Clive Owen has spoken out to defend his ex-wife Amanda as he opened up about their split for the first time. The Our Yorkshire Farm star appeared on ITV's Lorraine on Thursday (April 13) where he told stand-in host Christine Lampard that he has a "massive part to play" in his relationship with Amanda coming to an end.
The former couple announced their split back in June 2022 after 22 years of marriage. The pair, who are parents to Raven, Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Annas, Clemmy, and Nancy, announced they would be splitting in an Instagram Story post. The joint statement read: "Clive and I have are sad to confirm that we have made the difficult decision to separate.
"This hasn't been easy, but we both believe it's the right choice for the future of our family. Although we are no longer a couple, we continue to work on the farm and co-parent together with our number one priority the happiness and well-being of our children."
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But despite it being months since their split was confirmed, Clive appeared on live to set the record straight amid recent speculation about their marriage and shepherdess Amanda's reported new romance. "It's a tough time for Amanda now and so I thought it was only right, I don't do social media or any of that so I sort of disappear," Clive told Christine.
He went on: "One of the things that I hear is people saying 'poor Clive' and I feel that isn't right. We filmed Our Yorkshire Farm, people loved it and the plan, Amanda's plan was we don't own the farm but this is security. We had this opportunity to make us more secure as a family so that's what drove her, it was amazing and successful."
Christine asked Clive if starring in their hit Channel 5 show caused a 'wedge' to form between them which he admitted it did before the 68-year-old said: "I handled it very badly, it was such a change in our life and I sadly made a right mess of things and I had a massive part to play in our relationship ending, a massive part to play.
"When all this went on, I was ranting and raving and drinking and carrying on. It was taking her away I think, and it wasn't. She was committed and we were all committed but it seemed to eat away at me and I handled it badly and behaved badly towards her. I should have been supportive and I was doing the absolute opposite."
Despite no longer being together, Clive was full of praise for his former wife and went on to say that the online abuse towards Amanda is "really upsetting", before adding: "She's a remarkable woman. I made a complete mess of it. If I had supported her and looked after her, things would have been much different," he said.
Previously opening up about their decision to seperate, Amanda told MailOnline: "There was nobody involved in the break-up with Clive and I don't understand why this is being suggested." She went on to add: "We are co-parenting and the whole family is very happy… I was just with Clive this morning… There's absolutely no problem between us."
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