kind of ties in with why everyone hates Lizzy and Mark, though has nothing to do with them...

very cryptic, but it's probably wisest for me not to explain any further... heh... it's just a potential number of times something could happen under certain circumstances, though in reality never should...

[rockbank]

http://community.channel4.com/6/ubb.x?a=tp...372&m=619608292 (http://community.channel4.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=162603557&f=361608372&m=619608292)

Turns out on the Channel 4 forum that a few people have posted who know Lizzie.

Apparently she was a genuine Neighbour From Hell. Maybe she still is.

I wish I could say I'm surprised but I'm not.

So right bang back on topic I'd say.

[Mistyeyeddreamer]

Apparently she was a genuine Neighbour From Hell. Maybe she still is.


No surprise there then! What I want to know is if she can afford £70 a week on bingo she's obviously getting far too much. Many people, through no fault of their own, have to survive on a lot less than that every week.

I'm a smoker but if my children were suffering from asthma I certainly wouldn't be smoking around them. Why isn't she, and her smoker husband, being prosecuted for child abuse? Because that's what it is! She claimed in the programme, with tears in her eyes, that her children were the most precious things in her life, well she has a funny way of showing it. Obviously her fags are more important than her sick children!

Sheesh, I'd better stop now, otherwise I'd be going on for hours....sorry :blush:

Misty

[mazza]

:o

Uuurk, I feel really depressed now. :sad:

Some of us are barely scratching out a living at the moment... :(

That 37 K is actually just the tip of the iceberg then - take into accout free school meals, school trips too probably, prescriptions, mortgage interest (unless that was part if the IS figure), council tax benefit, concessions at days out ... Milk tokens...various maternity grants in the past (pretty generous they are too)...grants for household things, school uniform grants...social fund payments (possibly). Eeeek!

I don't want to even think of the more thousands they have had !

[Beth]

70 quid a week on bingo!!!! :o

thats scanderlous!!!!

Jueezzz, I wish I had 70 quid a week to squander!!!

[hollygolightly]

And if she wins big on Bingo, that's even more dosh. :huh:

[freakyfun]

£70 a week on bingo equates to £280 a month or £3360 a year.

I would need roughly a 25% pay rise to cover that sort of expendature !!!! (we're only getting 3.5% this year worst luck!)

FF

[Blue Cow]

Sorry to be flippant (it's a recognised personality fault of mine!), but I just thought that it was hilarious that whenever she went out anywhere nice, she put her "good" hair on.

:)

Back to the bingo....with eight children she certainly should be spending the money on other things.

[Mistyeyeddreamer]

Roflmao@HN :lol:

Still, it's nice to know where our taxes are going ;)

Misty

[Annabel]

:rolleyes:

Just to change direction slightly, did any one see the Wife Swap where they swapped two brothers' wives? it was the first one I think. One bro was very poor, one very well off and they hadnt seen each other for 8 years.

That programme was very touching and a really positive ending came out of it. Shame they arent getting the publicity and this silly old hag is.

[Mistyeyeddreamer]

Yes, Annabel, I saw that one and have to agree with you. It was quite touching to see the 'rich brother' realise that he needed to spend more time with his wife and children. Just goes to show, money doesn't bring happiness :) (But it can make misery very comfortable ;) )

Misty

[Blue Cow]

The best part was at the end of the show, the update implied that he'd kept true to his word to his family. I thought that it was really sweet.

[Blue Cow]

Hia H

It stands for Rolling On Floor Laughing My A*** Off - but I stand to be corrected :hihi:

[Mistyeyeddreamer]

Got it in one, BC :lol:

Misty

[lauraakafoxy]

Did everyone see lasts nights one?
Thought it was hilarious!! Two completely opposite families was well amusing!
I thought it was sad how the step dad roy couldn't get close to the kids but he made an effort and hopefully will keep it up!

[Blue Cow]

Hi Laura,

I personlly think that Roy needed another week or so to chill a bit more :fun: as I got the impression that the schedules were going back in force straight away. It was quite touching that he made the effort, and I don't think that it will be completely lost on him.

The other dad behaved just like a six year old. It reminded me of home!!

I thought it was reallly sweet how Belinda adopted the bunny and guinea pig after the swap :wub:

Blue Cow

[rockbank]

After seeing Lizzy on week 2, all the families are comparative saints. :angel: