Alaska News

Palin sisters to appear on ABC's 'Celebrity Wife Swap'

The Palins return to reality TV this month when sisters Bristol, 22, and Willow, 18, star on a new episode of ABC's "Celebrity Wife Swap."

The gimmick: Comedian Joan Rivers and daughter Melissa trade lives with the Palin daughters. Melissa arrived in snowy Wasilla in May to help care for Bristol's 4-year-old son, Tripp, ABC says. Bristol, meanwhile, pitched in at Rivers' Los Angeles home, which doubles as a TV production office.

Filming has finished, with the episode premiering June 23.

Here's the pitch from ABC:

Meeting Willow and Tripp, Melissa finds it a challenge to deal with Tripp's boyish exuberance, and feels that he needs to have a set daily routine. Aunt Willow is no help when it comes to discipline, and in fact is often the instigator behind Bristol's back. But Melissa is determined to bring structure to the Palin home, so when it's time for the rules change, she immediately initiates a new sticker chart reward system for Tripp. She also applies rules changes to Willow, helping Willow to get one step closer to following her passion in a career.

No mention of Sarah or Todd. ABC spokeswoman Brooke Fisher said the former governor will not appear on the show.

Neither Bristol nor Willow are wives but that doesn't seem to be a deal breaker on the celebrity mash-up show's second season.

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Viewers will see Bristol, who previously appeared on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," reluctantly fill Melissa Rivers' shoes executive producing "Fashion Police" on E! Entertainment.

"When Joan throws a formal dinner party to welcome Bristol, it doesn't go as Bristol had expected, leading her to appreciate her life back in Alaska even more," the announcement says.

Alaska Film Office spokesman David Worrell said he first heard of the project when a reporter emailed about it Friday. The show isn't using the state film subsidy program, he said.

A spokeswoman for the production company, Zodiak USA, did not immediately return messages.

Previous "Celebrity Wife Swap" stars include actor Alan Thicke, comedian Gilbert Gottfried and rapper Coolio. The episode following the Palin/Rivers show will feature the girlfriend and wife of former WWE wrestlers "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.

Twitter updates: twitter.com/adn_kylehopkins. Call Kyle Hopkins at 257-4334 or email him at khopkins@adn.com.

By KYLE HOPKINS

khopkins@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins is special projects editor of the Anchorage Daily News. He was the lead reporter on the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Lawless" project and is part of an ongoing collaboration between the ADN and ProPublica's Local Reporting Network. He joined the ADN in 2004 and was also an editor and investigative reporter at KTUU-TV. Email khopkins@adn.com

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