Amanda Owen is renovating a farm in new series Our Farm Next Door (Image: LORNA ROACH PHOTOGRAPHY)Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxMore Newsletters SubscribePlease enter a valid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.More NewslettersWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More infoThank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow me See OurPrivacy Notice See OurPrivacy Notice×Group 28 Get daily celeb exclusives and behind the scenes house tours direct to your inboxInvalid emailSomething went wrong, please try again later.Sign UpNo thanks, closeWe use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. More info×Group 28Thank you for subscribing!We have more newslettersShow MeNo thanks, closeSee our
Privacy NoticeThe pressures of farming, family and fame may have cost them their 22-year marriage, but Amanda and Clive Owen are reuniting to star in a new series called Our Farm Next Door in which they’re renovating a derelict farmhouse together. The separated couple have joined forces once more to create a new legacy for their nine children. They’re taking on the tough project, which is set near the family’s Ravenseat Farm, in one of the most remote parts of Britain in Swaledale, located in the Yorkshire Dales. Explaining why the couple are back on TV together, Amanda says simply: “I do enjoy doing the TV.” Reflecting on her amicable relationship with Clive, Amanda says, “I am proud of where we have got to. Life throws you some funny curve balls, but it’s how you overcome them and move forward. It’s about building the blocks again.” Laughing, she then reveals, “But don’t get me wrong, we have our moments and our differences of opinion!”
Amanda has returned to TV with a new building project
(Image: LORNA ROACH PHOTOGRAPHY)
So, who is the boss of this new project? Amanda, 50, smiles before replying, “That depends on who is up at the property. I don’t know if it is a blessing or a curse but there is no connectivity around there, you have to walk to get to it because the track up to it is so bad. I had to really persuade the builders to want to work on this project. “Nobody can ring you, so you have to make your own decisions. But that’s been good as I’ve had to learn to let go.” It was ironically on the first day of lockdown in March 2020 that Amanda purchased the farmhouse – called Anty John’s and dating back to the 1800s – as a project she could tackle with Clive, 69, to one day hand on to their kids. “If any good came out of Covid, I guess it was buying this property,” she says. “I feel blessed to have been able to buy it as it was such an amazing opportunity to buy another farm that had plenty of land – 30 acres – and common grazing rights, which is quite unusual nowadays.” Yet, as she admits, this was no simple task. After putting the renovation on hold until a year ago, there were plenty of hurdles to overcome before they could even begin work. The property was derelict, had no foundations or roof and was beset by outdated planning permission proposals. “A lot had changed since the original application was put through,” Amanda says. “Things like an old 1970s-style avocado bathroom! So, there was a lot of paperwork to do before we could even get started. It was stressful and there were times where you’d stand among the rubble thinking, ‘OMG, where do I even start?’ It was overwhelming.” Sign up to OK!’s TV newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free
Amanda and Clive are working together on the rebuild
(Image: Channel 4)
Thankfully her years as a determined farmer meant nothing was going to get her down and once the paperwork was out of the way, she and Clive were able to start. But, as she reveals today, it has been a slow process. Twelve months on, the couple have so far only managed to install a roof. The windows will be next. “I had dreamt of being able to light a fire in a room this Christmas,” she says. “Obviously that isn’t going to happen. Things have gone a lot slower and we have been really battling with the elements to do the work. I have had a lot of sleepless nights worrying about walls falling and underpinning. But this will be a legacy for our children.” She won’t say how much they have spent on the property, but as well as Clive working by her side, so too are their nine kids – Raven, 23, Reuben, 20, Myles, 18, Edith, 16, Violet, 14, Sidney, 12, Annas, 11, Clementine, nine, and Nancy, eight – as and when they can. “They have all been helping,” Amanda says, beaming. “I want them to be involved because it is for them. I don’t want them to be handed anything on a plate.” While chatting to us, it’s clear that juggling lots of different plates is something Amanda has learnt to perfect over time.
The house is a project for Amanda and Clive’s children
(Image: Channel 4)
As well as the renovation, she also works full-time on the farm and is a very hands-on mum to the couple’s children, rising as early as 4.30am and working way into the night. She blushes at being called a super woman. “No, no, life is not about perfection,” she insists. “It’s about overcoming things. Everyone is juggling. I am no role model. I am just someone who tries to do their best.” Amanda and Clive first shot to fame in 2011 when they appeared in an ITV travel series about the Yorkshire Dales, and she became known as the Yorkshire Shepherdess thanks to her series of bestselling books about their farming life. In 2018, things really took off on the TV front with their Channel 5 series, Our Yorkshire Farm. The hit show came to an end in 2022 when the pair announced their separation. Yet rather than running away from the limelight, Amanda says the family thought it would be fun to star again in a new series together that promises to be a “warts and all” look at how they are going about restoring the property. She explains. “With this new series, you will see every element of the renovation project as well as the animals and children, because everything is interlinked.” You wonder, though, given life in the public eye contributed to the breakdown of her marriage if she has any regrets. “Absolutely not,” she says. “I’m really proud of this project and it’s nice to be able to share it with everyone.” Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnAmanda OwenOur Yorkshire Farm
