This is not a hobby farm. They farm nearly 2000 acres which is Tenanted from one of the large country estates that border the land. Clive is a seriousl farmer and renowned breeder of Swaledale Sheep. A couple of years ago one of his Swaledale Tups achieved over £20,000 at auction. That is the real bit......The rest is a mainly 'Disney-fied' life on the Farm making a good story for folks who want to forget about the busy world and pretend people really live like that -they don't. She hasn't been a proper 'farmer' for a few years now, just filming the stuff you see in the episodes then flitting off to do her promotional work, .
Stylists, nannies, script writers all descend on the Ravenseat for filming and I'm not surprised Clive has got sick as he did not buy into this -it started with a TV documentary which got out of hand when Amamda realised it was a vehicle to promote herself. He's been made to 'pretend' to do hay timing in March, along with other things that potentially have had the effect of making him look like a laughingstock in the local community. If this was a fictional series it would be wonderful escapism -a bit like 'all creatures great and small' but it pretends its real life, which for real farmers, and those that live in the area (like myself) it makes difficult viewing.
As for the split -well that's their 'private' life and no one knows what goes on being closed doors, unless Amanda can work it to her advantage. Just my personal opinions and observations of course.