KNOWN as one of the most boring men in football during his playing days, Michael Owen is now on a mission to show off his fun side to the world – and he’s enlisted his family, and several horses, to help.
The former pro footballer, 46, stars in brand-new Amazon documentary series Meet the Owens, which is set to rival the Beckhams, Rooneys, and Vardys, as Owen makes huge strides to show how he has gone from being a clean-cut footballer with a dull reputation to a David Brent-like pitch perfect punster.
Michael Owen has landed his own Amazon TV show Credit: Amazon Prime Video Sport
Stunning daughter Gemma takes on a leading role Credit: Amazon Prime Video Sport
Meet the Owens features Michael alongside his extremely glamorous wife Louise, 46, his Love Island star daughter Gemma, 23, his two other daughters, Emily, 18, and Jessica, 16, and his only son, 20-year-old James.
The documentary series – which premieres on Prime Video on August 28 – follows Owen as a devoted family man at his huge, £4 million North Wales mansion, and he also shows off his impressive work at racehorse training facility Manor House Stables, which he founded in 2006.
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Think Real Housewives of Cheshire but with a huge horse racing focus, and a former footballer at the helm.
Within the first few minutes of the series kicking off, Michael’s post-retirement fun side is revealed.
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Gemma and her mum Louise show their close their relationship in the doc Credit: Instagram
Gemma rose to fame on Love Island but has now fully turned to horses Credit: Rex
After stumbling home from a night out in the early hours, his chips from the previous evening are still on the stairs, being chowed down by one of the Owens’ pet dogs, much to Louise’s horror.
See, Michael Owen is fun now.
Michael appears keen to tell the audience this, too.
It’s well known that England‘s former boy wonder used to criticise his family members for their boozy antics during his playing days, but Michael now insists he is always the “last person on the dancefloor” on a night out.
What’s more, his pal Hugo Palmer – Manor House Stables’ racehorse trainer – tells how Michael is the “minister for fun” when they are at horse auctions together – when Palmer and the former footballer are forking out between £30,000 and £100,000 a time on a horse.
Michael appears alongside his children in the show Credit: Amazon Prime Video Sport
Gemma is now turning her hand to horse racing Credit: PA
It’s perhaps not so funny if a six-figure equine turns out to be a flop, but there’s no sign of Owen’s much talked-about deadpan punditry delivery when he is laughing and joking with his racehorse owners.
Meet the Owens sees Michael take centre again, just as he did starring for England, Liverpool and Real Madrid in his heyday.
In the documentary, Owen puts away jokes with as much ease as he used to hit balls into the back of the net for fun.
More than 20 years on from his on-pitch prime, we see Owen having plenty of fun in his new show, which is littered with his dad jokes, including one about the film crew being “knobs”.
He also makes sexual innuendos, and he even describes himself as an “orca pervert” – due to his unusual penchant for killer whale documentaries. Who knew.
Gemma is seen scolding her dad on the show after he boozes until 2.30 am Credit: Prime Video
Michael and wife Louise are childhood sweethearts Credit: Instagram/ louise_owen80
In one episode, Louise even likens her man – who starred as Donut on The Masked Singer in 2022 – to cringeworthy The Office character David Brent, after she tells how he was lying on the bed next to her reading a copy of the Racing Post when she was in labour.
Owen’s family question why he wasn’t supportive during childbirth, and he replies with his typical humour: “Get lost, I wasn’t not supportive … I offered you a read of it!”
Michael is not the first former Three Lions great to make a warts-and-all appearance on TV since hanging up their boots. It appears to be the done thing nowadays.
Fellow former England footballers David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy have all landed their own reality documentary series lately – with mixed success.
Vardy’s Netflix show came under fire for skimming over some personal controversies, but David and family’s programme Beckham – which also aired on the streaming giant – attracted praise for showing the ex-Manchester United midfielder’s vulnerability and human side.
Like Meet the Owens, Wayne Rooney’s Rooney documentary also featured on Amazon. The series was generally praised by critics for its raw honesty, much like another Amazon hit – Clarkson’s Farm.
Telling the story of Top Gear-host-turned farmer Jeremy Clarkson‘s often comical attempts to run a 1,000-acre Cotswolds farm, Clarkson’s Farm has been a huge commercial hit across the globe.
The series has made a household name out of unknown farmer Kaleb Cooper, and also shone a light on Jeremy’s relationship with his partner Lisa Hogan.
Meet the Owens features Michael’s eldest daughter Gemma as the main star of the supporting cast, alongside her equally-glamorous mum, Michael’s long-suffering wife, Louise, who he has been married to for 21 years.
Gemma, of course, has already made her bow in the public eye – on 2022’s Love Island series.
But on Meet the Owens she refuses to address Love Island by name when first introducing herself to her brand-new audience.
Gemma’s villa bikinis are also a thing of the past. She has ditched them in favour of countless elegant Holland Cooper outfits in the documentary series, clearly inspired by her immaculately dressed mum.
In one part of the show, Gemma even has a full face of make-up while taking part in a training programme as part of her journey to ride as an amateur in the charity Markel Magnolia Cup at Goodwood Racecourse.
However, the glamour takes a turn in episode three when Louise and Gemma are left mucking out horses while Michael and James sip cocktails on a beach in Bahrain.
The former footballer finds it hilarious that he is having a foot massage while Louise and Gemma are battling freezing temperatures at home.
While Meet the Owens has a huge focus on Gemma and her quest for Magnolia Cup glory – she went on to finish fourth, out of 12, in the race last month – James is also a big part of the series.
The documentary features plenty of poignant moments, including touching on James suffering from Stargardt disease – a rare degenerative eye condition, which causes progressive central vision loss – which cruelly ripped away his dream of following in his father’s footsteps as a pro footballer.
James sensitively explains to the cameras how he must put his finger inside a glass to tell when he needs to stop pouring a drink, and suddenly his dad – much to Louise’s disgust – jokingly asks how his son tells when he needs to stop wiping his bum.
James – who openly admits Michael is his idol – finds it hilarious, and he is also in hysterics that his dad regularly calls him a “helmet”, a slang term for the tip of the penis.
When asked why he opts for such a nickname for James, Michael quips: “Because he is one.”
While Michael clearly turns to his dad jokes even at the most sensitive moments, the documentary features his sensitive side on numerous occasions, and clearly shows just how much he is adored by his family.
The feeling appears to be very much reciprocated, and he has a similar loyalty to Manor House Stables and his horses.
A source told us: “Michael is extremely determined to succeed in racing. He has poured millions of his own money into Manor House, and he will not stop until he’s at the very top.
“Signing up to broadcast this to the world was a huge risk for him, and he’s desperate for it to work.
“Michael is keen to show off how much Manor House is a reputable and successful stable, and he hopes putting the business on screen ends up being a help rather than a hindrance.
“That might mean forgoing some more dramatic storylines to keep the owners, and potential new owners, happy – but it is worth it.”
But Owen might need to hold his horses with some of his dad jokes if the show lands a second series.
