AMANDA OWEN FIRES BACK AT CRUEL TROLLS – YORKSHIRE SHEPHERDESS SHUTS DOWN ‘BREEDING A WORKFORCE’ JIBE ONCE AND FOR ALL
Amanda Owen responded to people’s question on her parenting skills (Image: Channel 4)
Our Farm Next Door star Amanda Owen has hit back at haters for accusing her of “breeding a workforce”. The Channel 4 show gives viewers an insight into Amanda’s farm life and family updates involving her ex-husband Clive and their nine children.
On Friday’s episode (July 10), both Annas and Clemmie were seen helping care for Bonny, a premature calf, as well as getting their hands dirty cleaning and decorating a horn for Clive’s upcoming birthday. Amanda also taught her daughters about farming and asked them to help move the animals to specific places.
Amanda hoped to hand more control to her children (Image: Channel 4)
The Yorkshire Shepherdess shared her thoughts as she reflected on viewers’ questions, asking her: “Are you breeding a workforce?” She said: “I thought about that, it’s sunk in and I thought, ‘Blooming heck, am I working these guys too hard?’ No, I’m not – is the answer. My kids have their tasks and it’s their choice to do, and it’s all for the greater good.
“It’s all for the the bigger picture, it is not a game, in other words, but imagine if you can take a joy and a peasure in doing something that actually is of use, that takes it to a whole different level, doesn’t it?”
Both Annas and Clemmie have been helping their mum out on the farm, and they were seen feeding the animals and getting them out of the barn. She added: “Everybody is growing up at a rate of knots and everybody is taking a lot of responsibility, and as time goes on, hopefully we’ll maybe take more of a back seat and hand over a little bit more control to the younger ones.”
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Amanda and Clive announced their separation in 2022 after more than 20 years of marriage, and they are parents to nine children together, though Amanda previously revealed to The Guardian that she initially “had no dream to have an enormous family” and that “it just… happened”.
The couple welcomed their eldest child, daughter Raven, in 2001, subsequently having Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Annas, Clementine and Nancy. Despite their separation, Amanda and Clive have pressed on, raising their children together while also featuring in Our Farm Next Door.
When the show launched, Amanda acknowledged that she and Clive were “separate”, though she noted they remained “still husband and wife”. “Me and Mandy, we have 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,” said Clive.
