Gemma Owen has revealed a more personal side of her famous family as she left the BBC Breakfast studios with her parents Michael and Louise after the trio addressed claims that the former footballer is ‘boring’.

The former Love Island star, 23, joined her ex-footballer father and mother in Manchester on Thursday as they promoted their brand-new Prime Video documentary, Meet The Owens.

The family appeared in high spirits as they walked away from the studios following their television appearance, where they opened up about life away from the spotlight and offered viewers a glimpse into their increasingly unconventional family business.

Gemma looked effortlessly stylish for the appearance, wearing a grey knitted cardigan featuring a denim collar with high-waisted white trousers and heels.

She wore her long brunette hair loose in soft waves and completed her look with a glowing makeup palette.

Her mother Louise, 46, opted for a chunky knit and white trousers, while Michael, also 46, looked smart in a blue shirt and chinos as the family chatted together outside the studios.

But it was Michael’s reputation for being ‘boring’ that provided one of the more entertaining moments during their appearance on BBC Breakfast.

The former England striker admitted that his children regularly tease him about how the public perceives him.

‘My kids always say, “Dad, everyone thinks you’re dead boring”,’ Michael revealed.

Gemma was quick to defend her father, insisting that audiences would see a very different side of him once the new documentary arrives.

‘I like that people can see a different side to Dad in the documentary,’ she said.

‘He is funny and entertaining. Everyone thinks that he is boring but I think they will see a different side to him.’

The comments come as Meet The Owens prepares to give viewers unprecedented access to the Owen household, following Michael, Louise and their four children through a year of family life.

Rather than focusing solely on Michael’s extraordinary football career, the six-part series explores his life after football, his passion for horse racing and the challenges of running a business that can be every bit as unpredictable as the sport itself.

Michael explained that the original idea for the programme was considerably simpler.

‘The idea for the show started as let’s promote the stables,’ he said.

However, as filming continued, the former footballer said the cameras gradually became a normal part of family life.

‘The more the cameras are around, the more you get friendly with the crew and then it all just becomes part of your life and you forget they’re there,’ he explained.

The family were also determined that the programme should feel authentic rather than overly produced.

‘We didn’t want it to be scripted, we wanted it to be authentic,’ Michael said.

He added that moving from professional football to working with horses had represented a major change, but one that he had thoroughly enjoyed.

‘It’s been a big change from football to working with horses and it’s been loads of fun,’ he said.

Yet behind the relaxed scenes of family life, Michael has admitted that his new career comes with considerable financial pressure.

The former striker earned an enormous salary during his football career, reportedly taking home around £110,000 a week while playing for Newcastle United between 2005 and 2009.

After retiring from professional football in 2013, however, he moved into the far less predictable world of racehorse ownership.

Michael now runs Manor House Stables in Cheshire, where he breeds and trains racehorses, but he has openly acknowledged that the business can be financially demanding.

Despite his considerable wealth, which has been estimated at around £54.4million, the former footballer admitted that he needs to be increasingly cautious about how much money he puts into the operation.

‘The biggest challenge is the financial side,’ he said in the documentary.

‘It’s a bloody hard business and I can’t keep haemorrhaging money.’

Michael’s passion for racing stretches back decades. He bought his first racehorse at just 18 after returning from the 1998 World Cup, eventually turning that interest into a major part of his life after football.

However, the former England star admits he is competing in an industry where some rivals have substantially deeper pockets.

One episode sees Michael attending a horse auction, where he discusses regularly being outbid by wealthy international buyers, including members of foreign royal families and dignitaries.

He explained that his preferred spending range is generally between £30,000 and £100,000 per horse.

But even that limit appears to be flexible.

During one auction featured in the series, Michael revealed that he had spent a staggering £273,000 on three horses.

His spending habits have not always gone down well at home, with Louise jokingly revealing that her husband has a very particular attitude towards money.

‘Michael doesn’t tell me anything so I have to trust he’s in control,’ she said.

She then offered an insight into the family dynamic, explaining that Michael can be extremely cautious about everyday household spending while seemingly being much more relaxed when it comes to racehorses.

‘Michael is very odd about spending money,’ Louise said.

‘He won’t think twice about spending money on a horse, but if the kids leave a light on in the house he will hit the roof!’

She added: ‘Or if I want to redecorate the bathroom because the paint is falling off the wall he’ll be like, “Is that really necessary?”‘

The documentary also gives viewers an opportunity to see Michael reflecting on some of his more unusual television appearances.

One particularly awkward moment for his children comes when the former footballer looks back at his stint on The Masked Singer in 2022.

Michael competed on the programme disguised as Doughnuts and made it as far as episode six before being eliminated.

His daughters were less than impressed by his musical ambitions.

After watching footage of the performance, Michael himself joked about his appearance.

‘Wow, I’ve got a fat head – I look like a doughnut there!’ he said.

He added that he had since lost around three stone.

His daughter Emily, 18, was visibly embarrassed by the performance, while younger daughter Jessica, 16, offered a somewhat more diplomatic assessment.

‘He did decent. He was definitely the entertainment,’ she said.

But she quickly added: ‘He did lots of questionable singing, I was quite glad he was voted out!’

Away from the jokes, Meet The Owens also explores the family’s changing circumstances as their children grow older.

Michael and Louise are preparing for life as empty nesters, with each of their children beginning to forge their own path.

Gemma has already built a public profile of her own after appearing on Love Island, while Emily is attempting to become the first member of the Owen family to attend university.

James is considering whether to join the family business, while youngest daughter Jessica has ambitions of becoming an Olympic showjumping champion.

For Michael, the transition into family life after football has also been an emotional one.

Reflecting on retirement, he admitted that walking away from the sport affected him more deeply than he expected.

‘All of a sudden you’re living under your wife’s feet and you’re settling into a new life,’ he said.

He described the constant attention and admiration he received during his playing career as something that was difficult to replace.

‘There were feelings of adulation constantly, like a drug and you want to make people happy,’ he explained.

Michael also admitted that injuries ultimately changed his relationship with football.

‘When you’re winning trophies all the time and scaring the s**t out of defenders that’s what gave me my buzz,’ he said.

‘Injuries made me 50 percent of the player that I was.’

Eventually, he became so unhappy that he was desperate to walk away.

‘I was almost embarrassed to walk out with my name on my back so I was desperate to retire,’ he confessed.

‘And that’s pretty sad, when you just don’t enjoy your job. I’ve come to realise I need a purpose in life.’

That search for purpose appears to have led Michael firmly into the racing world, even if it has brought its own headaches.

Now, the family hopes viewers will see the man behind the headlines and discover whether the supposedly ‘boring’ former footballer really lives up to the reputation his children love to tease him about.

With Gemma insisting that her father is much funnier than the public might expect, the documentary could offer Michael the chance to prove his critics wrong.

Meet The Owens is produced by Whisper and consists of six episodes following the family through their busy lives, from horse racing and business decisions to family arguments, embarrassing memories and the challenges of raising four children.

All six episodes of Meet The Owens will be available to stream exclusively on Prime Video from August 28, giving fans the chance to see a side of the Owens family that is rarely captured away from the football pitch, television appearances and social media.