Penny Lancaster and Rod Stewart's life as a blended family appears idyllic. Already the dad of five children before welcoming his youngest two, Alastair, 19, and Aiden, 14, from the outside, it seems they have truly nailed coming together as a family. But, Penny told HELLO! it wasn't always plain sailing, particularly with Rod’s former wife, Rachel Hunter.
Rachel and Rod split at the end of 1998, and the two women got off to a difficult start, exacerbated when a contract that Penny had signed with Michelle Mone’s Ultimo brand was not renewed, and she was replaced with Rachel. Talking to HELLO! In an exclusive interview, Penny said: "We are both women in a certain place in our lives," talking about the New Zealand-born former model, who has two children, Renee and Liam, with Rod. "We are almost the same age, and we both loved the same man and had children by him, so we actually have a lot in common. At first, you feel as though you’re miles apart. I’d never been married and didn’t have children; she had just left Rod and I had just met him, so it was almost as if we were opposites."
"From the start, though, both of us recognised that the children were the important thing. They were a really good focus, and, as they were growing up, Rachel and I grew, so whatever happened in the past, we learnt from, grew from and healed. Ultimately, we want to see our children flourish and be happy. It couldn’t be better now. We have respect for each other and there’s a connection that is quite unique."
Coming together
Now, she has helped to blend Rod’s eight children into the harmonious extended family they have today. “It took a good five years of being patient and having empathy,” she says. "I couldn’t go in thinking, 'What about me? What do I want?' I had to take myself out of the equation because there was so much to dissect and understand, she says. "I had to be transparent and genuine and I knew it was going to take time. Each child is an individual and had their own ideas, so there was going to be a different moment for each of them. Finally, we’re all holding hands."
Penny and Rod's long-lasting love
Together for more than 25 years, the couple make sure they spend plenty of quality time together and cherish their relationship. "I think the key is to continually be making the effort – and it will be a journey," Penny said as to the secret of long-lasting love. "It's not as if 'we're there' and we've sewed it up; it's a process, a daily and weekly consideration. We're still learning, but I think you must always pay attention and check in with one another. At the beginning of a relationship, you want to show your best self, but then you get married and have kids and forget how important it was at the beginning to try to be the best person you can be."