Channel 5’s Wife on Strike | What is it about, when does it air and is it anything like Wife Swap?

Are you that person who is constantly irritated by doing all the household chores while your significant other is sitting on the couch, playing EA FC 24 or watching football and not lifting an inch to help around the house? Then Channel 5’s new reality series, ‘Wife on Strike,’ might be that bit of catharsis required if talking through your issues is coming to a dead end.

The new series focuses on two families per episode and addresses the lack of equity when it comes to undertaking those day-to-day, humdrum domestic chores that, let's be honest, no one really wants to do but they have to be undertaken. Though the title is ‘Wife on Strike,’ the participants involved aren’t always just the females of the species - it turns out males are equally perturbed by these situations too. 

The participants ‘down tools’ are followed for a week as their partners and families learn to deal with just how much work goes into keeping a house in an orderly fashion, with the hope that by the end of the week-long experiments, those ‘workshy’ partners gain a new appreciation into just exactly how much effort goes into maintaining a healthy, domesticated household, and with it the possibility of their partners helping around the house a little more.

What is ‘Wives on Strike’ about?

“In two-thirds of households across the UK, the responsibility for chores fails on one person. Now, in two separate homes in London, two women have had enough and put their partners to the test as they go ‘on strike’.”

Is it similar to ‘Wife Swap’ by chance?

Though the reality element (based inside a household and centred around real-life families) lends itself to the format one might be familiar with through the television series ‘Wife Swap,’ it doesn’t see the titular wife on strike leaving their families. 

However much like ‘Wife Swap,’ the drama and intrigue come from those family members who have to deal with a sudden change in circumstances as the sometimes put-upon partners decide they’re no longer going to undertake those chores. With that in mind, there is somewhat of a parallel to ‘Wife Swap,’ but purely around the idea of what happens when the strike occurs, and the drama within the households that unfolds. 

When does ‘Wife on Strike’ air on Channel 5?

‘Wife on Strike’ debuts on Channel 5 on Monday November 6 2023 at 9pm, with episodes available to watch on demand through My5.