1 week Ago By Eilidh Hargreaves
Mist shrouds the rolling fields around Lower Soughton Hall, near the village of Northop in Flintshire, on a mild autumn morning in north Wales. Former professional footballer Michael Owen’s thoroughbred horses gaze from up ahead. Rain is expected; the scene is majestic.
A grey Bentley is parked on the driveway in front of a large Tudor-era door that opens to reveal a beaming Gemma Owen – and two of her agents. She’s barefoot in a pink tracksuit, with cascades of glossy chestnut hair. There’s the smile that won her the heart of her fellow Love Islander and boyfriend, fishmonger Luca Bish, and there’s that £20,000 Tiffany necklace she wore every day of the show secured around her neck.
This is a big day for the fresh-faced 19-year-old – because she’s ready, willing and eager to evolve from her starring role on the hit reality TV series. Since coming second and leaving the villa this summer, Owen has been offered countless interviews, Kardashian-style reality shows and brand partnerships, one or two of which she’s accepted. But now, she wants to move onward and upward.
Which is why she has chosen to invite into her family home, to let the magazine reinvent her in its image and proclaim her one of the most eligible young women in the land. Just as a Spice Girl named Victoria Adams did in 1997 when – two years before Posh became Mrs Beckham – whisked her off to Paris, bedecked her in Lacroix and put her on the front cover. A spicy role model to follow.
Really, Gemma Owen is utterly . The daughter of a famous footballer. Wealthy.
Beautiful enough to spend eight weeks wearing a bikini on screen. A Queen’s School Chester alumna brought up in a multimillion-pound mansion that, at the time of writing, is home to nine horses. An accomplished international dressage competitor, she’s international (when Michael played for Real Madrid, the family lived in Spain) and she attended nursery with the Beckham children.
Owen is still barefoot as she wanders up the gravel drive, across dewy lawns and through long grass, on a recce of the grounds. ‘I didn’t think this through, did I?’ she says with a cackle. Sirius Black III, her steed of five years, puffs from the stables where he’s chilling in his equine pyjamas.
‘He came with the name,’ she says. ‘I’ve never even seen .’ (He’s ‘Siz’ to her, anyway.
) Back in the kitchen, listening to Harry Styles and chatting about Soho House, she offers ‘teas, coffees, water, anyone?’ served in mugs personalised with family photos. On the kitchen counter, there’s an empty prosecco bottle, bags and bags of protein powder and her new vlogging camera – all signs of the multi-hyphenate reality of being an Owen. Despite the house’s grand exterior, this is a working family hub: also home to her father, the former England striker Michael, 42; mother, the equestrian Louise Bonsall, 41; brother James, 16; and sisters Emily, 14, and Jessica, 12.
Gemma is the eldest sibling. ‘I’d like to say I set a good example,’ she says in her slightly northern accent. ‘I wasn’t very naughty when I was a kid.
I’m quite sensible. I’ve never been one to go out and party. That’s probably because of my riding; I’ve not really had the time.
’ Not that sport’s the only thing on her mind these days. Since her blast of TV fame, there have been so many business meetings in the capital, she’s getting into the London scene. Sexy Fish and Park Chinois get her thumbs up, and she’s heard good things about Annabel’s: ‘I need to go!’ she cries.
The club’s golden palms might recall Dubai, where the Owen family stays at the renowned Jumeirah Beach Hotel twice a year. ‘It’s my favourite holiday. The weather’s good and we see the same families every year.
’ There, you’ll find her at Hakkasan, Karma Kafé and Buddha Bar. The Owens also have a place at the Quinta do Lago golf resort in Portugal, where Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard are neighbours. Since she emerged from the villa, Owen has spent her time zipping between meetings in London, home to reconnect with her family and horses, and Brighton to see Bish.
It’s a new change of pace for the family of six, but Gemma remains committed to their unit. Clearly, Owen grew up in tremendous privilege. Her father earned as much as £10,000 a week playing for Liverpool and £30,000 a week at Manchester United.
Now he splits his time between football punditry and training horses – his ‘real’ passion, according to insiders. All that adds up to an approximate net worth of £54.4 million.
His daughter embodies the new guard of fame and power, with 2.1 million followers on Instagram (which could earn her £50,000 per advertised post), a six-figure deal with the fashion retailer Pretty Little Thing, and her own brand, OG Beachwear, launched earlier this year. But she has no intention of leaving Lower Soughton Hall and the proximity to the footballer paradise that is Cheshire.
And she has no plans to move to Brighton. In fact, she doesn’t mention the L-word all day. Not ‘love’ – Luca.
Is the fishmonger no longer the priority? Her mother, Louise, is back from the school run and putting milk in the fridge when she sees her daughter dressed up for the shoot and squeaks at the transformation: ‘It’s so cool!’ she says. Then it’s out to the fields, where Siz towers over Owen as she walks him round in circles. He calms her; they calm each other.
At one point, she performs an emergency dismount after he almost bolts. No fuss, all good. She simply smiles as if to say, ‘What’s next?’ Because Owen isn’t only this year’s youngest contestant; she was the youngest-ever member of Team GB’s Prime Dressage Squad.
At just 11 years old, she was whisked to training camps in Gloucestershire with far older team members, who would make rude remarks. ‘There were a lot of classic not-very-nice comments, bringing Dad into it,’ she says. ‘You know, “Oh, Daddy got you a nice horse, so that’s why you’re here.
” I really had to prove myself as a rider. I focused on competing and doing well.’ Last year, she was one of four Brits selected for the European Junior Championships; she still trains six days a week.
Owen thrives in a high-performance setting. ‘I am very competitive. It runs through my blood,’ she says.
‘I love training camps because of the atmosphere. Once all the bitchiness has come out of it, everyone’s just there to do well. Some of my closest friends are people that I’ve been riding with for Team GB.
’ She’s in good company. Equestrian sports are magnets for young socialites: Eve Jobs, Jessica Springsteen and Mathilde Pinault are high-ranking show jumpers. Dressage, though, is a crucial component of that English social equestrian pinnacle: eventing – led by Olympians the Princess Royal and her daughter, Zara Tindall.
Could her head be turned by a polo-playing aristocrat at the Little Black Book party? She bursts out laughing and kills the hopes and dreams of half the list: ‘No.’ Why not? ‘Not for me.’ Sorry, lads.
Riding might be Owen’s passion, but it’s ‘very, very hard to make money from dressage’, she says. So, a few years ago, she decided to relegate it to a ‘serious hobby’ and start out in fashion. She pulled together a beachwear line during lockdown, which her mother and grandmother took over while she was away.
The week before we meet, she closes her deal with Pretty Little Thing. ‘I’m incredibly lucky,’ she says, with words like ‘empowered’, ‘excited’ and ‘chic’ tumbling forth at pace. ‘People seem surprised to see me with that brand.
It’s a different demographic of followers than I had before. But coming off a show like ..
. I wanted to be relatable. A positive role model.
With PLT working towards being more sustainable and with its new Marketplace, I just thought it was a really good brand. I had full confidence in Umar.’ Really? ‘Lovely’ Umar is the son of Mahmud Kamani, the owner and co-founder of Boohoo Group PLC (which in turn owns PLT), which was accused of modern slavery in 2020 after a investigation found factory workers in Leicester were making garments for as little as £3.
50 an hour. Boohoo vowed to take ‘immediate action’. And it’s impossible not to ask about Love Islander and PLT ambassador Molly-Mae Hague, who divided opinion when she was appointed as creative director of the brand, despite having no design or fashion background.
In 2021, Hague insisted ‘we all have the same 24 hours in a day’ and the internet lost its collective mind. ‘People are going to have opinions no matter what,’ says Owen, who has no qualms about answering awkward questions. ‘And I think you’ve just got to take it all with a pinch of salt.
It’s your career at the end of the day, so do what makes you happy.’ It’s a one-year contract that’s going to expand her profile enormously, but one that could harm her ambitions for high-end visibility. Therein lies the contradiction of Owen, who mixes and matches Pretty Little Thing with Fendi and Dior on Instagram.
When we talk about luxury fashion, she lights up. ‘I like classics, nothing too out-there. Neutrals; never huge patterns.
I love tailoring and gold, whenever you can fit some gold in.’ Favourite bag? Louis Vuitton Speedy. Oh, wait – the new Fendi shopper’s ‘quite cute’.
Heels or trainers? ‘I’m on the shorter side, so heels.’ From? ‘Balenciaga. Or Dolce & Gabbana for trainers.
’ Favourite piece from Chanel? ‘There are too many, I can’t choose...
Can I circle back?’ She’s attending the People’s Pet Awards the next day and wears a black and gold Mugler dress – high/low glamour to a tee. Owen’s self-assuredness is remarkable: she meets my gaze directly. She doesn’t smile often ( viewers will know) but has a polite, focused softness.
Louise, who is excited and present the entire day – fixing Owen a fruit bowl, gasping at the glamour – says she often seeks advice from her level-headed daughter. But it’s when you watch the two of them interact that you see the real Owen. When she adopts a new pose, her eye flickers towards Louise, who gives a subtle nod, or says: ‘Lean forward a bit.
That’s it.’ ‘It’s funny you noticed that,’ laughs Owen. ‘Approval is the right word.
I go to my mum for everything. I just give her a little look. And she’ll nod her head.
And I just know, “Yeah, OK, I’m doing fine.”’ It’s the final look. Off into the garden we go.
Is she excited for the issue to come out? ‘Yes!’ says Owen, eyes agleam. ‘So excited!’ says Louise, finishing a banana and flinging the skin into the trees. ‘What? It’s biodegradable!’ exclaims Louise.
Because Gemma, well, Gemma is aghast..
