Wife Swap became a ratings and critical hit after its 2003 UK launch

TV network ABC commissioned the reality show, in which women switch husbands and families, from London-based production company RDF Media.

Twenty hour-long episodes will be broadcast in the ABC network's coveted 10pm slot on Wednesdays.

ABC said: "Never before has a reality series taken such an honest inside look at the American family."

Awards

Wife Swap was a word-of-mouth hit after its UK launch in January 2003, becoming Channel 4's second biggest hit last year - beaten only by the Big Brother 4 final.

It went on to win a Bafta TV Award, Golden Rose and four Broadcast magazine TV prizes, and a celebrity spin-off edition was made.

Last year the ABC network commissioned a pilot US version of Wife Swap, which RDF produced alongside six other episodes.

Before these were broadcast, a further 13 episodes were commissioned in a deal worth �7.5m to the independent production company.

Jade Goody and Charles Ingram appeared in Celebrity Wife Swap

RDF's creator of programmes Stephen Lambert told The Independent newspaper: "In many ways, it's worked even better than in Britain because there's such a variety of people here and Americans are good at being larger than life."

One of the participants in the US series is a Manhattan millionairess who swaps wife a woodsman's wife from New Jersey, he said.

"There's a hunger for new ideas in America. The diversity of the British market means we've got an enormous variety of programmes."

Expectations are high for Wife Swap in the US, where it will be broadcast directly after The Batchelor, ABC's highest rating returning show.