March 24, 2005 -- A father who allegedly struck his 13-year-old daughter during the taping of "Wife Swap" has forced ABC to scrap the entire episode.
Yanni Panagiotakis, a Nashville, Tenn., restaurant owner, was arrested at his home Tuesday night after the incident — which reportedly happened while cameras were rolling.

According to Nashville police, Panagiotakis, 38, was driving his daughter to a friend's house while being filmed by a "Wife Swap" camera crew traveling in another car.

When they arrived at the friend's house, the film crew noticed the girl had "obvious injuries" to her nose and cheek.

She told them her father had struck her several times in the face "because she was not wearing a coat," according to police.

The production crew then put the girl and her 9-year-old brother in their car, without their father, and took the girl to a local hospital, where she was treated and released.

After learning of his arrest, ABC scrapped the "Wife Swap" episode in which Panagiotakis' wife traded places with a mom from California.


ABC immediately flew Panagiotakis' wife back to Nashville and sent the California mom home.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

This tells me we might see Wife Swap this summer then... since they still have a few episodes they were supposed to air in the can, plus the ones they are still producing.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

This tells me we might see Wife Swap this summer then... since they still have a few episodes they were supposed to air in the can, plus the ones they are still producing.

I know it will air in May.
A few weeks ago they filmed one in my area (Syracuse, NY) and the mother wanted her "new" kids to excercise more. They were brought to a local community center where they played dodgeball.

They set it up specifically for Wife Swap. My brothers' best friends' father runs the place, and his kids and all their friends played dodgeball with the kids from the show, even though they were a few years younger.

Everyone had to sign a consent form, along with their parents, and they were told to look out for it to air in May. No specific airdate was given.