A former 'Wife Swap' star said her family was cast as the 'bad family' before filming even began: 'The director would put you into flight or flight so they could trigger your trauma'

• TikToker Heidi Mae posted a video answering questions about being on "Wife Swap" as a kid on June 11.
• Mae said that her family's decision to go on the show was "the worst mistake of their lives."

Heidi Mae appeared on "Wife Swap" 13 years ago. On Sunday, she posted a video on TikTok that addressed questions about her traumatic experience on the reality show.

In recent years, several people have spoken up about the exploitative nature of reality shows. In April, "Love Island" contestants said producers deprived them of food and sleep. And last year, those on "America's Next Top Model" said the show was "psychological warfare."

Mae, who goes by @heidimaetrix on TikTok, posted a video answering questions from her followers about her experience on the show. Mae was on season six, episode 7, titled "Herrington/Trevino," which was aired on May 21 in 2010.

"Wife Swap" is a reality series where in each episode they show two families, typically from contrasting social classes and lifestyles, swap wives or mothers for two weeks. The show was originally aired on ABC from 2004 to 2010, and was renewed in 2019 on Paramount for a 20-episode season, per IMDb.

In her TikTok, Mae said that while she was 20 at the time of filming, she had already had a troubled childhood and the show's producers found a way to exploit that.

"I already had a lot of childhood trauma from my parents being in a cult when I was a child. The show, through their pysch eval, were able to find those traumatic experiences and force me to relive them on camera," said Mae in her TikTok video.

"The whole purpose of the director was to put you into fight or flight so that they can trigger your trauma" said Mae in the video.

Mae also shared that she felt immense pressure to protect her family from the production team's manipulative tactics. "I was on to the game rather quickly, but that just added to my stress and trauma, " said Mae in the video.

Due to changes in the platform's monetization policies, the influencer said she re-uploaded her very first video on the topic, which she first posted on TikTok in 2021.

Her re-upload detailed how her family's decision to be on the show was "the worst mistake of their lives," it has close to 5 million views as of June 16.

"To be on the show, you had to take a 700-question psych eval, and then an hour-long interview with a psychologist," said Mae. According to the TikToker, the producers' reasoning for the psychiatric evaluation processes was to ensure the cast was "mentally sound enough to be on the show."

During her interview with the psychologist, Mae said she revealed that the one thing that makes her really sad is feeling lonely, and she believes the show intentionally exploited the information.

"In the fight, she looks me dead in the eye, and she says: 'you are alone, nobody cares about you, you have no friends, I don't care about you," said Mae in the TikTok, describing the very first altercation she had with the other mother on the show.

"Because they'd already decided going into filming that my family was the 'bad family,' and the other lady's family was the 'good family,' and they would do whatever it took to make that point," said Mae in the TikTok.

Both Heidi Mae and the American Broadcasting Company did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.