Shepherd and shepherdess announce split

AMANDA OWEN, known as the Yorkshire Shepherdess, has said that she and her husband have made the “difficult decision” to separate after 22 years of marriage.

Mrs Owen and her husband, Clive, are familiar to viewers through their Channel 5 series Our Yorkshire Farm, which chronicles their life in the Dales with nine children.

The couple have been dogged by rumours of a split for several months and in October released a statement acknowledging a “rocky patch” in their marriage after neighbours disclosed they were living apart. At the time, they said: “We’re a normal family and we’ve never said our marriage is perfect.”

In a statement published on Instagram yesterday, the couple, who married in 2000, confirmed they had separated.

The statement said: “Although we are no longer a couple, we continue to work on the farm and co-parent together with our number one priority the happiness and well-being of our children.”

Millions of viewers followed the family’s life on their 2,000 acre hill farm, Ravenseat, in Swaledale, which is home to around 1,000 sheep.

They first invited cameras into their home in 2018, and filmed five series.

Mrs Owen, a former model, has become a regular on television, often appearing on ITV’S This Morning.