James Cuda, the reality television personality a generation of viewers knew simply as Princess, was found dead inside a sober living home in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., on the afternoon of Sunday, August 30, 2026. He was 53.
Luzerne County Coroner Dion Fernandes said Cuda’s body was discovered at the recovery residence and that no foul play is suspected. A cause of death has not been determined and remains pending toxicology results.
A 2013 Episode That Went Viral
Cuda became an unlikely television fixture through a single hour of the ABC reality series “Wife Swap.” In the 2013 episode, he appeared as a gay nanny from Las Vegas who was sent to live with a family on an Amish farm in rural Michigan — the sort of culture-clash pairing the series had built its name on.
The swap fell apart almost at once. The farm’s Christian owners, parents of six children, refused to accept Cuda’s sexuality, described gay people as disgusting and ordered him out of their home. Footage of the confrontation spread quickly online, and the episode has since been called one of the most talked-about the series produced. More than a decade on, it still circulates and is picked apart on social media, where Princess is frequently remembered as the person who stayed composed while a family berated him.
That attention gave Cuda a lasting second life online, which explains how quickly word of his death traveled through reality TV fan communities.
Castmate Shares an Emotional Tribute
Marissa Zdazinsky, a close friend of Cuda’s and a fellow “Wife Swap” castmate, announced his death in an Instagram post that included a series of candid photographs of the two of them taken over the years.
“The saddest moment of my life happened today,” she wrote, adding that she had just learned of his death.
Zdazinsky said Princess had struggled with a worsening alcohol addiction over the past 20 years, and that in recent years she and her husband had, in her words, done everything humanly possible to force him into getting sober.
“He was one year sober last Sunday,” Zdazinsky wrote.
She also said in the post that Cuda had hidden a declining and deteriorating condition affecting his organs. Zdazinsky said she had been in touch with his family in Los Angeles and that it was important to her that people know he was sober at the end of his life and had found God in his final days. She ended the post by saying she did not know what to say or think.
Fans Remember “Princess”
Condolences filled the comment section beneath Zdazinsky’s tribute, many from viewers who had followed Cuda since the episode first aired. One commenter said they had learned of his struggles through Zdazinsky’s YouTube channel and other posts, and said they were saddened to hear that his demons had won.
Another said the swap episode was still one of their favorites and that Cuda had seemed like a loving and caring person, adding that the world felt less fabulous without him. Several thanked Zdazinsky for sticking by him over so many years and for letting people know publicly that he had been sober. Others offered brief messages, wishing him rest and sending prayers to Zdazinsky and her family.
Cuda’s death comes in a corner of reality television where a viral moment can outlive by years the show that produced it. “Wife Swap” built its reputation on culture-clash casting, and the Las Vegas nanny sent to a devout Michigan farm delivered precisely that. For many viewers, the episode was their first and only encounter with Cuda — and, judging by the tributes, one they never forgot.
For now, the official record remains incomplete. Fernandes has said no foul play is suspected, but the coroner’s office has not released a cause of death. As of September 3, the case was still awaiting toxicology results, which the coroner’s office has said are needed before a cause of death is determined. He had marked a year of sobriety a week earlier, and died inside the home where he was rebuilding his life.
