My marriage has hit a flocky patch, admits TV shepherdess
Mum-of-9 Yorkshire Farm star, 47, reveals issues with husband aged 66
YORKSHIRE shepherdess Amanda Owen has admitted that she and her husband are going through a ‘rocky patch’.
The 47-year-old star of Our Yorkshire Farm is said to have moved out of the farmhouse she shared with her husband Clive, 66, who also features on the popular Channel 5 programme.
Mr Owen is believed to be doing all he can to win back his wife of 21 years as the mother-of-nine promotes her latest book, Celebrating The Seasons With The Yorkshire Shepherdess, which is released today.
Following intense speculation, the pair released a joint statement yesterday saying: ‘With the TV show and the books we’ve always aimed to show the reality of life on the farm, and just like any marriage we have our stresses and strains, coupled with all the complexities of what we do on the farm and bringing up nine kids.
‘We’re a normal family and we’ve never said our marriage is perfect. Unfortunately the constant intrusion into our
‘No one saw this coming’
lives from the media has amplified a rocky patch that we’re going through. We ask that the media respect our privacy as we work through this.’
According to reports, Mr Owen is worried that divorce is on the cards but has said that the decision over their future ‘is very much in Amanda’s hands’.
‘It’s incredibly sad. Amanda and Clive are two hugely popular figures here in the Dales, and no one saw this coming,’ a family friend reportedly told The Sun.
‘Clive loves Amanda to bits and adores her, and fears the marriage may be failing even though he desperately doesn’t want it to. He fears they will divorce.
‘He reckons the image of them playing happy families is a load of rubbish. He thinks this will be the last series they film together, and now it’s about looking after the kids and putting them first.
‘He wants them to stay together for Christmas and then, unfortunately for him, the decision is very much in Amanda’s hands. He will do as he’s told.’
The pair originally invited the cameras into their home in 2018 for the popular series Our Yorkshire Farm, which is now in its fifth season.
It follows the couple and their nine children and the day-to-day running of Ravenseat, their 2,000acre hill farm in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, which is home to about 1,000 sheep. It has been reported, however, that on Monday night Mrs Owen – a 6ft 2in former model who frequently appears on ITV’s This Morning – was pictured at a rental property, while her husband was at the farmhouse.
‘Their possible split has become the talk of the village and, with the couple having nine kids, not surprisingly talk has quickly spread through school channels,’ a source is said to have told the newspaper.
‘Obviously everyone around them hopes they can work things out, and 21 years of largely happy marriage won’t end up playing out in the divorce courts.’ They added: ‘The current situation is something of a PR nightmare. Amanda’s publicity team are keen to toe the party line that all is well. Should they divorce, it’s hardly on brand.’
On Tuesday Mrs Owen appeared on This Morning to take part in a cookery segment with three of her daughters. Earlier that day she was on Zoe Ball’s Breakfast Show to discuss her new book.
The couple are parents to Raven, 20, Reuben, 17, Miles, 15, Edith, 12, Violet, ten, Sidney, nine, Annas, seven, Clemmie, five, and Nancy, four. They first appeared on television in ITV series The Dales in 2011, but it was in 2018 that they started Our Yorkshire Farm.
Mr Owen was married for 13 years before meeting Mrs Owen and has two daughters from his previous marriage.
In an interview with the Sunday Times at the weekend, Mrs Owen said that she and her husband still fancy each other after nine children. She said: ‘Oh my God. What kind of a question is that? But yes. And I think he does me. In fact, I know that.’
‘The talk of the village’