UPDATE 1-Big Brother creator joins bid for Wife Swap's RDF

* Management joins John De Mol in making cash offer

* Share price rises 37 percent

(Adds detail, reaction, shares)

By Paul Sandle

LONDON, Nov 12 (Reuters) - RDF Media Group Plc RDF.L, the British producer of reality TV series "Wife Swap", said on Wednesday it had received a bid from a consortium including the company's management and "Big Brother" creator John de Mol. The company's independent directors said in a statement that the offer of 120 pence a share, which values RDF at 52 million pounds ($80.4 million), was likely to be recommended by them in the coming weeks.

Shares in the group soared 37 percent to 95 pence by 1027 GMT, valuing it at about 41 million pounds.

The stock was hit hard last year by the fallout from a documentary trailer that wrongly implied that Britain's Queen Elizabeth had stormed out of a photo shoot with U.S. celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Both the BBC [BBC.UL] and ITV (ITV.L) imposed commissioning bans, which have now been lifted, and the group's shares plunged more than 60 percent in the following 10 months.

It subsequently recovered some ground in April, jumping 30 percent to 130 pence, when news of a bid approach first surfaced, but had fallen back as takeover hopes faded.

Altium Securities analyst Roddy Davidson said Wednesday's news suggested the balance of probabilities had shifted back towards a deal, and he moved his recommendation on the stock to "buy" from "neutral".

"You have got to feel something will come of this," he said.

John de Mol created Big Brother in the late 1990s with his own production company before merging with a rival in 1994 to form Endemol, which is also behind hit gameshow "Deal or No Deal".

He later sold his stake in Endemol, but returned as a main shareholder along with Italy's Mediaset (MS.MI) in 2007.

De Mol's investment firm Cyrte Investment BV is a member of the bidding consortium, RTF's independent directors said in a statement.

(Editing by Paul Hoskins)