Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster reveal the secrets to their loving marriage as they navigate their huge blended family and ensure their kids remain humble
Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster discussed the secrets to their loving and successful marriage in a joint interview on Monday.
The couple, who married in 2007 and share two sons, gave an insight into their family life with the singer's eight children and revealed how they are bringing up their brood to remain humble.
Rod shares eight children with five mothers. He is a father to four daughters Sarah, 60, Kimberly, 44, Ruby, 36, and Renee, 32 and four sons Sean, 43, Liam, 29, and Alastair Wallace, 18, and Aiden Patrick, 13, whom he shares with wife Penny.
Reflecting on their home life in a candid interview, the duo detailed how they ensure their relationship stays 'special' and recalled how Penny navigated the unique problems of living in a 'blended family.'
Speaking to HELLO!, Rod explained: 'We listen to each other and try to resolve all our disagreements - the dirty laundry, as Penny says - right away, and before we go to bed.'
Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster discussed the secrets to their loving and successful marriage in a joint interview on Monday
The couple, who married in 2007 and share two sons, gave an insight into their family life with the singer's eight children and revealed how they are bringing up their brood to remain humble (Penny pictured with Alastair, 18, and Aiden, 13)
When Penny met Rod back in 1999 when she performed as part of his band and he was still married to his second wife Rachel Hunter.
Rachel and Rod separated that year and divorced in 2006, with the singer going on to marry Penny in 2007.
At the time Rod already had six children, with Penny admitting: 'I knew that I had to be honest with them, too, so that they would accept me. I couldn't pretend to please every single one of them, so I was just myself. It took a while, but they came to trust me.'
Despite his huge fortune, Rod is determined to make sure his children remain humble, with his and Penny's eldest, Alastair, driving a used Ford Fiesta.
'As the saying goes, they know the value of a dollar,' he said, 'On his last birthday, we wanted to give him a new car, but he didn't want it. I believe the children are genuinely grateful for the life they have.'
Rod was just 17 years old when his girlfriend Susannah Boffey, an art student, got pregnant.
The broke couple put baby Sarah Streeter up for adoption, and she was 18 before she learned her dad was a star.
His second daughter Kimberly was born in 1979 after his marriage to Alana Hamilton.
Sir Rod pictured with his large blended family as he celebrated the wedding of his hockey player son Liam in Croatia last month
Reflecting on their home life in a candid interview, the duo detailed how they ensure their relationship stays 'special' and recalled how Penny navigated his 'blended family'
Rod already had six children when he met Penny, with the model admitting: 'I knew that I had to be honest with them, so that they would accept me. I was just myself. It took a while'
She was five when her parents broke up in 1984 and Sir Rod was rarely around when she was growing up.
Sir Rod's eldest son Sean, meanwhile, was only four when his parents Rod and Alana split, and the singer was busy touring the world during his formative years.
The singer also initially had a strained relationship with daughter Ruby Stewart, whose mother is Texan model Kelly Emberg, who he started dating in 1983.
Fiercely loyal to her mother, Ruby remained outside the Stewart family circle until her teens and told an interviewer in 2008 that there was a point when she and half-sister Kimberly weren’t even speaking.
Thankfully, Sir Rod had put his wild ways aside when he married Rachel in 1990 - indeed, she is credited as the only woman to break his heart.
He remained a close father to their children, Renee and Liam Stewart, after the couple's divorce in 2006.
Despite his huge fortune, Rod is determined to make sure his children remain humble, with his and Penny's eldest, Alastair, driving a used Ford Fiesta (Rod and Alistair in October 2023)
The 'Maggie May' singer then married former model Penny in 2007 and they share children Alastair and Aiden.
Many credit Penny with keeping all the plates of his complicated family spinning happily.
As she once said in an interview: ‘Two kids are the perfect number for me, although I always think of us having eight children because all Rod’s kids are so much a part of our lives, like one big extended family.’
Speaking to the Mail On Sunday in 2018, she added: 'Rod is a very hands-on dad. He changed the boys’ nappies, he does the school run after a year of coming with me so he knew what to do. The boys love it because he will pick them up in a Lamborghini or a Ferrari.’
