CHANNEL 4's award-winning reality show Wife Swap has produced some king-sized rows. Now the show, in which two women swap families for ten days, has prompted its first marriage split.

But Becky Fairhurst and her ex-partner Jason Hill have no regrets about taking part. JENNY SCOTT reports.

FORGET the American presidential elections, at workplaces up and down the land today, there was only one topic of conversation.

And it was a conversation that started: "Did you see Wife Swap last night?"

The BAFTA-winning reality TV series sees two spouses up sticks and spend 10 days with each other's families.

Last night Becky Fairhurst swapped her Padiham council house for a swish detached home in Peterbrough.

That left mum-of-three Jacqui Thomas to try and follow Becky's routine -- which mainly involved staying in bed until the afternoon.

Rules are not for Becky. She wants to have a laugh. She doesn't clean up. As she told the cameras: "A bit of dust never killed anybody." That was evident from the house, where chip shop trays littered the floor and none of the doors were attached to the hinges. Partner Jason was left to do everything - when he wasn't working, that is.

Jacqui moved in and re-organised his life - and his fridge! She encouraged him to spend time with his children and re-decorated the house.

Meanwhile, in Peterborough, Becky banned tidying up, let the children of the house lock themselves in their rooms and swore like a trooper.

After the swap, Jacqui and husband Desmond realised they had been too hard on their kids, relaxed a little and settled down to a re-evaluated, re-invigorated life.

Becky and Jason, on the other hand, split up.

Today Becky, 29, said: "Wife Swap has changed my life for the better." She moved out of the couple's Padiham home with her three daughters Tyler, 11, Ziegan, four and Kiowa, three, days after filming finished in August. It's made me much more confident. I was away from my home for two weeks and had no contact with my family and that helped me to discover who I am."

Becky and Jason, originally from Burnley, split up in front of the cameras on the last day of filming after a rocky 12-year relationship.

Becky said: "As soon as Jason and I met up again I knew I wasn't going back with him. We decided our relationship just wasn't working."

They had been planning to get married in July, but decided to postpone their wedding until after Wife Swap.

She said: "We honestly thought it would make us stronger as a couple."

Becky, who describes her style as "laid back and relaxed", found it difficult to adjust to the habits of houseproud Jacqui.

And the hardest part of the experience for Becky was missing her daughter Ziegan's fourth birthday.

Like Becky, Jason has no regrets about taking part in the show, although he has found the media attention difficult to cope with.

"It's been a rollercoaster," he said. Since the split, he has moved in with his parents and changed his job so he can spend more time with his children. "The programme showed both Becky and me how life could be different," he said. "I realised I wasn't seeing our children enough."