Kate Gosselin's 'Wife Swap' counterpart is Kendra Wilkinson. Huh?

Kate Gosselin’s ‘Wife Swap’ counterpart is Kendra Wilkinson. Huh?

By Nardine Saad

Feb. 15, 2013 12 AM PT

Kate Gosselin’s “Wife Swap” counterpart is Hugh Hefner’s ex-girlfriend Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett. Wha??

Yep, Gosselin, 37, and Wilkinson-Baskett, 27, will switch families for the ABC show “Celebrity Wife Swap,” leaving the former Playboy model in charge of Gosselin’s famous “plus 8.” That’s eight kids, folks.

The Ministry knows that these celebrity reality shows tend to be the means for onetime famous people to reboot their careers. But couldn’t putting eight kids up against Wilkinson-Baskett, who has only one child, qualify as some sort of child endangerment? And potential Playmate endangerment? OK fine, she wasn’t actually a “Playmate,” but still. Wouldn’t “Octomom” Nadya Suleman have been the better choice here? Eight kids, folks!

PHOTOS: The Hollywood baby boom

“We had to find a real great contrast,” executive producer Bruce Toms told the New York Post. “They’re both beautiful young women, with very different ways of raising their kids.”

“Kate is very structured, a very controlling person. Kendra just does not live that way,” he added. “Kate wakes up every morning and bakes fresh bread for her family. Kendra didn’t even know what a breadmaker was. It was up to Kendra to follow Kate’s rules.”

Ya think? Gosselin could count this as a mini-vacation.

It should be noted that Gosselin was married to Jon Gosselin, whom she officially divorced in 2009, and won custody of the kids (now two 12-year-old twins and 8-year-old sextuplets). Wilkson’s husband, former NFL player Hank Baskett, is a “hands-on” dad and will be there to help Gosselin with his son.

Both Gosselin and Wilkinson-Baskett rose to fame because of reality TV. The former was on the TLC show “Jon and Kate Plus 8,” then “Kate Plus 8” after the divorce — then she was on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”

PHOTOS: The Hollywood baby boom

Wilkinson-Baskett also competed on “Dancing With the Stars” but rose to fame when she was living in Hef’s Playboy Mansion, where she filmed the E! series “The Girls Next Door,” about his three live-in girlfriends. After she and Hefner broke up, she got her own spinoff on the network, “Kendra,” and later “Kendra on Top.” She’s also set to appear on ABC’s celebrity diving series, “Splash.”

Their “Celebrity Wife Swap” episode will premiere Feb. 26 on ABC. Antonio Sabato Jr., Flavor Flav, Dee Snider and Gary Busey are also set to appear in the series. Heaven help us all.

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Follow Nardine on Twitter @NardineSaad and Google +. Follow Ministry of Gossip @LATcelebs.