In which Episode of Wife Swap did Richard Heene and Mayumi Heene appear? Details of the Balloon Boy's family explored

Wife Swap is an American television reality show that first aired in September 2004. In the show, two couples from different lifestyles and social classes swap spouses for a two-week period. It was in September 2020 that Wife Swap was cancelled after the network shifted its focus from unscripted reality shows to scripted series and films.

In 2009, however, an episode of Wife Swap was pulled due to the controversies surrounding the Heene family. Richard Heene and Mayumi Heene first appeared in Wife Swap Season 5, Episode 1. The episode titled Heene/Martell first aired on October 3, 2008.

The episode featured the Heene family from Colorado, with Richard Heene serving as a storm chaser and his wife, who swapped roles with him. However, the episode was pulled down after the "Balloon Boy Hoax" controversy. Trainwreck: Balloon Boy delves into the complete story of the Heene family, which was released on July 15, 2025.

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Why was the Wife Swap episode featuring Richard and Mayumi Heene cancelled?

Richard Heene provides his testimony on the Balloon Boy controversy (Image via Youtube/@Netflix)

As reported by CNN in 2009, the Wife Swap episode featuring the Heene family was pulled from the air after the couple was tied to the "Balloon Boy" controversy. As reported by The Telegraph, on October 15, 2009, the Heene family claimed that a helium balloon had been released from their residence, with their six-year-old son, Falcon Heene, inside.

According to reports, when National Guard authorities retrieved the helium balloon near Keenesburg, they discovered that Falcon was not inside. As reported by CNN, Falcon Heene was found later that day, hiding in a cardboard box in the attic of the Heene family garage.

Investigators suspected that the entire incident was staged. Authorities suspected that Mayumi and Richard Heene intentionally led the police on a chase to garner public attention. The incident, popularly known as the "Balloon Boy Hoax", soon received national attention and was widely reported in the media.

Falcon Heene recalls his personal experience of being part of the national controversy (Image via Youtube/@Netflix)

As reported by CNN, during an interview by Wolf Blitzer, when Mayumi and Richard Heene asked Falcon why he didn't come out of the attic, when they searched for him, Falcon replied:

" You guys said we did it for a show."

Following the controversy, the Wife Swap episode was pulled from Lifetime. One of the spokespersons said that once they found out about the controversy, they decided to pull it down, further adding they don't have any plans to air it shortly.

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Richard Heene and Mayumi Heene were found guilty and charged.

The Heene couple were charged and sentenced to prison (Image via Youtube/@Netflix)

As reported by The New York Times, on October 19, 2009, David Lane, Richard Heene's lawyer, announced that Mayumi and Richard Heene would surrender to the police. As reported by CNN, it was on December 23, 2009, when the Wife Swap couple Richard and Mayumi were found guilty and charged.

As reported by the BBC, Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in prison, with 100 hours of community service, on December 23, 2009. Mayumi Jeene received a sentence of 20 days in jail, with supervised community service for two days each week.

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Check out our articles to learn more details about other cases in the Trainwreck series.

Edited by Maithreyi S