Ted Haggard is filming an episode of ABC’s Celebrity Wife Swap this week — with Gary Busey.
Marsha L. Smith, a spokesperson for ABC, confirmed to TPM that Haggard and Busey will be filming an episode of the show.
The premise of the series, which was imported by ABC from the UK, is exactly what it sounds like: Two families swap wives for a short period of time, drama presumably ensues.
The Colorado Springs Gazette first reported that the former New Life Church pastor would be filming the episode in Colorado Springs at the GLBT Pride Center. Dan Murphy, an employee at the Center, confirmed this to TPM.
From the Gazette:
On the surface, it might seem like an unlikely pairing, but there are several surprising parallels between Busey and Haggard. Busey is a born-again Christian and active minister with Promise Keepers, and Haggard has returned to the ministry as pastor of St. James, a new nondenominational Christian church in Colorado Springs.
Haggard resigned from the New Life Church in disgrace in 2006, amid revelations that he had had a drug-fueled sexual relationship with a gay male former escort. He recently admitted to GQ that “probably, if I were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual,” though he has denied since the scandal that he is gay.
Haggard is also slated to make a cameo as himself in a Christian sex comedy promoting abstinence, called The Waiting Game, assuming the movie can scrape together the funding.
h/t Gawker.
Jillian Rayfield
Jillian Rayfield is a Reporter/Blogger for TPM, and started as a News Intern in May 2009. She graduated from Cornell University in May 2008 with a degree in Film, and worked as a Research Assistant for a market research firm in London in between.
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