In a plot twist juicier than a Swaledale ewe’s unexpected lambing, Amanda Owen – the indomitable Yorkshire Shepherdess who’s wrangled nine kids, a remote moorland farm, and a TV empire with the grit of a gritstone outcrop – has sent the internet into a frenzy with a birthday post for her ex-husband Clive that reads less like a polite nod to co-parenting and more like a love letter scrawled in sheep’s wool. Posted on December 9, Clive’s 70th – a milestone that’s got the Dales buzzing from Ravenseat to Richmond – the snapshot of the silver-haired farmer mid-laugh, arms laden with hay bales and that trademark twinkle in his eye, exploded across Amanda’s 500,000-strong Instagram like a bottle rocket at a bonfire. Caption? “To Clive – 70 years of steady hands, wild heart, and the farm that holds us all. Here’s to more mud, more miles, and maybe mending fences. Love always, A x.” The heart emoji? Plural. The kiss? Singular, but loaded. Cue the collective gasp heard from Huddersfield to Hollywood.

For the uninitiated (or those still nursing hangovers from last season’s Our Farm Next Door binge), Amanda and Clive Owen were the Bonnie and Clyde of British farming TV – her, the bookish city girl turned shepherdess extraordinaire; him, the rugged sheep man who swept her off her wellies in 1996 with a sheepdog trial and a side of stoic charm. Their 22-year marriage birthed nine photogenic offspring, a Channel 5 juggernaut in Our Yorkshire Farm that pulled 3 million viewers a pop, and a lifestyle brand that’s spawned bestsellers, calendars, and enough woolly merch to fleece a flock. But in June 2022, the fairy tale fractured: A joint statement citing “different lives, same farm” announced their separation, with Amanda decamping half a mile down the road to a bolthole while Clive hunkered at Ravenseat HQ. The kids? Shuttling like pros. The cameras? Kept rolling, because in Owen world, drama’s just another day at the dairy.

Fast-forward to 2025: The pair’s “amicable” split has morphed into a masterclass in mature cohabitation, starring in Channel 4’s Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids – a renovation romp that’s seen them hammer-and-tong a derelict Swaledale farmhouse into a family fortress. Series two dropped in October, pulling 2.5 million for its premiere, with clips of Clive hoisting beams while Amanda bosses the blueprints going viral for that unspoken spark. “They’re like an old married couple who never got divorced,” one viewer tweeted, racking up 50K likes. Amanda’s recent Good Housekeeping podcast confessional? “Clive and I bicker like always – next door neighbors with benefits… farming benefits, mind.” Cheeky. But this birthday post? It’s the cherry on the Yorkshire curd tart.

The image alone is a nostalgia napalm: Clive, windswept and weathered like a proper Dales oak, grinning amid a gaggle of grand-lambs (okay, the family’s sheep, but close enough), with Amanda’s signature filter giving it that golden-hour glow. No filtered perfection here – mud on his boots, a smudge of what might be manure on his cheek, and in the background, a blurry glimpse of the kids’ fort from series one. The comments? A deluge of detective work. “Is that your handwriting on the cake in the stories? ’70 and still my rock’? AMANDA?!” one superfan sleuthed, her post hitting 10K shares. Another: “Love always? FENCES? This is code for reconciliation! #OwenReunion.” Hashtags like #Clive70 and #FarmyardFairytale are trending, with fan edits splicing the post to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” overlayed with Ravenseat sunsets. Even Reuben, the 21-year-old heir apparent who’s got his own spin-off brewing, liked it with a winking emoji – subtle as a sledgehammer.

Pal insiders are chuckling. “Amanda’s not one for gush,” a source close to the clan dished to The Sun. “But Clive’s 70? That’s seismic. They’ve been thicker than thieves on set – late-night planning sessions over tea and teacakes that last till dawn. The kids are all for it; Raven’s been dropping hints about ‘family first’ in her vlogs.” Clive himself? Radio silent on socials, but a Farmers Weekly puff piece last month had him musing: “Life’s too short for grudges. Amanda’s my partner in muck and miracles – always will be.” Romantic? Or just rural real talk? The line’s blurrier than a foggy fell.

Social media’s a stampede of speculation. TikTok’s flooded with “Owen Glow-Up” theories – Amanda’s recent tour featuring tales of “second chances and sturdy gates.” One viral reel, 2 million views strong, slow-mos the post’s carousel: A throwback wedding snap, a current farmyard candid, and that killer closer – the cake slice with “To more years” iced in wonky script. “It’s happening! Yorkshire’s power couple 2.0,” the caption screams. Detractors? Few and far between – a smattering of “PR stunt for series three” cynics, drowned out by the chorus of “Let love lamb again!”

For Amanda, 51 and fiercer than ever – fresh off knee surgery that had her hobbling through hay bales like a warrior queen – this post feels like a pivot. Her memoir The Long Walk Home spilled on the split’s “red mist” moments, but ended on hope: “Farms don’t fail; families mend.” Clive, the quiet anchor who’s aged like a fine Wensleydale, echoed in a rare Telegraph sit-down: “We’ve built something unbreakable. Labels? That’s for jars, not us.” Their brood? The ultimate wingmen – Miles turning 20 in June with a bash that had the whole dale dancing, Edith’s eco-blog shouting out “Mum and Dad: Team Eternal.”

As Christmas looms – Ravenseat’s twinkling with fairy lights and the scent of mince pies – fans are fantasy-booking a yuletide yarn. Will Clive’s birthday bash spill into a reconciliation reveal? Or is this just Amanda’s way of saying “happy trails, old trailblazer”? One thing’s certain: In the Owen odyssey, love’s as enduring as the Dales themselves – weathered, wild, and worth the wander. Whether they’re rekindling or just kin-dling goodwill, Yorkshire’s most famous farmers have us hooked. Pass the Yorkshire tea; this tea’s piping hot.