Albertina Lloyd
·Contributor
·4-min read
What did you miss?
Reuben Owen's holiday to France was a big disappointment — after he realised he hates camping.
The Our Yorkshire Farm star — son of Yorkshire Shepherdess mum Amanda Owen and farmer Clive Owen — now has his own Channel 5 series Reuben: Life in the Dales, and the latest episode featured his first ever holiday abroad.
Owen — who just announced his split from girlfriend Sarah Dow — did not enjoy camping, struggled to buy food with his limited French and his vintage Land Rover suffered a malfunction. The farmer, 20, had been looking forward to his first trip abroad with girlfriend Dow and friend Tommy, who work with him on his farm and heavy plant machinery business.
What, how, and why?
The friends drove all the way from Yorkshire to the Loire valley in France, travelling on the ferry, with a plan to camp. Dow brought the cassette tape of the soundtrack to Yorkshire police series Heartbeat for them to listen to on their journey.
There was almost a disaster when they realised the canopy they had fitted to the back of their vintage Land Rove almost fell off. Owen pulled in to reattached the canopy and said: "Have we lost any of our camping gear? No one wants to be hit by a picnic basket driving down the motorway."
As they reached the end of their first day driving Owen confessed he was reluctant to camp. He told his friends: "After all that driving I'm making an executive decision. I want to sleep in a proper bed." Having spent their first night in a hotel, the three struggled to buy breakfast at the local market, due to their limited French. They eventually managed to order some bread rolls, strawberries, three cappuccinos and some ham, by pointing and saying "Bonjour" and "Merci".
They then visited a vineyard and helped out on the farm for the day. Owen and Dow tasted the wine. They both spat out the white wine, but agreed they liked the red. That night Tommy and Dow persuaded Owen to try camping.
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He complained: "I know that I'm not going to love it. With any luck I'll get sick and get to sleep in a hospital bed. And now we've got to put our tent up, which is an ordeal itself."
Owen put up a large, sack-lined yurt, while girlfriend Dow slept separately in a small one-man tent. After an evening meal of bacon baguettes the three friends were kept awake all night by a combine harvester working on a nearby field. Owen kept saying: "You wouldn't have this problem in a hotel."
After one night camping Owen revealed: "I've decided that we are going to stay in hotels, because it is very very cold."
Owen announced he had split from Sarah during an appearance on Lorraine. He told the presenter: "Me and Sarah were together. We're no longer together. We're still very good friends. She's gone her own way. She's pursuing her own career. She does the odd day for us when she's not busy. We're not together no more. We still get along very well. We're still good pals."
What else happened on Life In The Dales?
Owen travelled to the site of the Battle of the Somme and visited the grave of his great uncle James Oliver James, who fought in the First World War. His great uncle was recognised twice for bravery and died when he was just 20.
Owen reflected: "We're here on our first trip abroad and we're not having to fight, we're here on holiday. He came here and fought and died. It's because of him we can do this. They're all heroes. Time's have changed definitely, but they only changed because of folks like him that were willing to fight for it."
As he prepared to go home Owen said: "France is a lot like Swale Dale, but flatter. It's been a great trip, but I'm looking forward to going home."
Reuben rose to fame in Our Yorkshire Farm with Yorkshire Shepherdess mum Amanda Owen, farmer dad Clive Owen and his eight bothers and sisters. Since his parents announced their separation in 2022 and Amanda stepped away from the show, Reuben has become a star in his own right. He began on spin-off series Beyond The Yorkshire Farm: Reuben & Clive and now has his own show.
Reuben: Life in the Dales airs on Channel 5 at 8pm on Thursdays.
