The Yorkshire Shepherdess told ITV’s Lorraine that she and ex Clive didn’t make a plan to ‘try and repopulate Swaledale’.

What did you miss?

Amanda Owen has admitted she never had “a big dream to have a big family” – despite having nine children with ex Clive.

The Yorkshire Shepherdess told ITV’s Lorraine on Wednesday, 28 May that she and husband Clive, who she separated from in 2022, had never had a “sit down moment where we said let’s try and repopulate Swaledale” as she was asked why she had nine children.

The former couple still live and work alongside each other on their farm in Yorkshire, even renovating the farm next door and filming a documentary series about it. But Amanda admitted her ex was her biggest complaint in life and joked that they were living “in perfect f**king harmony”.

What, how and why?

Amanda Owen says she didn’t plan to have nine kids. Channel 4)
Amanda and Clive’s nine children often feature in their documentaries about life in rural Yorkshire, and they can be seen in More4’s Our Farm Next Door still working together despite their split as they renovate a neighbouring farmhouse for their children’s future.

But despite being well known for having such a large family, who she has taken with her on jobs around the farm since they were babies, Amanda confessed to Lorraine that she had never planned to be a mother of nine.

She said: “Why have I got nine children? Because I never set out to have nine children. It was never a big dream to have a big family, that didn’t come from anywhere.

“Believe me, there was never any sit down moment where we said let’s try and repopulate Swaledale.”

The Owen family have nine children who feature in their TV shows. (Channel 5)
Amanda added that her approach to parenthood was different to many other people, pointing out that there was plenty to occupy her children on their farm without organising games and activities for them.

“I mean, have I ever done a jigsaw with these kids, got down on my hands and knees? No,” she said. “I tend to work on the theory that there is plenty for them to do, but they just have to find their enjoyment and fun themselves.”

Amanda Owen talked about her parenting philosophy. (Channel 4)
The TV star pointed out a fairy garden that some of her younger children had made and said: “I like that, it’s creativity and it’s using what you’ve got to hand.”

She added of her children: “What do they do for me? They keep me positive, they keep me amused, they keep me busy, they run me ragged, they drive me mad.”

Amanda Owen opens up on complaints about Clive

Clive and Amanda Owen still work together. (More4)
Although she joked that her children drove her mad, Amanda admitted that her main complaint in life was about her ex, Clive. They separated in 2022 after 22 years of marriage, but continue to live and work alongside each other, as well as still starring in TV series together.

She said: “I haven’t got anything to complain about. Well I have, obviously Clive for a start.”

Clive roared into shot on a tractor as a frustrated-looking Amanda told the cameras: “Yeah, you can tell Lorraine we’re in perfect f**king harmony.”

But she continued: “I complain about him, I complain about the state of the house, I complain about the kids throwing things everywhere, I complain about the sheep that this land belongs to. Of course, but it’s not big stuff, right?”

Lorraine airs on ITV1 at 9am on weekdays.