- Tracey Sharp lived with 'husband' Philip and his six other 'wives'
- Said there was much jealousy between the women over who was favourite
- The 46-year-old finally left in 2010 and set up home alone with her children
- Says she now loves being independent but has not been put off love
By Katy Winter
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Tracey Sharp finally left the family farm she lived on with 'husband' Philip and his six 'wives' and now lives with her children in their own apartment
For years Tracey Sharp believed she could be happy sharing her 'husband' with six other women.
She loved former rabbi Philip Sharp, worked hard on the family farm and tried to get on with his other 'wives'.
But finally the isolation, jealously and loneliness became too much and she found the courage to leave her 'husband', who had become known nationwide as the 'rampant rabbi'.
Now, more than two years later, and living with her children in a two-bedroom flat in Sussex, Tracey has revealed the darker story behind the unusual family set-up and why she decided to leave.
The 46-year-old said far from the happy family Sharp liked to portray, the wives constantly argued, worked six days a week and were given allowances of just £30 a month to live on, while he was treated like a 'king'.
Tracey first met Sharp in 1998 when he was practising as a rabbi in a Massianic Jewish Synagogue in Hove, Sussex, after she split from the father of her 14-year-old son.
It was around this time that he claimed he had received a message from God informing him he was a king and telling him to take multiple wives.
After separating from his legal wife, Sharp 'married' secretary Judith before taking Tracey as his 'wife' in 2001.
Over the next few years he also 'married' Hannah, Vreni, Margo, Chava and Karyn and had twelve children by his seven wives.Â
Togetherness: From left, Tracey, Judith Chava, Margo, Philip,Vreni Hannah and Karyn, with seven of the children they have had together
Rabbi Philip Sharp with wives (L-R) Margo, Tracey and Vreni and new daughters Shayna and Yanis
None of these were legal marriages and Sharp said marriage takes place during sex.
However, all the women, who lived in separate parts of the farm, changed their surnames by deed poll to Sharp and wear wedding bands.
The unusual family eventually set up home on a £675,000 farm in Whatlington, East Sussex, using the women's child benefit and tax credits.
Tracey, who had two children by Sharp, Naomi, now nine, and Mischa, three, said initially she had total faith in her 'husband' and his beliefs.
She told Closer magazine: 'I’d fallen in love with him and believed his calling.'
During her first pregnancy, Tracey said she and Sharp were close, which made the other women jealous.
But her dreams began to shatter after the birth as the reality of sharing her partner with six other women took its toll.
She said there was a lot of jealousy between the 'wives' as Sharp chose favourites and moved from one bed to another.
Three's no crowd: Philip Sharp with pregnant wives Vreni (left) and Margo
Tracey (second left) pictured with Philip (centre) and the other 'wives' (from left) Judith, Chava, Vreni, Margo, Hannah and Karyn
The women followed a rigid cleaning and cooking regime and the children were home schooled on the farm.
The interview with Tracey Sharp can be read in this week's edition of Closer, which is available now
She said Sharp told them that women should submit to the man, who was the head of the household.
Tracey said: 'I was miserable, but under his spell. It was quite sinister.'
She was given just £30 a month to buy clothes and necessities for her two children and said she relied on charity shops.
Over the years she saw less and less of Sharp and became increasingly isolated from the other 'wives' but feared leaving because he had said she would not be able to cope on the 'outside'.Â
But, finally, in 2010 she stood up to him about the lack of attention he gave her and their children and she moved from the farm.
She now lives in a two-bed flat in Sussex and is working to become a physiotherapist.
Tracey said at first Naomi missed the other women and her siblings but says now she and her children have never been happier.
Sh e says she now enjoys being independent and regrets getting into that situation - but has not been put off relationships.
She said: 'I hope to meet someone new - and I won't share him!'
Philip Sharp told Closer that Tracey could not be as 'unselfish' as she needed to be to live their lifestyle and was asked to leave by the whole family.
The full feature appears in this week’s Closer magazine, on sale now
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