From Glamour to Grit! How Amanda Owen Swapped Modeling for Mud and Fell for Farmer Clive — Then Lost It All

Nine children and a successful television and book career later, the couple are now divorced and fans have been left concerned for Amanda after her erratic behaviour left viewers questioning if she ‘was okay’ when she appeared on Lorraine this week, as fans remarked on social media that ‘something doesn’t seem right’. 

Indeed it’s been a difficult few years for Amanda with her older children fleeing the nest for university and the end of her five-year relationship with her web designer Robert Davies, 71.

Although Amanda was single after secretly separating from Clive, the relationship was news to Robert’s wife Yasumi, who found a note from the Yorkshire Shepherdess in his car and a box of Amanda’s possessions hidden in her bedroom. 

It certainly put a slight dent in Amanda’s image, after previously being hailed as the ‘most authentic’ star on TV, and her beginnings on the farm as a young woman who was more passionate about becoming a hard-working shepherdess than she was about modelling. 

She had a bright future ahead of her when she rocked up to her would-be-husband’s farm as a bright-eyed 21-year-old model with aspirations to be a shepherdess in 1996 [pictured as a teen]

Despite the 19-year age gap, the couple fell in love and tied the knot in 2000, settling into married life at Ravenseat Farm in Upper Swaledale, North Yorkshire [pictured on their wedding day]

Amanda sparked concern on Tuesday’s episode of Lorraine as fans claim ‘something doesn’t seem right’ during an interview from her farm

Before shooting to fame as the ‘Yorkshire Shepherdess‘, Amanda was an aspiring model, but she soon discovered that the career wasn’t as glamorous as she envisioned.

She previously shared a throwback snap from her modelling days during the family’s Channel 5 show Our Yorkshire Farm as she reflected upon her expectations and the stark reality she faced.

She said: ‘When you think you’re gonna be a model, you think you’re gonna be [in] Vogue, Cosmopolitan, but then you actually end up doing like knitting catalogues. So it was like cardigans, floral, Princess Diana 1980 that kind of look. No thank you!’

At 6ft 2in, she was initially encouraged to follow the same career path as her model mother, Joyce Livingstone.

However, Amanda soon changed her mind about her desire to grace the covers of glossy magazines and eventually found herself eyeing up a completely different profession after stumbling upon a book called Hill Shepherd: A Photographic Essay at her local library.

Her passion for farming and the outdoors developed as she found herself connecting with the images of the shepherds.

Amanda previously opened up on her modelling days during the family’s Channel 5 show Our Yorkshire Farm as she reflected upon her expectations and the stark reality she faced [pictured in 2013]

Nine children and a successful television and book career later, the couple are now divorced and fans fear for Amanda’s future following a recent concerning TV interview

She explained: ‘I saw pictures of people doing what I’m doing now, surrounded by skyline.

‘On the top of a mountain looking out across with their sheepdog and their sheep. It was the pictures, it was the landscape, it was the people – everything in that book just appealed to me.

‘It wasn’t kind of glossing over the hard side of it, it was very real and very gritty, and atmospheric, but it was just the thought of working in the outdoors and actually doing something.’

She continued: ‘Having a physical job whereby we’re out there feeling the elements, getting windburn, sunburn, rained on, all the rest of it. It sounded like a good idea back then.’

Her newfound passion led Amanda to the doorstep of her future husband Clive, who at that point was a divorced father-of-two running Ravenseat Farm alone.

The first met when she turned up one night requesting a ‘tup’ [a male sheep] after leaving her city life behind to work on farms.

And while it wasn’t necessarily love at first sight on Amanda’s apart, Clive was certainly enamoured when he opened the door to the then 21-year-old.

He shared: ‘I do remember this six-foot something woman knocked on the door. I was very taken with her. You couldn’t not be.’

After she joined him on the farm as a trainee shepherdess, Amanda told how they started off just as friends before their love of the job brought them closer together.

She said: ‘It was a slow burn thing we kind of got to know each other. Made friends first then went out a little bit together.

‘With us both coming from non-farming backgrounds we were kind of peas in a pod really but we didn’t know that at the time.’

Speaking to Mail+ last year in the wake of their split, Amanda revealed how their shared passion brought them together.

‘I saw pictures of people doing what I’m doing now, surrounded by skyline. On the top of a mountain looking out across with their sheepdog and their sheep… everything in that book just appealed to me’

Her newfound passion saw Amanda finding herself on the doorstep of her future husband Clive, who at that point was a divorced father-of-two who was running Ravenseat Farm alone [a younger Clive pictured]

‘I met Clive 28 years ago, when I was 21 and he was 40. Even though I grew up in an urban area, I was passionate about rural life and it was my dream to be a shepherdess’

Following their 2000 wedding, the couple went on to welcome nine children – Raven, 23, Reuben, 21, Miles, 18, Edith, 16, Violet, 14, Sidney, 13, Annas, 11, Clemmy, nine, and Nancy, eight

It soon became clear to the couple that they needed other ways to create security and stability for their brood [Amanda with (L-R) Sidney, Annas and Edith in 2013]

She wrote: ‘I met Clive 28 years ago, when I was 21 and he was 40. Even though I grew up in an urban area, I was passionate about rural life and it was my dream to be a shepherdess. Clive was a hill farmer, so – unlikely as it sounds — it was sheep that brought us together.’

Following their 2000 wedding, the couple went on to welcome nine children – Raven, 23, Reuben, 21, Miles, 18, Edith, 16, Violet, 14, Sidney, 13, Annas, 11, Clemmy, nine, and Nancy, eight – and it soon became clear to the couple that they needed other ways to create security and stability for their brood.

She said: ‘Long before the television programmes and the books, I was looking for different ways we could earn money.

‘Walkers would pass through the farm on the Coast to Coast trail, so I set up a little sideline selling afternoon teas, and it was one of those passers-by who first floated the idea of showcasing our lives on the farm on ­television. It was 2011 when the farm was first featured on ITV’s The Dales.

‘Gradually one opportunity led to another and soon I was writing books and giving talks about life on the farm. Then, in 2018, we had our own farming show on Channel 5 – Our Yorkshire Farm.

‘In hindsight, maybe I should have limited how many events and appearances I took on, but I was on a ­mission, determined not to let any opportunities pass me by. I was very focused on ­putting down roots for the family – on finally owning our own home.’

After gaining recognition through her Twitter feeds amid her regular updates and pictures on farm life, she went on to earn the title of ‘The Yorkshire Shepherdess’ through a combination of her work on the farm, her television appearance and her books.

‘Gradually one opportunity led to another and soon I was writing books and giving talks about life on the farm. Then, in 2018, we had our own farming show on Channel 5 – Our Yorkshire Farm’ [pictured in 2020]

After gaining recognition through her Twitter feeds amid her regular updates and pictures on farm life, she went on to earn the title of ‘The Yorkshire Shepherdess’ through a combination of her work on the farm, her television appearance and her books

Her experiences as a shepherdess resulted in her biography The Yorkshire Shepherdess, which was published in 2014, and documented her life as a teen growing up in Huddersfield to being a rural sheep farmer.

The Owen family landed their hugely popular show, Our Yorkshire Farm, in 2018, but it came to an end in 2022, the same year Amanda and Clive announced their separation.

The news left fans of the show dismayed, but according to friends of the Owens they had been living apart for months before the announcement.

And rumours of marital troubles had been circling since late 2021, but they had always been denied by the couple.

Then, it emerged in April 2023 that Amanda had a five-year affair with married businessman Robert Davies, 71, and was living apart from husband Clive.

However, the duo have since returned to Ravenseat Farm in the Yorkshire Dales where they are bound by ‘a joint mission’ of successfully running the farm and bringing up their children, aged between nine and 23.

These days, Amanda and Clive are set to feature in the upcoming second season of More4’s Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids.

Then, it emerged in April 2023 that Amanda had a five-year affair with married businessman Robert Davies, 71, [pictured] and was living apart from husband Clive

However, the duo have since returned to Ravenseat Farm in the Yorkshire Dales where they are bound by ‘a joint mission’ of successfully running the farm and bringing up their children [L-R Violet, Clemmy, Reuben, Sidney, Annas, Edith, Miles, Nancy and Raven]

While promoting her latest show and discussing her family dynamic with her ex and kids, Amanda set tongues wagging from fans who were concerned over her behaviour

Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids, follows the former couple, who split in 2022 after 22 years of marriage, renovate an abandoned farmhouse into a home with the help from their children.

While promoting the show and discussing her family dynamic with her ex and kids, Amanda set tongues wagging from fans who were concerned over her behaviour.

Some watching at home took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share their concerns.

One asked: ‘Is Amanda ok? Something doesn’t seem right #Lorraine.’

‘Wow, Amanda is not looking well at all #lorraine’, ‘She doesn’t look well.’

‘She does not look well & yet Lorraine totally oblivious … or ignoring it.’

But others took to the social media platform to praise the TV star for her hard working, with one saying: ‘Amanda Owen on #lorraine who has 9 children in the Dales looking incredible. Super woman.’