With nine children, a herd of pregnant ewes and an ex-husband on her hands, Amanda Owen is a busy woman. When we meet Amanda for a chat there is hay in her tousled brunette bun and she’s only wearing a crop top thanks to an animal feed spillage. However, with her great bone structure and toned tummy, the Yorkshire Shepherdess still looks extremely fabulous.
“It takes me about five minutes to wash my face and slather some moisturiser,” says Amanda, 50, who confides long-lasting make-up is her secret weapon. “Then l put some mascara on, and I will use some irremovable lipstick too. I’ve discovered that certain brands actually don’t come off for about three days even if you have a bath or a shower. Even if I’m only going to see sheep, it makes me feel better.”
Amanda looks like she’s headed to the gym, as she stands in her rustic farm kitchen wearing just a crop top, however, there are no sit ups or kettle bell swings going on here. Instead, she explains her enviable fitness is the result of “shovelling muck” and “stress”. “Definitely no core exercises,” laughs Amanda. “It’s called run ragged and shovelling muck. I filled the barrow this morning with horse muck because the kids were wanting to plant things. Wherever you are on the farm, at some point you are going to end up sweating it out, mucking somewhere out, or trying to encourage an animal to go in a direction that it really doesn’t want to go in.”
Amanda has filmed a new series of Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive And Kids, for Channel 4. It follows farm life and the family’s joint efforts to restore a very old barn named Anty Johns. “We’re just getting the essentials like a roof, windows and a door,” explains Amanda. “All the things that I suppose you don’t really ever think about. They’re not optional. So in a way, it is simple. And I’m limited because it’s a listed building, so there’s no option for any sort of glass ceilings or anything like that.”
Now the structure has been made habitable, Amanda needs to make some decor decisions. “All of a sudden the emphasis changes to actually people asking me things, which is a problem because I don’t know,” she admits.
Amanda and Clive were first on TV in a 2011 ITV documentary called The Dales . More TV appearances followed and they released their own show Our Yorkshire Farm on Channel 5 in 2018. In 2022, the Amanda and Clive stunned fans as they revealed their 22-year union was over. Despite the split, Amanda and Clive, 69, carried on making TV shows together and co-parent their children Raven, 24, Reuben, 20, Miles, 18, Edith, 16, Violet, 14, Sidney, 13, Annas, 11, and nine-year-olds Clemmie and Nancy.
Amanda says their latest TV outing has lots of different adventures for the whole family. “You get to see the rough with the smooth on the farm,” laughs Amanda. “We aren’t The Waltons! You’ve got the scenery, you’ve got the children, you’ve got the animals… it’s got so many different elements all rolled into one. It’s like one of these home renovation projects, but Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen I ain’t! It’s got a Time Team archaeological element, and a historical Who Do You Think You Are? history element too. It’s a bit Countryfile and a bit The Osbournes!”
Making a TV show is serious business but with her animals, her children and her ex all playing a role, Amanda admits things never go to plan. “What makes it all relatable is that things don’t always go right,” she says. “Any sort of itinerary just goes to the wall. No matter how many things you knock off the list, it always gets longer. Everything escalates.”
Her own goats eating her keys was a problem she recently overcame. “We’ve got these three goats that go everywhere and literally no rules apply,” sighs Amanda. “They go through the house, on the roof, in the trailer, in the car… it’s access all areas with the goats. They’ve got a real liking for chewing things and they have an addiction to key fobs, one of them actually ate the quad bike keys!”
However, the disaster turned to triumph as young Sidney presented a solution. “It became a great learning curve,” says Amanda. “Sidney replaced the whole ignition barrel on the quad bike. I’m so proud of him.”
On camera, Amanda’s life looks perfect and her children are often featured wholesomely enjoying the outdoors and helping their parents on the family farm. However, she insists her kids are not unique. “They love nothing more than getting online,” says Amanda. “We live in quite judgmental times where you can’t do right for doing wrong. As a parent, it’s hard.”
Watching the show, viewers will be struck by Amanda and Clive’s positive working relationship after their divorce. However, Amanda admits they did nearly fall out while filming the new series. “Clive starts trying to tell me how to use the internet,” says Amanda. “That was definitely tear-jerking in a painful manner, in that mansplaining way. I definitely felt the tears coming – then the red mist!”
Luckily, Amanda can saddle up her horse and gallop off along the windswept moors when it all gets too much. However, she admits it never works out how she hopes.
“I absolutely love going out on my horse,” says Amanda. “I’ve got all the gear collected over the years, nice things. But do I ever go for a ride wearing nice things with a nice-looking horse? No!
“I go in my wellies with bits of string holding the girth together and everything mismatched and somewhere en route
I’ll either spot a sheep where it’s not supposed to be or a blocked drain and all of a sudden what was possibly a nice, relaxing time becomes stress!”