Friday 10 June 2022 05:49 PM Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen and husband Clive seen for first time since ... trends now
Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen has been seen for the first time with husband Clive since announcing their split as they continue to run their farm side-by-side despite 'living apart for months'.
The couple, who have been married for 22 years, were seen deep in conversation outside the cafe at their farm in the Yorkshire Dales earlier today.
Photos show mother-of-nine Amanda sat on a quadbike holding a jerrycan while speaking to her estranged husband on their 2,000-acre Ravenseat Farm.
It comes after they revealed yesterday that they had made 'the difficult decision to separate' but added that they would 'continue to work on the farm and co-parent together'.
Amanda and Clive shot to fame on their reality TV show Our Yorkshire Farm, which showcases their life together in one of the remotest parts of England.
News of their separation had left fans of the show dismayed, but according to friends of the Owens they had been living apart for months before the announcement.
Rumours of marital troubles have been circling since late 2021, but they have been denied by the couple.
Amanda was pictured wearing her wedding ring on a night out in November of last year, appearing to dispute speculation she and her husband had already been living apart for some time.
A source close to Clive and Amanda said: 'It's really sad for both of them that it's come to this, especially with such a large family and some of them so young.
Amanda and Clive Owens were pictured outside the cafe at their farm in the Yorkshire Dales earlier today after they had announced their separation
The couple were seen deep in conversation at the farm, a day after announcing that they would continue to work together and co-parent despite their separation
Amanda was seen sitting on a quadbike and holding onto a jerrycan while speaking to her husband of 22 years on their 2,000-acre farm
A source close to Amanda and Clive Owen (pictured on their wedding day) said it is 'really sad' that the couple have taken the difficult decision to separate
Despite appearances, Amanda and Clive (pictured) have been struggling with their marriage for months according to locals - and the Shepherdess herself admitted neither of them are particularly romantic
The couple have thanked everyone for their support and asked for privacy as they 'work through this difficult time'. Amanda and Clive Owen pictured with their nine children in front of their holiday let, The Firs, where Amanda is believed to have moved in to
'It's been an open secret across the dale for a long time that they have been having problems and have been living apart.
'Amanda has been living in their holiday let, a cottage just under a mile away from Ravenseat and Clive has been staying at the farm where he's always been.'
But the couple's relationship won't be over just because of their split - because of their complex domestic and business circumstances, they revealed.
'The problem they're going to have is that this won't be a divorce in the normal sense of the word where two people can go their separate ways,' the source explained.
'They have nine children, the youngest is only around four and five of them are under the age of 10, still at primary school.
'But you have to add in to that the fact they are running a big hill farm with a flock of sheep scattered all over the dale.
'It's hard work and what they do on TV isn't just for show, they're both working day in, day out to make their business work.
'That means Amanda is at Ravenseat every day, so the question people are asking is 'how will they both move on with their lives from here?'
'It's hard to imagine how either of them could begin a new relationship with the ex husband or wife being part of their every day lives. It's a very difficult situation.
'Clive is a very well liked and respected man in this part of the world, he's lived here all his life and Amanda has become part of Dales life as well.
Clive and Amanda Owen have been married for 22 years. Pictured: the couple with daughter Raven at their home in North Yorkshire
The couple shared a joint statement on social media confirming they had split yesterday (June 9)
The stars of Our Yorkshire Farm have made the difficult decision to split - but will remain working together on the farm and as parents of their nine children, the youngest of whom is just four years old. Pictured: Amanda Owen and husband Clive Owen
'Their friends and neighbours are sad for the whole family.'
The couple met at the farm in 1996 when Amanda took up a role as a trainee shepherdess. She had already been married once and had two children.
She 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.
The couple's statement yesterday continued: 'This hasn't been easy, but we both believe it's the right choice for the future of our family.
'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.'
The couple added that they would like to thank everyone for their support and asked for privacy as they 'work through this difficult time'.
The couple, known as the 'Kardashians of the Countryside', had in the last few months been said to be 'battling to save their marriage' after more than two decades.
But they have continued to present a united front as a happy family until the announcement on social media yesterday.
Amanda regularly shares candid photos of her and her children online on the farm, as well as family shots of her and her husband flanked by their nine children.
She didn't even tell her own mother that she was having marital issues, instead leaving Joyce Livingstone in the dark.
Ms Livingstone previously said the marriage was 'rock solid' as far as she knew and she had not been contacted by anybody to say otherwise.
She said she was 'gobsmacked' when she first heard the couple were going through a rough patch, having been married for 22 years.
Mr Owen, who before meeting Amanda was married to another woman for 13 years, was described as 'desperate' to repair their relationship amid 'fears' their marriage would end in divorce.
Mr and Mrs Owen became adored television stars through the Channel 5 show Our Yorkshire Farm from 2018 after first appearing on ITV series The Dales in 2011.
The programme follows them and their nine children around the 2,000-acre Ravenseat Farm as they battle the harsh elements to tackle rural duties.
The Yorkshire Shepherdess has also released multiple books about her life as a Yorkshire farmer since the reality show first aired.
She and Owen have previously said the show and books are designed to show the 'reality' of life on the farm - although it has also seen them shoot to fame.
But the tough lifestyle portrayed in the series appears to have taken its toll, with the couple's fall out becoming 'the talk of the village'.
Nevertheless the Shepherdess does not regret taking part in the programme: 'We are just a normal family dealing with everything life throws at us and the programme is life as it's happening, whether there's someone filming it or not and that's what keeps everybody grounded.'
It is thought Mrs Owen 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 while Mr Owen has remained at the farmhouse, according to villagers.
Amanda has previously hinted that she and her husband have had their fair share of troubles, once revealing in an interview that romance is not in either her or Clive's 'make-up'.
But she has always been keen to show their relationship works: 'Everything we do is interchangeable.
'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.'
She also told Lorraine in December of last year that the constant media attention means she has had to learn to ride out the tough times.
She said: 'You have to take the rough with the smooth.
'We were talking about how you weather a storm, we're pretty resilient in the hills, that's all we got to go.
Clive is rumoured to not have taken to fame in the same way as his wife. Pictured: Clive (right) tends to a sheep on his 2,000 acre farm
'If you're proud of what you're doing, you have to shoulder it, that's exactly what we do, get on with it, ignore it.'
As well as marital issues, Amanda's parenting style has also caused problems, resulting in a brief brush with social services.
She revealed the encounter at Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, adding she does not see herself as a 'perfect parent.'
'I got a yellow flag from social services... I believe there is a happy medium whereby you do let the kids climb trees.
'Yes, they haven't got harnesses on or hard hats, but I believe there are some lessons to be learned that don't necessarily result in instant death but actually learn your own parameters.'
Our Yorkshire Farm came under fire in 2018 for scenes that appeared to breach health and safety.
The workers' union Unite raised concerns over an episode which saw children driving quad bikes without helmets, riding in tractor cabs and on trailers without guardrails, and climbing and playing on hay bales.
Amanda is believed to have moved into the six-bedroom cottage holiday cottage owned by the family, which 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.
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.
Did reality TV fame cost the Yorkshire Shepherdess her marriage? How ex-model Amanda Owen got 'caught up' in the glamour of her own show, books and Instagram persona - while Clive preferred to stay out of the spotlight
By Harriet Johnston for MailOnline
Our Yorkshire Farm star Amanda Owen was 'caught up in the spotlight' as she rose to fame appearing on reality TV and publishing a number of bestselling books for years before she and her husband Clive split up.
The mother-of-nine, 47, made her first TV appearance alongside her husband, 66, in 2011 on ITV's The Dales, before they landed their own Channel 5 show Our Yorkshire Farm in 2018.
In the years since she first graced the nation's screens, she has published five bestselling books, appeared on a host of podcasts and farming shows, and become a regular guest star on morning TV, where she discusses everything from life on the farm, to parenting and marriage.
However last autumn it appeared there was trouble in paradise for Amanda and her husband Clive - neighbours said they had
