Our Yorkshire Farm star Amanda Owen has revealed that she and her husband Clive are not the romantic types in an interview shortly before the couple confirmed they are going through a ‘rocky patch.’
The mother-of-nine, 47, and husband of 21 years Clive Owen, 66, released a joint statement last week saying ‘like any marriage we have our stresses and strains’ but added they always wanted to ‘show the reality of life on the farm’ through their TV shows and book deals.
However, speaking in an interview before the revelation, Amanda spoke candidly on how ‘romance’ is not in her and Clive’s ‘make-up.’
When asked if she and her husband are romantic, the shepherdess told OK! magazine: ‘I don’t think either of us are! I don’t think it’s in our make-up.’
Our Yorkshire Farm star Amanda Owen, 47, has revealed that she and her husband Clive, 66, are not the romantic types in an interview shortly before the couple confirmed they are going through a ‘rocky patch.’
Amanda, 47, live on Ravenseat Farm in Yorkshire with her husband Clive Owen, 67. Pictured left to right: Annas, seven, Violet, 10, Edith, 12, Raven, 20, Amanda with Nancy, four, Clive with Clemmie, five, Reuben, 17, Miles, 14 and Sidney, eight. Pictured: The family are in front of The Fires, where Amanda is believed to be staying
The shepherdess went on to reveal what she believes to be the secret to her 21-year marriage.
‘Everything we do is interchangeable,’ she said. ‘Clive will serve afternoon tea and change nappies, I’ll shear sheep and shovel s**t. It doesn’t matter who does what, we’re all on the same side.’
Amanda praised Clive for being a ‘hands-on’ dad, adding that ‘at certain times of year, it’s all hands on deck and all tasks on the farm are interchangeable.
There’s no one hat for any one person and I think that’s a great life lesson.’
Full house! The writer, 46, and her husband Clive, 67, share Raven, 20, Reuben, 17, Miles, 15, Edith, 12, Violet, ten, Sidney, nine, Annas, seven, Clementine, five, and four-year-old Nancy
The mother-of-nine was also quizzed on a comment she had previously made about never saying never to having a tenth child.
Speaking on whether that’s still the case, she continued: ‘I don’t know! If anyone knows anything it’s honestly that I have not got a plan. I plan for today and maybe tomorrow and that’s where it stops.
I think we should all give ourselves a bit of a break when it comes to parenting. As long as the kids are happy, well-fed and washed… that will do.’
Last week, the couple’s neighbours told MailOnline the pair had been living apart for months after she ‘got caught up in the spotlight’ of her Channel 5 programme.
Amanda and Clive with Raven, 20, Reuben, 17, Miles, 15, Edith, 12, Violet, ten, Sidney, nine, Annas, seven, Clementine, five, and four-year-old Nancy
Amanda moved into their rental property down the road from Ravenseat Farm in Swaledale, where Clive has been staying in the farmhouse, villagers said.
The couple, known as the ‘Kardashians of the Countryside’, are said to be ‘battling to save their marriage’ after more than 21 years.
Clive, who was married to another woman for 13 years, is understood to be ‘desperate’ to repair their relationship and ‘fears’ their marriage will end in divorce.
It was feared they had recently started living apart but their neighbours claim it was common knowledge months ago. This is despite the Yorkshire Shepherdess still plugging her new book about family life on TV shows.
In a joint statement given to MailOnline, Amanda and Clive Owen said: ‘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.’
They added they were going through a ‘rocky patch’ in their marriage.
It’s thought Amanda has moved into their holiday home The Firs, which is at the top of Upper Swaledale, in a valley and surrounded by five acres of meadows and pasture.
The six-bedroom cottage is accessed by a private road behind three gates and dates back to at least the seventeenth century.
It has a number of original features, including stone flagged floors, beamed ceilings, whitewashed walls and a traditional black Yorkshire range.
The couple rent Ravenseat Farm and its land from billionaire Robert Miller, who is the co-founder of DFS (Duty Free Shops) and is the father of Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, Princess Alexandra von Fürstenberg, and Pia Getty – the ‘it’ girls of the 1990s.
Amanda met her husband in 1996 when he was already divorced with two children, after she arrived at his farm as a 21-year-old trainee shepherdess.
Amanda grew up in a traditional three-bed house with her parents and one sibling in the large market town of Huddersfield.
At 6ft 2in, the blonde was encouraged to follow the same career path as her model mother, but she hated the clothes and make-up that she had to wear.
She left her comfortable town life to work on farms around the country, but it’s when she knocked on the door of Ravenseat Farm that she found her calling.
In April, the sheepherder (pictured) blamed parents for today’s ‘snowflake’ generation of children who cannot look after themselves
Many of her children help out on the farm when they are not at school – or travelling to and from as the journey takes one-and-a-half hours each way.
‘In order to make a big family work they all need to tow the line. It’s not about child labour – it’s about pulling together,’ Amanda told the Daily Mail in an article in 2018.
With the nearest shop so far away – and the risk during winter that they could be snowed in for weeks – the TV star buys food in bulk, and manages to feed her large family for just £130 a week.
Their water is free, channelled from the stream on the moor, and they heat the house and water with a roaring fire, which burns every day no matter what the weather.
Source: Daily Mail