THE OSBOURNES OZZY & SHARON TURNS 20! ‘WE REGRET THE SHOW’
THEIR REALITY SHOW WAS ONE OF THE FIRST OF ITS KIND
After 20 years, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne are leaving LA – and it’s not without a string of deep regrets. The rock’n’roll couple, who celebrate 40 years of marriage this July, are returning home to England, where Ozzy, 73, plans to build a huge studio at their Buckinghamshire mansion, Welders House.
“We are leaving,” the Black Sabbath vocalist confirmed recently. “We are a bit sad. But the tax is getting too much.”
It’s been two decades of outrageous antics for Sharon and Ozzy, which began with their 2002 reality series, The Osbournes. One of the first of its kind, the show followed Ozzy and Sharon’s dysfunctional life in Beverly Hills, along with their youngest kids Kelly and Jack. Eldest daughter Aimee refused to take part.
The Osbournes became the highest-rated cable series in MTV’S history. But it came at a steep price.
“It put two of their kids in rehab, and alienated the third,” says a family insider. “Of course, they regret doing the show. It’s taken years for them to rebuild and now Jack, Kelly and Aimee are on really solid ground, it’s time to focus on themselves.”
In 2010, Ozzy admitted he wouldn’t do the show again if he had his time over.
“I don’t think so,” he said when asked. “The kids couldn’t handle it, my wife couldn’t handle it … she had colon cancer. On the one hand it was phenomenal, on the other hand I had to watch my family [suffer].”
Now, Sharon and Ozzy are looking forward to their next chapter in the UK. Sharon is said to be eyeing a return to British television, but does plan on commuting back and forth to see her Us-based kids and grandchildren.
“I’ve always popped back and forth across the pond,” Sharon said last week. “I will continue to per usual.”
Friends say Sharon, 69, would have preferred to stay in LA full-time, but the move home is what Ozzy, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in February 2019, wants.
“Ozzy’s not well,” says the source. “And if he’s going to ‘drop dead’, as he says, he wants to be back home in England when he does!”