‘My anger drove her away’admits Our Yorkshire Farm’s Clive Owen as he opens up on split from wife Amanda
OUR Yorkshire Farm star Clive Owen has opened up about what really happened during his split from ex-wife Amanda.
Speaking candidly, Clive, 69, reveals the part he played in their marriage breakdown and how he felt about Amanda, 50, moving on with 72-year-old web designer Robert Davies.
Yorkshire farmer Clive married model-turned-shepherdess in 2000 and the couple went on to welcome nine children together.
They chronicled their rural life on screen and in books to “help support the farm financially and share the realities of farming.” But Clive and Amanda sent their fans into shock in 2022 when they confirmed that they had split up after 22 years of marriage.
The Sun then exposed that Amanda had been having a relationship with Robert.
Speaking candidly to the yesterday, Clive has revealed that he knew about the relationship all along.
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Explaining the real-reason for their marriage breakdown, he said: “Amanda and I had done everything on the farm together, struggled hard through thick and thin for 20 years and then, all of a sudden, it felt like that’s not how it worked anymore.”
The Channel 5 star added that he “felt left behind” while Amanda’s fame increased as a result of the success of their TV show Our Yorkshire Farm and her Yorkshire Shepherdess book series.
He continued: “If I’m honest about it, I didn’t want to accept that I was no longer the breadwinner for our family. It was especially hard knowing that Amanda, who is a very beautiful woman, would be going out all dressed up to launches and events and meeting other people.
“I wanted to keep her to myself and for her not to leave the farm. That’s really when the relationship started to go bad, I suppose – about five years ago.
“I’m sure the age difference was a factor, and my insecurity about getting older meant I found fault in everything she did.”
Clive then went on to say that he found himself resenting his wife’s success as she spent more time away from Ravenseat while becoming “jealous” of the attention she was able to bring to the farming industry.
Opening up, he said: “It’s not easy to talk about and I’m not proud of my behaviour back then. I was awful to Amanda and, looking back, I think that my own depression had a part to play.
“I was angry and drinking a lot of whisky. It was my way to cope, but it led to arguments, and as my behaviour got worse, it was too much for Amanda to bear.
Anger and resentment ate away at me. I know she dreaded coming home because she knew what was coming and that I would start a fight.
“I can see now that I was being hypocritical by thinking Amanda had left me behind with the success she had outside of the farm, because in some respects, I had always put the farm before her, so she was coming second to that.
Amanda Owen's relationship timeline
The Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen has lived most of her life in the public eye as her Channel 5 series Our Yorkshire Farm shined a spotlight on her rural life with ex-husband Clive and their nine children. Sadly, Amanda's relationship with Clive hit the rocks and in 2022 the couple announced their split. Let's take a closer look at the timeline of their relationship, plus Amanda's other notable romance...
Amanda married Yorkshire farmer Clive Owen, who is 19 years her senior, in 2002.
The couple welcomed nine children together over the course of their marriage.
Their nine children, in descending order of age, are Raven, Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Annas, Clemmie, and Nancy.
There is a large age gap between some, with the oldest, Raven, now 23 and the youngest, Nancy, only 8.
Clive and Amanda appeared to be very much in love as they documented their home and working life together at Ravenseat in their Channel 5 series.
However, they shocked their fans on Thursday, June 9, 2022, when Amanda shared an Instagram post confirming that she and Clive had split.
She said: "Clive and I have are sad to confirm that we have made the difficult decision to separate.
"This hasn't been easy, but we both believe it's the right choice for the future of our family."
Clive has since opened up about his part in their split, admitting his "anger drove her away."
Following their split the Sun revealed that Amanda had been having a relationship with web designer Robert Davies, who is 22-years her senior.
He was a "good friend" to them, Clive said as he confirmed that Amanda's new relationship began after they had separated.
However, in 2024, Amanda revealed that her relationship with Robert had ended and that they were no-longer on speaking terms.
Meanwhile, Amanda and Clive have become good friends and continue to co-parent their children and work together on the farm.
They will reunite for a new Channel 4 documentary series that will see them attempt to restore an neglected property on their land.
He revealed that this led to some explosive fights between himself and Amanda, with his ex-wife later moving out of their family home.
“It got to the point where she couldn’t stand the fighting, the drinking and all my negative comments, so she went across the road to our holiday let to get some space.”
However, he explained that he eventually he and Amanda were able to salvage some part of their relationship and have since become close friends. “It’s not like everyone else’s version of leaving a marriage, because she was at the farm the next day and every day thereafter, looking after the kids, feeding us all, doing jobs on the farm – and she still is!” Clive said.
He added: “The two houses are walking distance, so the kids, now aged from eight to 23, go where they want to go. They do as they please, there’s no tension or animosity about the set-up.
“It’s really good for them. Amanda is the greatest mother ever and the kids love her to bits.”
Clive also clarified that their split wasn’t caused by any kind of romantic betrayal and that he blames himself for the split.
“I’d like people to know that what caused the split between us wasn’t anyone else – it was the constant fighting. My anger drove Amanda away,” he said.
Clive added: “Looking back on it, I can see now that Amanda needed someone to talk to, someone she could trust, and at that stage, I wasn’t that person.
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“Rob had always been a good friend to us, and we’d known him a long time. They got together at a point when we had already separated, so I wasn’t shocked or horrified, and it was never an affair in my mind because I knew about it from the beginning.”
Amanda has since called it quits with Robert, and revealed that they’re not on speaking terms.