JEREMY Vine has defended Amanda Owen after the Our Yorkshire Farm star was hit with a warning from social services.
The journalist didn’t hold back on Mondays edition of his Channel 5 show, following Amanda’s revelation that social services had contacted her about her parenting.
Jeremy said: “[The children] drive tractors and stuff and I guarantee someone, somewhere has taken exception.”
Broadcaster and psychotherapist Lucy Beresford added: “So she is saying her parenting is unconventional, she has a lot of children…”
Jeremy interjected: “She’s brilliant you’d love her.”
Lucy continued: “But she’s also that kind of parent who wants their children to make mistakes and fall over and experience resilience and develop strengthening of character.
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“But it turns out that for some slightly unknown reason it’s been flagged to social services?”
Jeremy replied: “Well I think they’ve probably seen the children playing on a cliff or something.
“If you’re the wrong kind of person watching that programme and you see a child of seven helping the sheep give birth to a lamb you might think that shouldn’t be happening and call social services.
“I don’t know what the flag means maybe they’ve just watched the programme.”
He added: “But there’s nothing unsafe here. It’s really odd this thing of blowing the whistle on perfectly innocent other people.”
His comments come after Amanda, 47, told an audience at Hay Festival of Literature & Arts: “I don’t see myself as a perfect parent.
“I got a yellow flag from social services… I believe there is a happy medium whereby you do let the kids climb trees.
“Yes, they haven’t got harnesses on or hard hats, but I believe there are some lessons to be learned that don’t necessarily result in instant death but actually learn your own parameters.”
Amanda has nine children with husband Clive, and the family’s life on their farm at Ravenseat plays out on the hit Channel 5 show.
Our Yorkshire Farm and Jeremy Vine air on Channel 5 and are available on My5.
