How Clean Is Your House? and Wife Swap have been cancelled by Channel 4. The programmes have been pulled to make way for the 'next generation of ground-breaking shows' - a move which follows the cancellation of Big Brother earlier this year. Julian Bellamy, head of Channel 4, said both programmes had been 'huge hits', but were being dropped as part of the 'most significant creative transformation' in the channel's history. "The de-commission of Big Brother earlier this year has been the catalyst for a process of creative renewal right across Channel 4," he said. "As a result, I have now made the decision not to recommission Wife Swap and How Clean Is Your House? Both these shows have been huge hits for the channel, but our focus must now shift to finding the next generation of ground-breaking shows." Both shows have already been screened for the last time. "When Wife Swap launched it was a truly ground-breaking programme which heralded an era of new factual formats right across television," he said. "It was challenging, impactful and connected with a large, mainstream audience. I am now looking to find new ways to challenge the mainstream through entertaining and provocative programmes." An extra £20m has already been committed to drama from 2011. Wife Swap, produced by RDF Television, was first screened in January 2003. The Bafta-winning programme has run for 11 series and 83 episodes. How Clean Is Your House?, presented by Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie, was also first broadcast in 2003. Produced by Talkback Thames, it ran for six series and 77 episodes with ratings peaking at 5.1 million.
