I found Amanda’s love note in my husband’s car… she’s been living a TV lie, says wife of Yorkshire Shepherdess’ lover
YORKSHIRE Shepherdess Amanda Owen is today accused of living a TV lie by the heartbroken wife of her new lover, who wept: “I’ve lost everything.”
The star’s secret five-year fling with 71-year-old businessman Robert Davies began as she rose to fame on telly hit Our Yorkshire Farm.
But the affair was discovered only a year ago when a love letter she wrote him was found in the boot of his car as his shocked wife cleaned it.
Mum-of-nine Amanda, 48, attracted a legion of fans as the docuseries chronicled her farming life — and saw her rake in more than £1million.
But her public image of devoted farmer’s wife, mother and shepherdess will be shattered by today’s revelation of the note found inside a paper bag.
The scribbled message, discovered last March, read: “Robert, life is too short & happiness is too rare. I love you.”
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His devastated wife, Yasumi, an investment banker from Tokyo, recognised the handwriting from a signed copy of Amanda’s new book.
She later found some of Amanda’s jewellery hidden in a box in their bedroom. It included a necklace she had worn on TV and which read: “Together forever.”
Yasumi, who wed Mr Davies on Christmas Day in 2011 after a whirlwind romance, also uncovered a key chain which was engraved: “Unbridled love. R & A.”
She confronted her web designer husband, whose eldest daughter is the same age as Amanda, and he instantly confessed to the betrayal.
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Details of Amanda’s secret affair emerged almost a year after she and her co-star husband Clive, 68, announced their shock split.
Today, in an exclusive interview with The Sun, Yasumi, 56, says of her husband: “He rang Amanda in front of me and told her I knew about their affair and that it was over.
“He said they’d been having an affair for a few years. But instead of acknowledging the pain I was suffering, he was more concerned about protecting her TV career.
“She didn’t care how I felt and didn’t show any compassion.
“I’d watched Our Yorkshire Farm and couldn’t help but be impressed by her.
“She portrayed herself as a wife and a mother, devoted to family, hard-working and an inspiration to others.
“But she’s been lying to the British public and living a double life.
“She’s written books, featured in calendars, made guest appearances and gone on other TV shows.
“But it is all a lie. I never imagined she was someone else behind the cameras and the truth has broken my heart and ended my marriage. There is another side to her.
“I liked my peaceful life with my lovely husband, living together, but now I’ve lost everything because of her. She has broken my peace and turned my life upside down.”
Mr Davies, who has been married five times, ended the phone call and seemingly the affair, but within a month was seeing the TV star again.
He has since moved out of the marital home in Malton, North Yorks, and was photographed with his new lover at an event in Folkestone, Kent. They are said to be “inseparable”.
Yasumi, who has vowed to divorce her estranged husband and move on, said: “I don’t want to say something to hurt people.
“I don’t feel hatred. I’m just disappointed by her and what she has done. I wonder if she has ever thought about my feelings?
“I’m surprised, sad and angry that they had an affair for such a long time. They were having a nice time, an exciting time but I didn’t know anything and I was alone.
“Until last March when I found the note I had no suspicions about them. I thought it was purely about business.”
Yasumi, who was being supported by a close friend then breaks down in tears as she said: “It’s hard because for four years I didn’t know.
“It’s so sad. I have a lot of nice memories. I have to delete the photos from my phone because it’s so heart-breaking.
“I don’t want to remember the good memories because everything is with him.
“I like living here but all the memories in this house are with him.
“Surprisingly, I’m still worrying about him and I feel guilty for him by talking about this. I don’t want to hurt him but lying to people is not right.
“He’s a weak man who got bored and it’s sad he didn’t want to create new memories with me.
“I don’t want to feel miserable because he’s kind to me but he doesn’t care about me anymore as an important person.”
The couple first met in Tokyo in 2011 when Mr Davies was visiting family.
They exchanged emails and grew closer in the wake of Japan’s devastating earthquake, which killed nearly 20,000, a month later.
Yasumi said: “He was really kind. I was working for an American investment company and he was a wonderful English gentleman.”
But in 2018, she noticed a sudden change in his behaviour towards her after he began working with Amanda on her farming website.
She explained: “He didn’t look happy anymore and was tired all the time. Something was wrong. We never really discussed it and I regret that now.”
She added: “Because the farm is so remote, whenever he had a meeting there he stayed overnight.
“But I had no idea what was going on until I found the letter in his car. I was full of despair, hopelessness. It broke my heart.
“He told me it had been going on for four years. I thought we had a chance to repair our relationship but now there is no way back.
“My revenge is being happier than them.” Meanwhile, another of his ex-wives tonight likened him to Henry VIII with his six wives — and warned the TV star: “Be careful, he broke my heart.”
Jan Coates, 72, the fourth of his fifth spouses, said their marriage broke down in 2001 after he cheated two years in.
Mrs Coates said: “That’s what he does, gets married, has an affair and moves on.
“He is very charming but he is also very ruthless in the way he treats people. I think he gets bored easily.”
She added: “I can see what’s happened. He loves fame and fortune and he loves money. I’m not being a woman scorned.
“But if he marries Amanda Owen he would be like Henry VIII with six wives and that’s not normal.
“He has not changed in two decades. I am not vicious or vindictive but I would say he loves the chase for females and loves fame and fortune. But maybe they will suit each other.”
Amanda and Clive, who were married 21 years, found fame on the Channel 5 show which ran between 2018 and 2022 and followed the family on their remote farm as she tended to their sheep.
But sources say Amanda’s head was turned by their success, which saw them become household names. It prompted her to walk out and live separately while keeping plans to divorce secret.
After news broke of their split, which Amanda tried to hide to protect her commercial interests, she said: “I’m getting on with my life as an independent woman, looking after the children and my sheep.”
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She later added: “It’s not a big story. I feel there’s so many people in similar situations. That’s the reality. We all have to get on with it.”
The Sun tried to contact Mr Davies and a representative for Amanda but they were unavailable.
