- Tracey Sharp lived with 'husband' Philip and his six other 'wives'
- Claimed he had favourites and chose who shared his bed each night
- The 46-year-old finally left in 2010 and set up home alone with her children
- She now loves being independent but now 'feels stupid' about her time there
By Claire Ellicott And Tom Kelly
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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
A mother who shared a man known as the ‘Rampant Rabbi’ with six other women has described their bizarre family life together â€" and explained why she finally walked out on him.
Tracey Sharp, 46, claimed her ‘husband’ Philip, who has one legal wife, seven other ‘wives’ and 17 children, had ‘favourites’ and chose which woman shared his bed each night.
She said he neglected her and forced her, like the rest of his women, to wear hats s o that only he could see their hair.
Finally she left, she claimed, because of his increasingly cold behaviour towards her.
However, 53-year-old Mr Sharp, a self-proclaimed Rabbi, insisted yesterday that he told her to leave because she always insisted on being ‘top dog’ and was forever competing with the rest of his harem.
Although the marriages are not legally binding, Mr Sharp, who never uses contraception, believes the women become his wives when they sleep with him.
He claims to have received a message from God telling him he was a king from the Old Testament and should have many wives and children.
Tracey met him in 1998 and ‘married’ him in 2001. She changed her surname to his by deed poll and went on to have two daughters with him â€" Naomi, nine, and Mischa, three.
His other ‘wives’ also had ten children between them â€" on top of the five he had with his first wife â€" and all lived together on a farm in Whatlington, East Sussex.
Although still legally separated from his legal wife Hadass, he now has six remaining ‘wives’ called Judith, Hannah, Vreni, Margo, Karyn and Chava, ranging in age from 29 to 68.
The children are all home-schooled at the £675,000 farm, where the family exist on benefits of £1,500 a month, pensions and what they can make selling horses.
Mr Sharp says he part-owns the property, which is up for sale, with two of his ‘wives’ and his mother-in-law.
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
According to Tracey Sharp, after a decade with her ‘husband’ his lack of attention and affection began to get to her and she became ‘miserable, but still under his spell’.
‘We hardly had sex and he got on better with the other wives. He’d been a caring lover but, near the end, he was cold.’
Two years ago, she plucked up the courage to walk out on him. She is now training to be a physiotherapist and lives in Sussex.
Mrs Sharp told Closer magazine that she had made the right decision. ‘I was lonely for a long time after leaving, but I’ll never regret it. I’m a lot happier. I love my independence and feel stupid for getting into that set-up.’
By contrast, Mr Sharp said yesterday that the whole family had asked Tracey to leave because her behaviour had become intolerable. ‘Nobody could work with her because she was so angry and nasty to people when she didn’t get what she wanted,’ he said.
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 interview with Tracey Sharp can be read in this week's edition of Closer, which is available now
‘It’s because she’s so dominant and so competitive that all the problems started. She was one of my favourites, but if she found I’d done something for one of my other wives she would be furious and demand to know why I hadn’t done the same for her.
‘We tried to help her to learn to live with others, but in the end I said it’s best you get your own place and learn these things yourself.’
He said that the separation was amicable initially, but he was forced to go on the dole because his haulage business was struggling and he faced the ‘desperate financial situation’ of supporting a large family.
He said that Tracey became angry when he could no longer pay her child support. ‘I’m not perfect, none of us are, but I am not anything like the man she portrays me as.
I’m not a cult leader. I don’t keep people in chains. My wives and children who live with me are happy and are here out of choice.’
Despite all the upheaval he remains convinced that Tracey will return to the family. ‘There’s no book giving advice on being married to several wives at the same time so you have to work it out as you go along.
‘I’m still deeply in love with Tracey and I believe she’s still in love with me. I do think we will be able to work it out and eventually will all be back.’
Another of his ‘wives’, Vreni, claimed that Tracey went on holiday with him a few months ago. ‘She acts like a little child. I love her, but she has her moments when she gets angry when she doesn’t get her own way.
‘I think she left because she couldn’t be top dog and now she’s throwing dirt. She keeps coming back and then something will happen and she’ll leave again. I wish she’d come home to us.’
The full feature appears in this week’s Closer magazine, on sale now
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