For years, viewers saw only beauty at Ravenseat — endless skies, stone walls, and the remarkable woman who ran a remote hill farm with grit and grace.
But now, Amanda Owen is breaking her silence on the chapter she has hidden from the world… until today.
Behind the sweeping drone shots and smiling family scenes, the Yorkshire Shepherdess was fighting for her life.
A Family Still Together — Yet Living Apart
Amanda, 51, and Clive, 70, stunned fans when they ended their 22-year marriage in 2022. But the breakup didn’t separate their lives completely.
They continued filming together.
They continued farming together.
They continued raising nine children together — though now split between two homes.
To outsiders, it looked unusually harmonious. Mature. Stable.
But Amanda now admits: “Everything collapsed at once.”
The Spiral No One Saw Coming
After the split — and the short-lived relationship that followed — Amanda says her mental and physical health began to unravel in terrifying ways.
She describes a storm of:
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severe anxiety
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depression
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paranoia
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agoraphobia
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and an eating disorder she’d kept suppressed for years
“I shut down,” she says quietly. “Everything blurred together.”
Her dramatic weight loss became tabloid fodder.
Online trolls attacked her appearance daily.
Her 17-year-old daughter deleted the cruelest comments before Amanda could see them.
Some evenings, she hid in the sheep pens, alone in the dark, trying to breathe.
“It felt like watching my own post-mortem while I was still alive.”
‘I Thought I Might Lose Her’: Clive’s Terrifying Confession
What started emotionally soon turned dangerous.
Amanda developed a swallowing condition so severe she repeatedly collapsed — once vomiting blood outside on Valentine’s night.
“There were moments I thought she wouldn’t see morning,” Clive admits now.
She fainted while gathering sheep.
She was rushed to hospital more than once.
And all this unfolded as they renovated a farmhouse and filmed a new TV series.
Pressure came from every direction.
Her body simply gave out.
The Breakup That Unexpectedly Saved Them
In a twist few expected, Amanda and Clive now say they get on better after the separation.
“There’s no tension anymore,” Amanda explains. “Space has been a blessing.”
They still eat together as a family.
Still work the farm side-by-side.
Still tease and banter like the couple viewers fell in love with.
Clive even jokes the divorce taught him to cook.
Nine Children — One Unbreakable Priority
Their children remain the centre of everything:
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Raven, 24 — forging a scientific career
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Reuben, 22 — running his own machinery business and starring in his own show
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The younger six — dividing time between sheep pens, schoolbooks and farm chores
Their resilience is Amanda’s proudest accomplishment.
Clive Is Dating Again — Amanda Isn’t Ready
Clive openly admits he has a new partner.
Amanda smiles when asked about romance:
“I’m ambivalent about men. Not never — but not now.”
Her focus is healing — slowly, quietly, bravely.
A Recovery Built on Fragile Strength
Amanda now says she has “turned a corner.”
The eating disorder hasn’t disappeared, but she has learned to manage it.
The intrusive thoughts are quieter.
Her body is steadier.
“I still wobble,” she says. “But I’m here. I survived.”
Christmas at Ravenseat: Chaos, Laughter… and Hope
This year will look like every Owen family Christmas:
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livestock fed before stockings
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a cheap turkey bought last-minute
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children perched on milk churns and laundry baskets
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disasters turning into family folklore
“When the kids remember Christmas,” Amanda smiles, “they never talk about presents. They talk about the chaos.”
And What About Amanda and Clive?
Will they ever stop bickering?
Amanda laughs:
“If we stop arguing, then something’s really wrong.”
After everything — the heartbreak, the illness, the fear — they’ve found a strange peace.
It’s not the life they imagined.
But it’s the life that saved them.
