Second 'wife' leaves the Rampant Rabbi

Tracey Sharp

The man dubbed the ‘Rampant Rabbi’ after claiming God told him to take seven wives has been left by a second ‘spouse’.

Karyn Sharp shared her ‘husband’ Philip with six other women for ten years in a bizarre arrangement that saw them dubbed Britain’s most unconventional family.

But mother-of-five Karyn, 34, has now walked out amid claims the family is having ‘difficulties’.

Mr Sharp, 53, a self-proclaimed rabbi, has one legal wife and 17 children.

Karyn is the second partner to move out after fellow ‘spouse’ Tracey left the £675,000 farm they shared in Whatlington, East Sussex, last November.

Mr Sharp said he and Karyn had split up amicably but acknowledged that ‘it’s not always hunky dory here’.

Philip, 53, keeps racehorses at the converted oast house he shares with his remaining ‘wives’ Judith, Chava, Margo, Hannah, and Vreni.

They range in age from 29 to 68, and have ten children between them, all of whom are home-schooled.

The £675,000 farm, in Whatlington, East Sussex, incorporates an array of stables and a ramshackle collection of caravans that house the overspill from Philip’s expansive family.

The property, which is for sale, is part-owned by Philip, two of his ‘wives’ and his ‘mother-in-law’ Maureen — Karyn’s mother — who is the family matriarch and does not share the matrimonial bed.

Tracey Sharp left Sussex harem in November after their relationship disintegrated into a succession of blazing rows.

She was the first of Philip Sharp’s devotees to break free and tell, in full, the truth about the bizarre household over which he presides.


She says she finally grew sick of his tyrannical autocracy and the unquestioning obedience he demanded from his women.

When she defied him, they had blistering arguments — she claims that on two occasions he slapped her.

‘I was vulnerable, insecure and lonely when I met him,’ she says. ‘Philip was my rabbi and a father figure. He made me feel safe and supported. He was also charming and charismatic.'

But Philip’s physical assault was the last straw. ‘I left. I felt it was right,’ she says. She rented a flat, won a residency order to take her children with her and for two years kept her distance from Philip.

‘The hardest thing was recognising that he wasn’t a king. He wasn’t called by God. He was just a man with a giant ego,’ she said.

'But despite everything, part of me still loves him. I’m just not prepared to be governed by him any more. The best thing is that I have a choice. My life is my own again.’

When he spoke to the Daily Mail, Philip did not deny that he slapped Tracey; he also conceded that it was wrong.

‘There were a couple of rows in which she punched me and I slapped her. I apologise. There is no excuse for it. I was beside myself, and I slapped her,’ he said.

 

I left rampant rabbi husband after rows with his SIX other wives