Amanda Owen, 45, has become something of a farming sensation through the hit TV series Our Yorkshire Farm, which also stars her husband Clive, and their nine children. However, with every success comes some negativity, but the shepherdess has a way of overcoming criticism from trolls on social media.
With more than 400,000 followers on Instagram and 179,000 on Twitter, Amanda admitted she was surprised at how popular the Owen’s have become through the Channel 5 show, which first launched back in 2018.
“I feel like our programme is watched by two distinct types of people: those who know and those who don’t,” she said in a recent interview.
“And if you can keep both watching, then you’re doing something right!”
But the former model revealed she always receives criticism online when she posts a photo, admitting she often feels “judged” by others.
READ MORE: Our Yorkshire Farm’s Amanda Owen addresses reaction to appearance
“In this day and age, it’s really difficult to do your own thing and feel like you can do that without people judging you,” she said, referring specifically to sharing pictures of her children.
“I put a picture of the children climbing up a barn and 99.9 percent of people will say, ‘That’s great, that’s what I used to do when I was kid.’
“But 0.1 percent will say ‘Where’s the helmet, where’s the climbing harness?'”
However, the Yorkshire Shepherdess defends her attitude, adding to Farmers Weekly: “It’s about gently introducing the idea of what could happen and what if.”
“Stuff ’em!
“It doesn’t matter if I’ve got earrings on or a dress, if you want to talk about anything to do with sheep I can have that conversation!”
Having traded in her career in modelling to fulfil her childhood dream of owning a farm, Amanda was more than ready to state it’s no easy ride.
The family’s farm Ravenseat, is set in Swaledale, Yorkshire, and boasts a lot of livestock, including 175 sheep, 50 hens, a few cockerels, around 20 cows and a bull, five sheepdogs and two horses, Tony the pony and a new Clydesdale, Hazel.
With a lot of rearing and feeding to do, it is no surprise she is physically fit and healthy, and during a previous interview, she put her good looks down to “fakery” and “wearing big underwear”.
“Every day is a workout here, I’m always chasing after sheep or children,” she giggled.
“It’s always very much about the weather, from sheep shearing to making hay to clipping hogs [young sheep].
“It’s like a keep-fit regime and it can actually be quite back-breaking!”