As her son Reuben launches his new show, the famed Yorkshire Shepherdess reveals how one particular emotional attachment brings her joy and torment in equal measure
The hit Channel 5 documentary that explored life on one of the most remote farms in Britain brought Our Yorkshire Farm‘s Amanda Owen into living-rooms across the country. But the stress of running a working farm with having TV crews dogging their every step undoubtedly took a toll on Amanda, 51, and husband Clive who is some 20 years her senior, and they split in 2022.
After their divorce, Amanda spoke of living through “dark days” she endured following the split, telling the Daily Mail that she battled an eating disorder, as well as anxiety and depression in the months following the breakdown of her marriage.
“I just shut down,” she revealed. “Physical and mental health are intertwined and anxiety, depression, paranoia, agoraphobia and an eating disorder were all smooshed into one.”
But while going through a divorce proved to be a challenging period, Amanda said there is now “no tension” between her and Clive, and the pair remain close co-parents of their nine children as well as owners of Ravenseat Farm.
There’s only one source of emotional turmoil for Amanda thee days – her beloved horses. ”Our relationship with our horses is a deep, deep emotional one, but they give you so much stress,” she told Your Horse magazine.
Amanda owns five horses, including an imperturbable Clydesdale named Hazel who fears absolutely nothing except guinea-pigs. But a recent problem with the “100% bomb-proof” horse caused major anxiety for Amanda.
“Hazel got an abscess and I’ve been having sleepless nights,” she said. “Is there anything worse than a heavy horse with an abscess? Should I turn her out and risk a walker reporting me as she’s lame? These are all the things that Google doesn’t tell you.”
Amanda doesn’t sleep much even when her horses aren’t having trouble with their teeth, often staying up until after 1am. She continued: “I go to sleep instantly, and I don’t need a lot of sleep. But during the day, I try to pack in what I need to do and if I can write a little bit that’s great.”
Despite only gaining a Grade E for GCSE English, Amanda has published five successful books. Alongside her writing, she manages to find time for major TV commitments. Following their breakthrough series Our Yorkshire Farm, Amanda, her ex-husband Clive, and their nine children featured in Amanda Owen’s Extraordinary Farming Lives and Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids.
And now her kids are getting in on the family business. Amanda’s 22-year-old son Reuben, along with his girlfriend Jessica Ellwood, has his own show. Reuben Owen: Life in the Dales follows Reuben and his friends as they try to develop a heavy plant machinery business – taking viewers to various locations across the Yorkshire Dales.
Reuben says that Jessica has already won Amanda’s approval: Reuben shared how his family reacted to Jessica, saying: “Mum and Jess get on well, they talk about sheep together, they all approve and they all get along really well.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
