Penny Lancaster has candidly reflected on her marriage to Rod Stewart, revealing both her burning desire to start a family and the unlikely title she holds in his romantic history.
The 54-year-old Loose Women star, who married Rod in 2007, recalled that when she first met the rock legend at just 27, she became the oldest woman he had ever been with. “I’m the oldest person Rod’s ever slept with – and that happened a long time ago. When I met him, the oldest woman he’d ever slept with would have been 30. Now he’s the oldest man that I’ve slept with too!” she joked in an interview with Woman & Home.
The couple share sons Alastair, 19, and Aiden, 14, but Penny admitted she once feared she might have to leave Rod because he wasn’t ready to start another family. “My biggest burning desire was to have a family. I respected that he had been through that enough times, and that might not be where he would want to go again. I decided we would enjoy one another for as long as possible, but eventually I would have to bail,” she revealed.
Rod, now 80, has since confessed his regrets. According to Penny, he often tells her: “I wish I’d recognised it earlier. If we had started earlier, we could have had more children,” and even discussed adoption with her after the birth of their boys.
The rocker is father to eight children in total, including his eldest, Sarah, 61, who was put up for adoption in his teens. His other children include Kimberly, Sean, Ruby, Renee, and Liam, born from his previous relationships with Alana Stewart, Kelly Emberg, and Rachel Hunter.
Reflecting on the collapse of his marriage to Rachel, Rod recently admitted the age gap “tore him to shreds,” saying: “Rachel left me because she was too young. My sister said I should never have married her in the first place.”
Despite his heartbreak, Rod eventually found stability with Penny, with whom he has now built nearly two decades of marriage. Gushing about his wife, the Maggie May singer said she has “everything” he could ever want, adding that he is happier than ever.
