The cable refuses to air the episode featuring the Heene family after the media ruckus surrounding the incident last week.
- Oct 21, 2009
AceShowbiz - Lifetime, which acquired the right to re-run "Wife Swap" from ABC, has decided to pull out an episode featuring the Heenes. The family have particularly become a media sensation in the past few days for staging a balloon incident which has allegedly been declared by authorities as a hoax.
"Once we found out [it was a hoax], we decided to pull it off the air," a spokesperson for the cable said. The episode was scheduled to be re-aired on Thursday, October 29 at 2/1c long before the incident took place last week. While investigation is still ongoing, the spokesperson added, "At this time, we don't have any plans to air it in the near future." Instead, Lifetime may re-run an episode of the show which features another family.
In the episode, the Heenes exchange partners with the Martels. Jay Martel runs a child-proofing business which the Heene can't compromise. Mayumi wonders how the family have fun with all the safety gates while Karen Martel is horrified how the kids can jump off banisters and run wild.
Richard and Mayumi Heene made a call to 911 on Thursday, October 14 claiming that their 6-year-old named Falcon Heene may be inside a home-made balloon which was flying over Colorado. It turned out the balloon was empty and Falcon was hiding in a box in the attic. It later on became suspicious when Falcon said "you guys said we did it for a show" when asked by his parents why he did not come out of the hiding when everybody was searching for him.
Federal Aviation Administration are still investigating the case to determine whether it is a media stunt or not. If proven a hoax, Richard and Mayumi could be facing a number of charges.
Sneak Peek of the Heenes on "Wife Swap":
