Des Allemands family to appear on ABC show

Gregory Dufrene, Jr. swapped his wife Brandi for a ballerina from California. The results of the two-week social experiment will be broadcast on ABC on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.

A Louisiana bayou mama and a tutu-toting California princess swapped lives and families for two weeks. Brandi and Gregory Dufrene, Jr., of Des Allemands, and Monique and Mike Melton, of Huntington Beach, Calif., were participants on the reality television show “Wife Swap” that will air Oct. 24 on the ABC network.

“Wife Swap” isn’t a competition or a contest. It is a reality show where the couples battle it out and determine the best method for child-rearing and day-to-day living.

Monique wound up in Des Allemands, learning about crawfishing, frogging and the country way of life.

Brandi got to experience life in the fast lane when she headed to California. Both wives had to make rules for their new family. Some of the rules went okay and others didn’t go so well at all.

“I missed my boys and wanted to come home,” Brandi said. “There are major differences in the way we raise our three boys and the way the Melton’s raise their only son, Jake. We had one week of living their way and one week with our new rule changes.”

Brandi says living the Melton’s way was boring because she didn’t have very much to do.

“I had to learn ballet, host a wine and cheese party, and I had to go to art museums and look at art,” Brandi said. “Mike, Monique’s husband, wanted to introduce me to culture and art.”

Each member of the Melton family is a ballerina.

Brandi says Jake, the Melton’s only child, is 13 years old and her rule changes  for him involved experiencing more social activities because he didn’t have any friends other than the girls at his parent’s dance studio.

Brandi says having a ballerina for a son is something she wouldn’t want for her boys.

“Throughout  the television show I couldn’t hide my feelings about that,” Brandi said. “I think that Jake is protected from other kids because his family is afraid that the children will think he is too feminine.”

Brandi says Jake’s lack of social outings really bothered her.

“He didn’t really have any friends outside of his parent’s dance studio,” Brandi said. “His parents are both very overprotective of him and most people will see that when they watch the show. I wouldn‘t want my boys to be ballerinas, but I do realize they do need male ballerinas in the world – just as long as it’s not my sons.”

Brandi arranged for Jake to have a day of fun with some kids in the neighborhood and that became one of the many problems between her and West Coast dad Mike.

“At one point Mike asked me to leave his home,” Brandi said. “Whatever his child experiences he wants it to come through him and not outsiders. Plus, they put me and Mike together and our personalities clashed because we both like to be in control of things.”

Gregory had a better experience with his fake wife, because  Monique is very mild mannered and easy going. The first week, Monique had to go crawfishing and frogging, all while managing three very active boys.

“Monique wanted my boys and I to get more culture and we didn‘t mind,” Gregory said. “She wanted us to go eat out at fancy restaurants and  go to the opera.”

Gregory complied with what  Monique asked as she dressed his family in suits and had them experience the finer things life. That was a big change from when Monique first met Gregory’s three boys Dallan, Gavan and Zane. When she arrived at the home they were all playing in a ditch.

“She didn’t allow us to do any frogging, crabbing, fishing or crawfishing,” Gregory said. “She stopped the boys from doing all outdoor activities and they really didn’t like that too much.”

Gregory said Monique’s goal was for them to become gentlemen for the week.
“We went to an opera in New Orleans and we dined at a very fancy restaurant,” Gregory said. “We also hosted a wine and cheese party.”

Some local celebrities attended, among them were guests from Vous Salon and Spa and public officials like District 4 Councilman Paul Hogan.

“The only problem Monique and I had was she couldn’t understand the way I talked,” Gregory said. “She made me take speech therapy lessons.”

As Gregory speaks throughout the show words are put up on the screen to tell everyone watching what he’s actually saying.

Gregory wound up in speech classes and ultimately lost his voice.  To everyone’s surprise, doctors discovered that Gregory had polyps on his vocal cords that had to be removed.

“I lost my voice and could barely talk after the speech lessons,” he said. “But I guess it was a good thing she made me do that you know, because they did find those polyps.”

The episode will air on ABC on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.

 

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