Entertainment

'Blossom's BFF is Back with 'Celebrity Wife Swap'

by Anam Syed

I'm not going to lie— I'm pretty excited to catch Jenna von Oy on Celebrity Wife Swap. Sure, it's usually not a great career sign when a favorite star ends up on a reality show, but Celebrity Wife Swap is a different beast altogether. Yes, there is a ton of reality schlock out there, featuring objectionable characters doing objectionable things that would make you side-eye any celeb who participates. But ABC's Wife Swap and its star-studded spin-off have always bordered on documentary series, allowing viewers into different homes all across America to see how people live. Despite the suggestive name, Celebrity Wife Swap is an especially fascinating off-shoot, since there are so many different levels of fame.

Pitting shallow reality stars like Speidi against an Olympian is going to throw participants into drastically different lifestyles and while the potential for clashing delivers good old reality drama, my favorite part of the series is the couple-to-couple sit down recap at the end. The show promotes — dare I say it — growth unlike any other program by forcing participants to live like they've never lived before and then talk about it. I can't wait to see how former small screen star von Oy's lifestyle stacks up against her co-swapper, Real Housewives of New York's own Jill Zarin. Of course, Zarin is a familiar face to reality fans, and I'm sure her side of the swap will showcase the decadence worthy of a Bravo reality star. Von Oy may be less familiar, but that's only because she's been out of the limelight for a few years.

Allow me to jog your memory. You probably spent a majority of the '90s coveting her cool wardrobe.

If von Oy looks familiar it's because she played the boy-crazy Six on Blossom. When she wasn't chasing after Joey Lawrence on the show (and can you blame her?), she spent was looking fly with her best friend Blossom, played by Mayim Bialik. Von Oy also stepped into another best friend role as Stevie on The Parkers, Countess Vaughn's character Kim Parker's sidekick. She's had some memorable '90s cartoon roles, like the late, great Pepper Ann, where she voiced resident spoiled girl Trinket. The actress also lent her voice talents to A Goofy Movie, as student body president Stacy.

So what has the actress been up to since her hey day? Getting married, having children, and writing about it. Von Oy writes her own blog, "The Cradle Chronicles," where she catalogs the ups and downs of modern parenting. People covered her 2010 nuptials to data consultant Brad Bratcher, and detail how the couple met at a wine bar. Von Oy is quoted in the article as saying, "My mama told me never to meet a man at a bar – so I did!" Honestly their courtship and wedding sound pretty darn adorable, with the wedding full of little details like a clothesline bearing photos of the couple with each of their guests.

In 2012, von Oy gave birth to her first child, daughter Gray, and she's currently pregnant with her second child, a daughter due in November. Professionally, von Oy has gotten into music and publishing, having released two albums and written a book set to be released soon. Her blog is a great down-to-earth read, featuring not just posts on the real side of parenting, but also some interesting exclusives, like an interview about parenting with her former co-star Bialik, who runs her own attachment parenting blog.

Aside from parenting and blogging, von Oy's Twitter feed is a delight. Her throwback Thursdays can't be beat, as they usually feature some of the retro goodness she was a part of, like this gem from her stint on Circus of the Stars.

How will Zarin and von Oy fit into each other's homes on their edition of Wife Swap? If the teaser (below) is any indication, von Oy will be getting some devastating reality checks via Zarin, but also get to taste some of that trademark RHONY glamour. Honestly, I'm more worried about that raw meat Zarin is being tasked with preparing in the beginning of the clip.