Michael Owen details his financial struggles after swapping lucrative football career for owning racehorses - as he admits he turned to The Masked Singer for the money

Michael Owen opened up about his financial struggles after swapping his lucrative football career for the risky business of owning racehorses. At the peak of his career, Michael was paid roughly £110,000 a week when he played for Newcastle United between 2005 and 2009. Yet after hanging up his boots in 2013, Michael switched to a less stable income – taking a gamble on owning racehorses. While the former striker, 46, is said to have an impressive net worth of £54.4million, he confessed that he has to be careful with his finances now after purchasing Manor House Stables in Cheshire, where he breeds and trains racehorses. Speaking candidly about his new career on his upcoming reality series, Meet The Owens, Michael confessed: 'The biggest challenge is the financial side. 'It's a bloody hard business and I can't keep haemorrhaging money.' Michael Owen opened up about his financial struggles on Meet The Owens after swapping his lucrative football career for the risky business of owning racehorses Michael went on to reflect on his 2022 appearance on The Masked Singer, where he reached episode six while performing as 'Doughnuts', saying he only did it 'for the money' Discussing his retirement from football, Michael mused: 'All of a sudden you're living under your wife's feet and you're settling into a new life. 'Retiring from football you no longer feel so valued, loved. There were feelings of adulation constantly, like a drug and you want to make people happy.'When you're winning trophies all the time and scaring the s**t out of defenders that's what gave me my buzz. 'Injuries made me 50 percent of the player that I was, I was almost embarrassed to walk out with my name on my back so I was desperate to retire.'And that's pretty sad, when you just don't enjoy your job. I've come to realise I need a purpose in life.' Michael, who bought his first racehorse at age 18 after returning from the 1998 World Cup, decided then to make horseracing his full-time career. Yet he confessed that the business is a struggle, given the unpredictability, and the fact that he's going against people 'who have much bigger pockets than me'. One episode of the upcoming series showed Michael going to auction to buy horses, where he explained that he would often be outbid by members of foreign royal families and dignitaries. 'My sweet spot with horses is anything between £30,000 and £100,000,' he explained, before telling wife Louise he spent £273,000 buying three horses that day. Louise, 46, expressed her frustration at her husband's business, confessing: 'Michael doesn't tell me anything so I have to trust he's in control.'She later added: 'Michael is very odd about spending money. '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!'Or if I want to redecorate the bathroom because the paint is falling off the wall he'll be like, "is that really necessary?"' At the peak of his career, Michael was paid £110,000 a week when he played for Newcastle United between 2005 and 2009. He retired in 2013 and is said to have a net worth of £54.4M Meet The Owens follows a year in the life of Michael, wife Louise, and their children Gemma, James, Emily and Jessica, as they juggle a horse racing business and chaotic home lifeMichael went on to reflect on his 2022 appearance on The Masked Singer, where he reached episode six while performing as 'Doughnuts'. As daughter Emily, 18, cringed at his 'embarrassing' performance, Michael confessed: 'What made me do it? I guess the money! Now I've done it I'm actually quite proud of it.' Yet looking back at a clip of his performance he scoffed: 'Wow I've got a fat head - I look like a doughnut there! I've lost about three stone since then.' Daughter Jessica, 16, then chipped in: 'He did decent. He was definitely the entertainment... He did lots of questionable singing, I was quite glad he was voted out!' Prime Video's Meet The Owens is a six-part docuseries, which is being produced by Whisper. The series follows a year in the life of Michael, his wife Louise, and their four children Gemma, James, Emily and Jessica, as they juggle a horse racing business while contending with a chaotic home life.At home, he and wife Louise are preparing for life as empty nesters: youngest Jessica dreams of becoming a showjumping Olympic champion, while Emily, 18, is trying to become the first Owen to go to university, and James is considering joining the family business. All six episodes of Meet the Owens will be available to stream exclusively on Prime Video from August 28, 2026.