Meet the rampant rabbi with 7 wives

There are many phrases that spring to mind when describing Philip Sharp. But a one-woman man certainly isn't one of them.

Nicknamed the 'rampant rabbi', Philip has seven 'wives'. Between them, they've given birth to 10 of his children. Baby number 11 is due within weeks, with number 12 not far behind.

The 48-year-old self-appointed rabbi believes he is a king among men, instructed by God to increase the size of his family to strengthen his faith.

It's an instruction he has clearly taken to heart. But while having numerous women at their beck and call probably figures high in most male fantasies, the reality is more Little House On The Prairie than the Playboy mansion.

For a start, there's rarely a moment's peace in the family's four-bedroom farmhouse. It may be set in 29 acres of land near Battle in Sussex, but that's where the rural idyll ends.

Which could explain why Philip, an unexpectedly good-looking man with deep brown eyes and more than a little George Clooney-esque appeal, has his own quarters - a one-bedroom flat in a converted stable block next door. It's here that the wife who's currently in favour gets to share his bed - at the moment it's Karyn, wife number seven.

Philip admits he doesn't give a great deal of thought to who sleeps with him.

"It's not planned, it seems to have a rhythm of its own," he says. "They'll stay perhaps a week or two, then I suggest it's time for them to return to their own room."

Fabulous' Kathryn meets Philip

Little wonder the babies keep on coming - particularly as Philip doesn't use contraception.

"Each child makes things a little tighter," he admits. "But we won't stop. Whenever another wife tells me she's pregnant, I do wonder how we'll manage, but somehow we always do."

Philip, who was ordained as a rabbi by an American organisation called the Messianic Jewish Alliance in 1994, began building his harem five years later after splitting from his first wife, Hadass, mother of his five grown-up sons.

He turned to Judith, who attended his synagogue, and they 'married' soon after - although in Philip's world this doesn't actually involve a legally binding marriage ceremony. Instead you're judged to have become Philip's wife when the relationship is consummated.

Fast-forward 10 years and he's added another six wives to his brood - when Fabulous arrives at their farmhouse, it looks like we've stepped into a women's collective.

Wife number four, Vreni, is making cheese on toast for an assortment of children, as wife six, Chava, bustles around cleaning the kitchen surfaces. At the table, number seven, Karyn, is filling in some paperwork, while outside Judith, wife one, is cleaning up dog poo and Hannah, wife three, is pegging out washing. Meanwhile, numbers two and five, Tracey and Margo, are working on the farm with Philip, tending to the 40 or so horses scattered around. Free love it ain't!

Meals at the house are chaotic

All of the women, who have changed their surnames to Sharp by deed poll, cover their hair with traditional headscarves or hats, as decreed by their faith. And they all wear a wedding ring, but that's where the similarities end. Certainly it's safe to say Philip doesn't have a type. As Karyn, a laid-back, happy sort, puts it: "We're seven very different women. It can get a bit intense."

You can see why. Space is short for a start, and with the exception of Chava, who has her own room because she doesn't have any children, all of the women share bedrooms with each other and their offspring.

Judith, meanwhile, has a small mobile home outside.

You can't help but feel a bit sorry for this cheerful but self-contained woman who, quite reasonably, had no expectations of sharing her husband when they first got together, although she seems to have resigned herself to the situation. Judith had never been married before she met Philip at his synagogue.

"When I met him and heard him preach, I thought this is a man who has what I'm looking for, who understands me," she says.

Philip with wife number three, Hannah, 52

Judith insists the idea of introducing more women into their relationship was a 'joint' one, although it's hard to see how any woman would be happy with this arrangement. And she admits it wasn't easy when wife number two, Tracey, came along.

"It was awful at first," Judith says quietly. "Dreadful, in fact. There was never any question in my heart that it was right, but it doesn't make it any easier to live with. You do have to battle with other thoughts and emotions - particularly jealousy. But it's got easier as time has gone on and we've built relationships."

Back in the kitchen, Vreni, a gentle and thoughtful Swede, is getting lunch ready.

She seems the most openly devout, telling me she believes she was told by God to attend Philip's synagogue after coming to England in 2000 to take a language course. In 2001, Philip asked her to be his wife.

"At first I refused," Vreni recalls. "I said I perceived him as my spiritual father and why couldn't I be his daughter? He told me to go away and pray, that it was my decision and he didn't want to force me."

Happily for Philip, God told her it was the right thing to do, although Vreni admits it has been a struggle.

"Sometimes there are feelings of rejection that are very hard," she says quietly. "At the start we all struggled with sharing Philip. He's actually very faithful, it's more than: 'Oh, he's spending the night with her'. His bond with each one of us is much deeper."

Like most of the wives, Vreni's family has been left baffled by her situation and she hasn't seen them for some time.

Wife number one, Judith, 50

"They accept it, although they don't understand it," she admits. "And my parents haven't met their grandchildren - Michal, two, and Yanice, six months."

Vreni is currently in charge of looking after the rest of the children with Margo and Chava. As well as Vreni's two, this includes Margo's four - Ellie, six, Abigail, five, Nathaniel, three, and Shayna, nine months - plus Ezra, three, Torah, two, and Ruby, one. Their mum, Karyn, is expecting her fourth child in December. And that's not all. Tracey's daughter Naomi, five, will be joined by a new brother or sister when Tracey gives birth next month.

By general consensus, childcare is seen as the hardest job of all, and that's saying something. There's the haulage business to run, plus horses, dozens of chickens, two black Labradors and several cats to be taken care of.

Wife number two, Tracey, 43

Any wonder then that this giant family only ever sit down for dinner together on Friday nights, when Philip hosts a sabbath meal and one of the wives cooks.

Perhaps that's for the best. With so much oestrogen under one roof, there are inevitably a few tiffs.

One of the main instigators is Tracey. A slight, almost boyish woman, she's had problems with all of the wives at some point, over things as mundane as the housework.

She freely admits to being an explosive character - Philip has thrown her out three times in eight years, although he has relented each time she's asked to come back.

Wife number 3, Hannah, 52

"I'm not one of the easiest people to get on with to be honest," she admits. "I'm quite a strong character, which I think some of the other women find intimidating. I've had to learn to quieten down and be less aggressive."

Tracey, who has never been married but has two grown-up sons from a previous relationship, met Philip after changing from her Christian church to his synagogue.

"I already had feelings for Philip, but he was married to Judith," she admits. "When he first brought up the idea of also being his wife, it was a relief. It was scary, but it made it OK. Funnily enough, although Judith and I had a difficult relationship at the beginning, we're much closer now."

Wife number four, Vreni, 39

Judith, who has bustled back into the kitchen, agrees - mostly!

"We have a very extreme relationship,' she says. 'I absolutely adore her and then there are times I want to cut her head off."

Meanwhile, Judith has her own tensions with Margo, because she acts as mum to two of Margo and Philip's four kids.

"I really struggled with the idea of being a mum and it was under Philip's guidance that Judith stepped in," says Margo. "They know in their hearts I'm their mummy though - they call me Mummy Margo. But it's hard when Judith has had to point out my shortcomings as a parent. We've had to work on it."

Wife number five, Margo, 40

Surprisingly it's Karyn, the newest and youngest wife, who often acts as the unifying force, despite the fact she's the one who most frequently shares Philip's bed.

A fact which becomes all the more difficult to understand when you think, that just six years ago, she was living in Wolverhampton with her boyfriend, studying film at university. So what persuaded her to become wife number seven?

"Life was comfortable but I was unhappy," she explains. "Something was lacking. My mum told me about the synagogue - and it sounded like something real I could grab hold of."

In fact, Karyn was already being lined up by Philip to become a wife, although she says this didn't put her off.

Wife number six, Chava, 65

"Of course it was a bit of a shock," she admits. "I'd met him a couple of times because my mum knew him. I was aware of the wives situation and when he asked me to become one, I had to think about it and pray for guidance. Gradually, I didn't feel as panicked about the idea. If I didn't think it was right, it wouldn't have been forced on me."

Karyn left her life behind and moved to the farmhouse in June 2003 with her mum, Maureen, who is not one of the wives. The idea was, she says, to take things slowly. But she married Philip three weeks later. Little wonder her friends were "weirded out" and are no longer in contact.

"Looking back, it shocks me as it was only three weeks. But it just felt right. I've never met a man who loves so much as him - it's unconditional, supportive love," she explains.

Wife number seven, Karyn, 30

Still, with all the other wives established for at least two years when she arrived, it's hard not to imagine some resentment towards her. Karyn insists not.

"I didn't feel any malice. I could see it was a struggle for some of them, but because I arrived two years after everyone else, they'd ironed out a lot of their problems," she says.

As the afternoon wears on the wives gather back at the farmhouse. It's chaotic, but weirdly pleasant - and none of them can imagine leaving it.

"As much as I may struggle with the others, I would never want anyone to go," Tracey says.

"When times are tough, you do think about leaving," Hannah adds. "But I love Philip. From the outside it's not easy to understand it, but he's unique."

That's one word for him.

PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMIE HUGHES HAIR & MAKE-UP: SARA BOWDEN

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