"First on the docket is family patriarch, Roger Gibson, who will be switching with social media star and it girl, Madison LeShea!" The top entry on the right column of the display filled with the artfully taken selfie of Madison LeShea next to Roger Gibson. The two could hardly have been more different; Madison was only 23, already 22 years younger than him, and stunning in a way he'd never been even when he was younger. She currently had long brown hair with blonde highlights and wore a tight white crop top that showed off her pierced navel, and incredibly tight black leather pants that hugged her ass like a second skin. She wasn't massively busty or anything, but she had a dancer's body for sure, including a tight and toned stomach that with her wide hips and still rather impressive if not cartoonishly top heavy boobs, gave her an hourglass her teen followers would kill to replicate. Her skin had a healthy tan and her face was immaculately done up from her smoky eyes to her painted pillowy lips. All of it was a far cry from the kind of shlubby, sliding into middle age average guy Roger was. Roger just let his mouth hang open as he tried to process the idea of becoming the woman whose picture was staring back at him.
"Wait, Madi LeShea is doing this!?" Karyn asked, now totally engaged and frankly flabbergasted with this turn of events. Due to the magic perhaps, she hadn't really questioned the whole premise of this thing, but when they'd said celebrities, she'd kind of assumed they were going to be c-list types that bounced from reality show to reality show. Madison LeShea was massive, with over 90 million Click-Clock followers and a burgeoning music and television career.
Mr. Stiltskin smiled widely, "why yes she is! For the next six months she'll be learning all about being simple family man and accountant Roger Gibson, while someone else gets a chance to dance for her millions of followers. As the new Ms. Leshea, you'll will be living in her West Hollywood penthouse, maintaining her career, attending social engagements like parties and clubbing, and more! However, Madison is far from the only exciting star we've persuaded to take part,"
"Not at all," Ms. Cane continued, "As Mrs. Gibson will be swapping places with Oscar winner Donatello Vicente !" A new image was added to the list, this time opposite Linda's. Donatello Vicente was an even bigger star than Madison, certainly better established at any rate, even if he wasn't the fresh new hotness any more. He'd burst onto the acting scene as a huge star back in his 20s, and even though he was now 48, he was still an incredibly sought after commodity, and an awards darling. Jon caught his mom blushing and was reminded that the man she was apparently about to swap places with was actually a not so secret celebrity crush of hers, and was sure his dad would be teasing her about it if Roger wasn't still staring slack jawed at the young goddess he'd been paired with. For his part Jon thought it was darkly ironic that a man somewhat infamous for constantly dating women half his age or younger was about to be in the body of a middle aged mother of three, but he held his tongue.
"As Mr. Vicente you'll be the one filming his latest project, so we'll see if a new star if born with you Linda," Mr. Stiltskin teased, "while the famous leading man learns to play second fiddle for once, working as an assistant at the local Saunders and Starr law firm, and running the Gibson household."
"So that covers what the Gibson parents will be up to," Ms Cane continued in her bubbly voice, "but I'm sure you young people will want to see who your matches are too!"
"Whatever," Zoe grumbled, crossing her arms, "if we're going to have to be lame mainstream sell outs like those two, this whole thing's gonna suck!"
Ms. Cane smiled slyly, "Well, don't write us off too soon, Zoe, since you might find your own assigned partner a little exciting. Unless you think we should just tell Ms. Roxie Thrasher that you're not interested..."
"ROXIE THRASHER!!!" Zoe squealed in excitement, literally leaping to her feet. Jon winced from the sudden loudness. There was pretty much no name the producers could have offered that would have thrilled Zoe more; everyone of the Gibson's knew Roxie Thrasher was the lead singer of Zoe's favorite band, the Crying Demons. Jon really couldn't say he liked the punk rocker's music, but he'd certainly heard a lot of it living in the room next to Zoe's; the fact that they were giving Zoe a chance to literally become her idol had the otherwise rebellious goth totally on board.
"Yes, Ms. Roxie Thrasher, age 36, lead singer of Crying Demons and tabloid favorite," Mr. Stiltskin smoothly explained, "you'll get to navigate the star's contentious relationship with her band, handle her public image, and, of course, rock out to her adoring fans like yourself, while Roxie will be the one in the audience!"
"Now, we skipped ahead a bit," Ms. Cane said while Kenji furiously hit some keys to make the image of Roxie, a relatively flat chested, somewhat muscled and fierce looking figure in a tee shirt with torn off sleeves that showed her many arm tattoos, a nose ring, streaks of her black hair dyed different colors, and a pair of torn jeans on, show up on screen next to Zoe, "so let's jump back to Karyn. Karyn isn't technically a Gibson, but is a long time friend of the family, and has graciously agreed to be part of Star Swap's first season. However, Karyn won't be Karyn for very long, since she's going to be taking the place of Ms. Scarle Moss!"
A new image appeared on screen, next to Karyn's photo this time. Now, Karyn was a pretty young woman in a girl next door sort of way. She was trim if not toothpick thin like her nemesis Sarah, and had a cute face, but it was also fair to say she didn't really put a lot of effort into her appearance most of time either. Her outfits were mostly tomboyish, including the favorite shapeless green hoodie she was currently wearing, and she hardly ever bothered with makeup. None of that could be said of the woman displayed next to her. Scarle Moss was a supermodel with all that entailed, form her impossibly tiny waist, to her seemingly airbrushed perfect skin. The biracial, part white part chinese woman stood at a statuesque 6'3, yet only weighed something like 130 pounds, embodying that almost unattainable standard Karyn herself railed against and girls like Sarah and Tiffany aspired to. Her hair was currently dyed blonde and in her photo fell wet onto her shoulders because she was wearing a sky blue tie-front bikini that left nothing to the imagination.
"Yes, as Ms. Moss, age 26, Karyn will be taking on the roll of a Victoria Secret Angel and superstar model, instantly becoming the face of a hundred brands and the subject of millions of adoring fan's dreams," Mr. Stiltskin joked. "Meanwhile, this lady, blessed with beauty since the day she was born, will learn what it's like to be just an average girl, looking at her old face on the covers of magazines." Jon almost pointed out that hardly anyone read print magazines these days, but figured that might be missing the point. Karyn for her part looked a little conflicted, part excited but part hesitant and Jon figured she was probably a bit embarrassed to be seen to be excited to switch places with a woman known almost exclusively for her looks, given her ongoing arguments with Sarah.
"And let's not forget, Karyn will get to hang out with all of Ms. Moss's famous friends, including our next contestant!" Ms. Cane excitedly continued. Jon wasn't that clued in to celebrity gossip but even he knew Scarle Moss was part of a squad of young, mostly female, starlets who were both personally close and often collaborated professionally. However, as big as Scarle was, she wasn't the center of the group, that would be, "Ms. Liliana Venti, age 28, multi-platinum recording artist, actress and undeniable queen of pop will be swapping with Jon!"
Jon was stunned as the image of arguably the biggest popstar in the world right now appeared next to his own picture. Lilana Venti was simply huge; her music was everywhere and her legions of fans diehard. She'd been a starlet since she was a teenager, starting as an actress before transitioning mainly to music, a field in which she'd absolutely dominated. Even Jon, who mostly preferred classic rock, couldn't deny some of her songs were bangers and catchy as hell. She was Italian, though often confused for Latina, with long brown hair with blonde highlights, tied back in her signature high ponytail. In the picture she was wearing a tight pink sleeveless dress that showed plenty of her tanned skin, and a peak at the cleavage that was about to belong to Jon. Big brown eyes with artfully sculpted brows stared back at him and he couldn't help but wonder what it was going to feel like to have her famous voice pass through those large pouty lips whenever he talked.
"Yes, while Ms. Venti lives the average school life, Jon will be stepping into her heels, performing for her adoring fans, dodging the paparazzi so obsessed with her love life, recording tracks for her new album and more, all while living in her bell air mansion!" Mr. Stiltskin enthusiastically announced. It was clear the producers were hyping up Liliana's involvements, since, even amongst a host of big stars, she was the hottest thing at the moment.
"Oh my god Jon, you're going to be a Grammy winner," Karyn muttered, still floored by the last half hour's revelations.
"Well, I'm going to be an Oscar winner apparently," Linda chimed in; she'd gotten the oldest partner by far, and would actually be going up in age about 6 years, so she wanted to stress the benefits of her new role.
"Let's not bicker or compare who we got," Roger chimed in, "although, these days clicks matter a bit more than old school awards, so really you could say Madison is the-"
"Wait who am I gonna be?" Mikey cut in.
Ms. Cane smiled down at the boy, "thank you for getting us back on track, Mikey. As for you, we've lined up someone special. Acclaimed chef and Taste Network star, Parvati Rishki!" The image that appeared next to Mikey's was of a quite attractive smiling Indian woman in a chef's jacket with long curly dark hair. In her late 30s, Ms. Rishki was rather photogenic in her own right, there was a reason she was a constant host of several cooking programs, but unfortunately she had the misfortune to be pictured beside Madison, Liliana and Scarle, who all frankly blew her out of the water in the looks department. Even Donatello outweighed her, though Jon would call the rugged actor handsome rather than pretty for obvious reasons. The only celeb she outpaced as far as looks were concerned was Roxie, and it was clear that wasn't what the punk rocker was going for anyway.
More than just looks, the TV chef was a bit of an anti-climax after Liliana as far as fame went. She was popular, sure, but not a superstar like some of the others. Mikey looked downright disappointment, having hoped to be some kind of action star, but he didn't have long to dwell on it as Mr. Stiltskin was already speaking, "And with the matches made, we're going to head out to the van and head for the swapping facility. It's a couple hours to get to LA, so we need to hit the road now if we want you all settled into your new lives by tonight. After all, you're about to be some very important people, and you'll need your beauty sleep."
