Amanda and Clive Owen's relationship timeline from unlikely meeting to split (2024)

Amanda and Clive Owen might have split two years ago, but they are still very much a team thanks to their shared farm projects and nine children.

The Yorkshire farmers launched new More4 show Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids last week, which sees them working together to renovate a farmhouse for their children's future.

It will come as no surprise to fans of the Owens that despite their differences, they have been able to put feelings aside and get on with an enormous amount of hard work, just the thought of which would leave most people needing a lie down.

From their chance first meeting to TV fame, nine kids and their eventual split, this is Amanda and Clive Owen's relationship timeline.

Chance first meeting

When the Owens first stepped into the public eye, much was made of their large age gap - Amanda was just 21 when she met 42-year-old Clive at Ravenseat Farm.

Speaking about how they had first met to The Telegraph in 2014, Amanda admitted that when she first laid eyes on Clive, "I wasn’t interested in any shenanigans." It seemed unlikely a romance would blossom from their first meeting.

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She had been sent by her boss to recently-divorced Clive's Ravenseat Farm to collect a ram one night in 1996. From there the pair struck up a friendship, with Clive regularly asking the young shepherdess back for help with his flock.

Eventually, things turned romantic and Amanda moved in at Ravenseat, which viewers would eventually become familiar with as the setting for their reality series. They married in 2000.

Nine children

Amanda and Clive Owen's relationship timeline from unlikely meeting to split (1)

Our Yorkshire Farm fans often expressed their amazement at the level of physical work Amanda would take on in often harsh conditions in the Dales, with a baby strapped to her back and small children by her side.

She and Clive are parents to nine children - Raven, Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Anna, Clemmie, and Nancy - with eldest Raven born in 2001 and youngest Nancy in 2017.

Amanda has given birth in various locations between the farm and the nearest hospital which is two hours away, including in a lay-by and at Catterick Garrison.

She told The Telegraph of moving into Ravenseat: "When I came here it kind of had a feeling of emptiness. It was a farm where there had been so much going on over the centuries and so much history … but the people weren’t there, and it just felt right to put the life back into the place."

Following their split, Amanda told Lorraine that she didn't find it unusual to still be living with her ex at the farm while they co-parented together.

She said: "That's what we have to do. It's not a big story. There's so many people in similar situations."

TV fame

Amanda and Clive Owen's relationship timeline from unlikely meeting to split (2)

The Owens' gradual rise to fame saw them reach the dizzying heights of TV stardom as they gained fans through their hit Channel 5 series Our Yorkshire Farm.

Amanda, who was popular for her social media posts as The Yorkshire Shepherdess, first appeared on TV with her family as part of Adrian Edmondson's 2011 series The Dales, and later they featured in Ben Fogle's New Lives in the Wild.

Their appeal to viewers was quickly snapped up by Channel 5 for their own show, Our Yorkshire Farm, which ran from 2018 until their marriage breakdown in 2022. Clive and eldest son Reuben then got a spin-off show about their farm diggers venture, Beyond The Yorkshire Farm, while Reuben also has another show, Reuben: Life in The Dales.

As of October 2024, the Owens are back on screen together for More4 series Our Farm Next Door.

'Rocky patch'

Working together in such an all-encompassing job had made the Owens seem invincible to many of their fans, so the news that they had hit a rocky patch in their marriage came as a shock.

The pair were typically honest about what was going on between them when rumours emerged in 2021, saying in a statement to OK!: "With the TV show and the books we've always aimed to show the reality of life on the farm, and just like any marriage we have our stresses and strains, coupled with all the complexities of what we do on the farm and bringing up nine kids.

"We're a normal family, and we've never said our marriage is perfect. Unfortunately, the constant intrusion into our lives from the media has amplified a rocky patch that we're going through.”

Marriage split and Our Yorkshire Farm axed

Amanda and Clive Owen's relationship timeline from unlikely meeting to split (3)

Sadly, after opening up on their rocky patch, Amanda and Clive decided to call time on their relationship in 2022.

It also led to the end of their popular Channel 5 documentary, although they have continued to work and co-parent together.

Speaking to Lorraine, Clive appeared to take responsibility for the split as he said: "We filmed Our Yorkshire Farm, people loved it and it was an opportunity to make something as a family. That was what drove her. It was amazing and very successful but I handled it very badly.

"It was such a change in our lives and I sadly made a right mess of things basically. I had a massive part to play in the relationship ending."

But Amanda also told the Radio Times: "Look, there are two simple facts: if he thought I was brilliant, and I thought he was brilliant, then we wouldn’t have separated. It’s a fact, isn’t it? But, you know what, that’s not unique, it’s just how things are, pressures, all the rest of it."

Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids

Amanda and Clive Owen's relationship timeline from unlikely meeting to split (4)

Amanda and Clive have stepped into a new era since their split - while they had always continued working together as co-parents and farmers, that now extends to TV shows, too.

In October 2024 they launched new More4 documentary series Our Farm Next Door, which sees them renovate a run-down farmhouse adjoining Ravenseat Farm so that they can secure a future for their large family.

Speaking on Lorraine, Amanda said of working together with Clive: "We've got a lot of room and a lot of distractions. First and foremost we're farming. It's yet another diversification, we have our fingers in so many pies that it's just unbelievable. There is enough work to go around times a zillion. It's tough trying to spin all the plates but that's why this programme is relatable, that's why we've been so popular with viewers. You don't always get the happy ending you want, but it's how you negotiate it."

The former couple also addressed their unusual set-up in the first episode of the show as Amanda said: "Me and Clive, although we are still husband and wife, we are separate. This last year has been incredibly hard in so many respects but we’ve got through it."

Clive added: "Me and Mandy, we’ve had a strange few years and we’re now in a place where although we are not actually together, we are still in business together, we still have these kids together. It’s a crazy situation but it isn’t; it’s the most sensible thing for everybody to do."

Our Farm Next Door is streaming on Channel 4.

Amanda and Clive Owen's relationship timeline from unlikely meeting to split (2024)
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