The former Clarkson’s Farm star has recalled an extraordinary encounter with Jeremy Clarkson while helping out at Diddly Squat Farm, admitting she was stunned by the presenter’s reaction during a discussion about pig breeding.
The Derbyshire farmer joined the fourth series of the Prime Video show while regular farmhand Kaleb Cooper was away on a book tour and quickly became a fan favourite among viewers.
During her time at the Oxfordshire farm, she was tasked with introducing a new boar to three female sows that were ready to breed, with Mr Clarkson hoping to have pork available by Christmas.
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The unusual situation led to a conversation about pig anatomy, which Ms Cowan has now recounted in her new book, Life On The Farm.
She said: “If you look on their bums, you can see the little clitoris,” before Jeremy replied: “The what?”
Ms Cowan then whispered: “The clitoris,” as Mr Clarkson raised his eyebrows and said: “Pigs don’t have clitorises,” to which she responded: “I promise you, they do.”
Looking back on the exchange, she wrote: “Never at any point in my farming life did I think I would find myself pointing out female sex organs and giving a pig anatomy lesson to a 63-year-old famous TV presenter on a mainstream show.”
The farmer said the broadcaster’s reaction was “a picture”, adding that laughter from his partner, Lisa Hogan, made the moment even more memorable.
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She explained that understanding animal anatomy is a routine part of farming, where knowing how livestock reproduce and recognising when animals are ready to breed is essential.
Discussing why she lowered her voice during the conversation, Ms Cowan said: “I think my whispering of the word ‘clitoris’ wasn’t from a sense of embarrassment of what it was, because in farming terms, it’s simply part of the reproductive system of a sow and as a farmer or a vet or anyone who works with animals, you need to know how their bodies work.”
She said the presence of a television crew made her unsure whether speaking openly about the subject would be suitable for broadcast.
However, she added that the bigger issue was the presenter’s disbelief.
Ms Cowan said: “But the problem with Jeremy was that he didn’t believe me.
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“And at that point, my no-nonsense farmer attitude took over because I was in disbelief that I had to explain something so ordinary to a man who was treating it as some massive, big, bizarre discovery!”
The farmer appeared in several episodes of Clarkson’s Farm after stepping in to help at Diddly Squat in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, while Mr Cooper was away.
The hit Prime Video series follows Mr Clarkson’s efforts to run his 1,000-acre Cotswolds farm and has become one of the streaming platform’s most successful programmes.
Earlier this year, viewers saw the presenter dealing with aggressive prostate cancer during the fifth series. He later announced the disease was in remission after undergoing treatment.
Providing an update on his health, Ms Cowan said: “He’s happy, he’s farming, he’s back on a tractor. He’s all right now.”