Episode 2 Family Life Swap

Two sets of very different teenage sisters

living two very different lifestyles

are taking part in a unique life swap.

Hello! Hello.

12-year-old Jenni Whewell

and her 18-year-old sister Bonnie are struggling with exercise...

I don't do anything sporty.

..their diets...

I eat all this different kind of junk food.

Kebabs, burgers, chocolate.

..and their weight.

I've gone up from a size 8, to 10, to a 14.

But Bonnie and Jenni are not alone.

Because Welsh teenagers are the most overweight in Western Europe,

and 75% of those fighting the flab are girls.

In a week-long experiment, Bonnie and Jenni have swapped lives,

lifestyle and parents with the Thompson sisters.

Rosie, 15, and Eva, 13, are super healthy,

super active and very conscious of what they eat.

I don't like takeaway food.

You just suffer from eating it.

If it's curry, I start feeling sick.

But can the Thompson family inspire the Whewells, and us,

to overcome our national battle with the bulge?

It's just 24 hours into the seven-day experiment

that is the Swap, and already, faultlines have been showing.

Girls, this is some of the meal planners.

In Cardiff, Bonnie and Jenni Whewell agreed

to embrace the Thompson household's strict regimes.

My kids will have told you I'm a bit of a control freak.

But Bonnie's been struggling with the physical side of things.

My bum is killing.

Oh, I should be way fitter than this.

And Jenni's fussy food habits...

Do you like tomatoes? Nope.

Pears? Nope.

Strawberries? Nope.

Try it, you've got to try stuff. Nope, I'm not eating it.

..are causing friction.

Fine.

Whilst in Abersychan, far from helping the Whewell parents

address their unhealthy lifestyles...

Burgers? Erm, onions?

..sisters Rosie and Eva Thompson appear to have gone native.

The chicken looks nice, I might go for that first.

But the burgers look nice.

The steak was amazing, it was the best steak I've ever had.

The chicken. They know their flavours, they do.

Who's waiting for pudding? Me.

Can the experiment get back on track?

Or is this gravy train already off the rails?

I feel bloated. I feel sick. Very bloated.

It's 6.45am on the second day of the Swap.

And in Cardiff,

instead of their usual routine of gently waking at home

to the smell of frying bacon,

Bonnie and Jenni are about to get dragged out of bed.

Bonnie?

Sarah's about to set them to work on an empty stomach.

Bonnie, we have to go up and do the ponies.

So if we go up before breakfast...

OK.

This is awful.

Hello, Jenni. Go away.

Five miles outside Cardiff,

the Thompsons have two ponies - a stallion called Will

and a mare named Smarty - stabled on land they rent from a local farmer.

Having swapped lives with Eva and Rosie,

the discipline of feeding, grooming and mucking the ponies out

before breakfast now falls squarely to Bonnie and Jenni.

Although it's not so much the early start, the empty stomachs,

or even the thought of the hard work ahead

that's currently bothering the sisters.

Come on, fattie boy.

I really... I'm not fond of horses at all.

I'm scared of them bucking as well.

He's, um, quite bossy.

Move back, move back!

But there's no such thing as a free meal in the Thompson household,

so if the girls want more than gruel and water for breakfast,

they're going to have to get their hands dirty.

I'm scared!

But we'll give it a go, see what happens.

In Abersychan, there's been a more leisurely start to the morning.

After last night's big barbecue, there's a big breakfast.

Rosie and Eva have been tasked with getting the Whewell parents

fit and healthy, but faced with Helen's culinary onslaught,

there's been little progress so far.

The question is, just how long can they keep eating

and lazing around before they either rebel or explode?

I was actually hungry this morning.

I'm hungry, but I'm still bloated.

I was in the shower this morning and I was like...

it's still hard.

Not that that's stopping Rosie from indulging

in a small pre-fry-up hors d'ouevre.

How many have you had? Like, six? Half the pack.

They're my weakness! Look at them.

They even match my nails! This is meant to be.

I asked Rosie this morning, "Can I go for a run?"

And she was like, "Why do you want to go for a run?" You ask Helen.

Yeah, but we're not doing any activities

and I feel like I'm putting on weight.

She always thinks she's putting on weight. Yeah, but I am!

But you haven't, you've just eaten more food.

You wait, I'll puff out!

We'll see how we feel later. I'm going for a run later.

OK, OK.

Or tomorrow. Yeah, I'll go with you tomorrow. OK.

Meanwhile, back at the stables,

the girls are proving very reluctant to do any form of mucking in...

Want to give her some food? You can, go on.

Go on, just some cubes. No.

You don't like the slobber?

..let alone any mucking out.

I don't know what it is.

She looks really nice, I'm just too scared to touch.

When I do her feet, she bites my bum.

Finally, the threat of being given the horses' left-overs

for their breakfast persuades the girls to face their fears.

She's not going to bite my bum, is she? She's what?

She's not going to bite my bum now, is she? No, she won't.

You nervous? He's fine, he's fine, he's fine.

He's fine, Jenni's fine.

Bonnie's not fine.

You want to give her that carrot that I saved for you?

Still not up for that?

Go on, put it in the flat of your hand like that.

No, I can't, not feeding it yet. Go on, have a go.

This has been quite nerve-racking, but I'm OK now.

Jenni's OK. I'm scared.

Bonnie's in the last-chance saloon.

Either she feeds the horse, or she's having that hay for her breakfast.

That's it, go on, let her have it.

There we go.

Phew! That could've been the last straw for Bonnie!

It feels good to learn new things.

I kind of feel like I've broken a bit of a fear today.

And all of that before anyone has had a bite to eat.

If only the same could be said in Abersychan.

There you go, would you like some sauce? Thank you.

Yes, thanks. Do you like red sauce? Brown sauce?

Barbecue sauce? Gravy? Salad cream?

Red, I reckon.

Red? Anyone else? No, thanks.

There you go. Eva? Thank you.

Can I just have a little bit? Of course you can.

Thank you. You're welcome.

They're gentle.

When you eat as a family, do you tend to sit around the table together,

or do you eat on your lap in front of the telly?

That's one of the rules, always sit at the table.

That's a good rule.

Jenni would love that rule, because she's always nagging us.

If we sit and have our food on our lap,

she's always shouting at us, isn't she?

Do you like kebabs?

Yeah, I love a good kebab.

Excellent! That's my girl!

I was thinking...

perhaps we'll have kebab tonight?

Yeah.

What do you normally have? Lamb, chicken or mince?

Doner. A large doner kebab

with lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of chilli.

And what do you like?

I used to like the chicken ones,

then I found out how many chickens go into it.

Go on. 48.

Well, you get a lot for a fiver, don't you?!

So, it's not even 9am,

and in Abersychan, they've all ready consumed

half a packet of chocolate biscuits

and a full-cooked breakfast,

and now they're planning tonight's takeaway.

In Cardiff, meanwhile, after three hours of horseplay,

they're tucking into the breakfast of champions -

Weatabix, skimmed milk and artificial sweeteners.

Does anybody else want toast? No, thanks. No, thanks.

- So, what do you think today's going to hold? What are our fears?

Something underwater, or gymnastics!

What about pole vaulting? Or pole vaulting.

Either pole vaulting or ice skating, I can't ice skate.

So what are we doing today now?

Well, you're baking a cake...

..or several cakes, working with all that veg. What?

Do you just put veg in the cake? That's quite a good idea.

We could make a parsnip cake and then we could make

a courgette and carrot cake...

if we have enough ingredients. That's really weird. Is it nice?

Courgette and carrot cake is nice, parsnip's nice.

Have you had carrot cake before?

Yeah. Did you like that?

Nope. No. No, I do.

I don't like parsnips though, so I'll have to give it a try.

They don't taste like parsnips in the cake.

I'll try the parsnips, because I've never tried them before.

All right then, we could make you a courgette cake as well.

Mr Kipling, eat your heart out.

With the breakfast plates set to one side,

it's time for both households to get down to some serious baking.

In Abersychan, Helen Whewell's cake-making skills

are renowned throughout the Afon Lwyd valley -

births, deaths, marriages, coffee mornings, christenings,

afternoon tea - you name it, Helen's got a cake for it.

But surprisingly perhaps, in Cardiff,

the Thompson household is also partial to a bit of cake...

We're going to make a parsnip cake.

..albeit with qualified approval.

No. As long as they're active, then it's not really a problem

if they're eating cakes, because, at the end of the day,

they need that energy as well.

So as long it's in moderation...

Ah yes, "moderation" - well, that's a dirty word in some households.

I'm not very good with weighing this out, I just guess, OK.

So, whilst it's calorie-conscious pulped parsnips and wholemeal flour

in Cardiff - in Abersychan, anything goes, as long as it's full fat.

Do you like Philadelphia? Do you like cream cheese?

Never tried it. You've never tried it? Ooh.

Helen's showing Rosie and Eva how to make her infamous Flower Pots.

This is one that I did for Jenni's birthday.

It's a family favourite consisting of chocolate roll,

refined sugar,

double cream, cream cheese and crushed chocolate biscuits.

A recipe that, over in Cardiff, Sarah finds alarming.

Do you have a cake fetish in your house?

I think my mother does!

I think she has a fetish for making them.

Does she? And then does she make you taste them all?

Yes, and if you don't...

She'd get upset?

Yeah, she thinks you don't like it. Oh.

Well, lucky for Helen, in Abersychan this week,

she has a willing accomplice with a not-so-secret sweet tooth.

I love cakes.

I'm obsessed with them,

it's like they're beginning to become a big part of my life.

I dream sometimes about cake. Do you?

I dream about cupcakes and, like, the icing and decorating them...

..and I dream about my teeth falling out.

Really? Ooh, ooh.

I don't think I feel guilty, I just, like...

I feel like I know that they're not going to do me well.

Each and every one of Helen's yummy Flower Pots

contains around 800 calories -

that's a third of the recommended daily intake

for an active teenage girl.

It's quite rich, isn't it? Yeah.

It's nice.

And as a nurse, Sarah sees the sometimes shocking long-term effects

of such a rich, fat-filled diet.

A lot of people don't see the relationship between

what you do now and then what could happen in 20 or 30 years' time.

The worst things I've seen from things like diabetes

and people not looking after themselves

from a dietary point of view -

amputations of limbs,

because the poor circulations through their body...

and then you lose your toes, your feet, or your fingers,

you lose sensation.

So it can be quite an impact.

I am careful with food, because if you know

something is bad for your children, who you love dearly,

why would you knowingly put them through

some form of...

long term torture?

I worry about my health all the time

and I get terrible about thinking about the future,

and it is scary, hearing all of the stories about what diet

and what a lack of exercise can do.

It's overwhelming, I think. Hearing it.

But what Sarah would say is that you can have your cake and eat it -

as long as it's the right kind of cake,

and as long as you burn off the excess afterwards.

Which is exactly what Rosie and Eva are doing in Abersychan.

And who wouldn't be happy to exercise

for one of Helen's scrumptious Flower Pots?

But come on, truth be told, parsnip cake? That's got to be revolting.

It's not for me.

I like it.

You can't really taste the parsnip in it at all.

I'll give the cake...

an eight out of ten.

And once you've had your fill of cakes, both healthy and unhealthy,

how to fill the rest of your day?

Well, in Abersychan, Rosie's sweet tooth and Helen's cake fetish

are leading the girls seriously astray.

Perfect.

Thankfully, several cake pops later,

they begin to finally remember exactly why they are here.

We're going to try and persuade Warren

to go out for a longer dog walk.

Yeah, longer than ten minutes.

I think the dogs need it too, as well as us.

Warren readily agrees to take the girls

on a vigorous dog-walking, sight-seeing tour of Abersychan.

As someone who's lived in the village for over ten years,

who better to give them a guided tour?

Abersychan has plenty of pleasant pathways to lose oneself in.

Which is exactly what Warren manages to do.

I can't remember the name of the street.

If we walk back the way we came,

unless we go up that way...

I don't mind.

It would appear that Warren and the dogs have taken

so little exercise in the last decade,

that they're unable to walk from one end of their village to the other

without getting completely lost.

Which is why, two hours later,

the girls have had their much-needed leg stretch,

but not everyone is thrilled with all this exercise.

He gave up walking, so I've had to carry him. Gave up.

Still, it's a start, and inspired by their dog walk gone wrong,

Rosie and Eva persuade Helen

to also get involved in a "Wii" bit of exercise.

Thanks.

1,662 days!

What do I get if I do this well? A kebab?!

As the saying goes, every long journey begins with small steps.

I cheated then, didn't I?

Oh, I like that music, it sounds like it's coming to the end.

So, is this the moment

when Helen will embrace the enjoyment of exercise?

Yes! Yes!

Or will it be another 1,662 days

before she fires up the games console again?

Film it!

In Cardiff, meanwhile...

Come on, Jenni, let's go.

..working off cake is about to become a serious sport.

Building on the success of their solo bike rides,

it's time to introduce Bonnie and Jenni to team work...

tandems...

and some Thompson family competitive edge.

Come on, my team partner. Winners!

We're quite simply going to be known as "the winners",

as "the winning team."

The Thompsons have a simple family ethos -

live healthy, eat healthy, but never, ever, EVER be second best.

I think being competitive is a valuable aspect of anybody's life.

Captain, right? Captain!

Is there a lot of competitions in this household?

There is a lot of competition.

Team A, come on!

If they want to get better, they need to be competitive.

"Must slow down."

It wants us to slow down? No!

Life is, in itself, it is a competition.

And the next step on Bonnie and Jenni's road to a healthier life

is to try and locate their competitive edge.

So, on the playing fields behind the Thompsons' house,

cut-throat competition will commence...

They're going to lose, they've got Bonnie, that's why.

Oh, we'll see.

..once they've worked out how to ride the things.

Let me get on first...

I get on first, because then I balance it, OK?

I can't get my leg over!

- I'm too scared to even start.

We've just got to go!

- You're ready, are you?

Nope, now! And we're off.

Wait, wait, wait. God, wait, stop.

Go. Stay on it.

Do your pedals, do your pedals! - I can't!

- Three, two, one.

Yay! And we're off.

Team winners, come on!

Oh, no. I feel like I'm falling off!

All ready? Yes. Nah!

- Ow, my knee keeps touching the handlebars.

Come on, keep going.

It's too hard.

The bike's, like, tilting towards something.

- It's just when we cycle, when we're pedalling,

we're pushing down on each side.

Yeah, so I'm not actually falling off? Nope.

Ooh, you're making it easier for me. Yeah.

I'm going to go tight around here, so we've got a balance.

Oh, that's well done, good driving from the back as well.

Up this bit, now put some power in it, OK?

One, two, go, go, go, go, go!

Yeah! Oh, my legs are going to fall off! Go on rest your feet then.

Rest your feet. I can't, because then we'll stop.

Go on, that's fine.

I'll never forgive you lot for this.

I think we're going to have to do a bit of work on it. Yeah.

Well, they better get working on it, because before this day is through,

they're going to be racing one another.

In Abersychan, the Whewells are also on the move,

and whilst their intent is not quite as energetic as tandem racing,

it's certainly got a competitive edge.

I'll give you one little clue, are you feeling competitive?

Yeah, crazy golf?!

Oh!

Not crazy golf...

Crazy snooker!

I'll be heads. I'll be tails then.

- Heads. I'll have Eva and you have Rosie. Job done!

We're going to win!

Obviously.

We played pool on our very first date. Who won?

We did, yeah, in my local pub. No, I didn't ask that, I said, who won?

You did.

Who would have thought it?

Sweet, kind Helen has a mean competitive streak.

Game on!

Actually, it's quite funny,

because I've always said we're not a competitive family at all,

but put me in front of a pool table and Warren and we do get, actually,

quite competitive, which is probably quite nice for them to see, actually.

Of course, Eva and Rosie have no issues

locating THEIR competitive edge.

I'm on the winning team, so it'll be fine.

I think we're winning, me and Helen.

But being complete novices to this pastime,

their own contributions to the cause are somewhat lacking.

We're not doing so good.

And whilst Rosie does eventually discovers her pool cue mojo...

..Eva's never quite on the ball.

I didn't mean to hit it. Oh, we got two shots.

I didn't mean to hit it.

But at least she's got queen of the green baize, Helen, on her side!

Uh-huh-ho! Yes!

Yes!

Never mind.

And what better way to celebrate sweet success

than a kebab?

I wouldn't say we come here a lot,

but when we come in we normally say, "We'll have the usual, please,"

so I think that probably gives you a bit of an indication.

Bit of garlic sauce, please.

MAN: Any sauce or salad? Oh, a little bit. Only a little bit, please.

Thank you.

See you soon, bye-bye.

Back in Cardiff,

the great tandem race face-off is about to take place.

Both teams think they've got their techniques nailed,

and on the start line, there's a lot of trash talking going down.

Come on, Team Alpha! The racers all day long.

So lame, come over here and talk to the winners.

You've obviously got the wrong people.

We've got to pedal for our life, OK?

Go, go, go.

Come on, go, go, go.

MUSIC: "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac

Oh, my pedals.

Woo!

Wahey!

We're the winners.

They're the losers.

Look at the seat. Yeah, the seat slipped back.

I think that's a poor workman over there

that's going to blame his tools for not winning that.

We'll take a re-run...

if that's what you need!

To the winners, a nice, hot bath!

To the losers, well,

THEY get to make some low-fat, high-fibre, healthy,

home-made kebabs.

Which is something Eva's probably wishing she had in Abersychan.

Kebabs! Look at the oil!

Look at the oil on that. Oh, yeah.

Does that put you off it, seeing the oil like that?

That's why I always let the bread soak that bit up. Yeah.

I never eat the bread.

No. Sorry, I just love it all!

The thing is, you've always convinced yourself,

because it's got salad in it. It's healthy.

The chicken one is healthier...

but not after seeing that oil.

I've got a bit of a thing, which I have to tell you two about -

I love cold food, but not, sort of, like salad and things,

I mean, like cold kebabs and cold curry and cold chilli.

It's always nicer when it's cold.

Helen has leftover for breakfast.

Curry from the night before, not a pretty sight. Yeah.

With thoughts of cold curry filling their heads,

the girls decide to quit on their kebabs, leaving them half-eaten.

I want to finish that later with more salad anyway...

but...

it's rather weird. Too much.

Yeah, it would just be, like, kind of out of gluttony now.

I'm bloated already. I'm always bloated.

OK? How did you get on?

Um, we're going to save it for later.

That's fine, no problem at all, you carry on.

You going to have a cake pop?

Um, later.

The rule in our house is that we have to finish all our food

and then we can have pudding,

if we have pudding. Right.

They didn't want a pop, after they were offered a cake pop.

Even though they hadn't finished their dinner.

They were very self-disciplined.

That's really good, I'm really impressed by that.

That's a habit I'd really like us to get into,

I'd like the kids to be able to get into that habit.

I think I'd like us - Warren and myself -

to get into that habit as well,

I think that's really important because I think we're obviously

TOO indulgent and I think there's probably a happy medium.

I'm the one that always said that that should happen.

Don't you waggle that finger at me!

I get overruled! You overrule me!

I do, that is true.

He's right, he's absolutely right on that.

I'm always like, "Ooh, you know, it doesn't really hurt,"

but actually, perhaps it does.

Food for thought at the end

of another full and frantic day in both households.

So it's time to draw breath and reflect,

as the girls make Skype calls home and tell tales on one another.

What have you been up to?

She had half a packet of Oreos to herself.

You had what?! Oh, Rosie!

Guys, you know Oreos are my weakness!

She's driving me mad! Why?

She won't try anything!

I tried radish!

Ra...! Oh!

So, what have you been doing then? We went to pool earlier.

A swimming pool? Snooker, pool.

- From what you've seen so far, do you feel motivated to change?

Yeah, it's YOU that needs to change!

You need to buy the right food, you need to cook the right food.

So, what's been the worst thing for you then?

The food and the fat.

It's a lot of junk food.

But you don't have to eat it, you muppet!

Are you being forced to eat it? BOTH: No.

So, as we sit here at the moment, are you hungry? Who's hungry?

No, we've just had a massive home-made chicken tikka kebab.

Really? Yeah, it was really nice.

I had a home-made one as well, it was home-made in the kebab shop.

She's going to kill you with kindness!

I know, I know. So you need to set her right.

I know she's lovely, but she's going to kill you with kindness

and you're going to find it so hard to get back on that track, lovely.

So, we are going to miss you, and when we're in the hot tub later,

drinking wine, eating the rest of our kebab, we will think about you.

Well, when we're getting healthy,

and you're still there, eating junk and ruining your organs...

She's like a converted smoker, isn't she?

I've only got three words left for you then -

live, laugh, love.

I notice that we have now got the blame.

The blame is all coming our way for the lifestyle things.

There's no collective ownership of that, is there?

It's actually my fault.

It's you, you're the only one, I'm afraid.

Right, OK, I'll play hard ball.

Well, I try.

In the final Family Life Swap...

I just don't care any more. What are you doing?

I'm stuck again.

..Helen addresses her critics...

You know, I don't need to be told that I need to lose weight,

I can see that quite clearly.

..and does something about it. Ooh!

Oh, my God.

Bonnie goes wild...

I caught something!

..and we revisit the families eight weeks after the exchange

and discover some very surprising changes.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd