- 13 hours ago
My Life at Christmas with Anita Rani - Season 2 Episode 1 -
Anita Rani Meets Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster
Anita Rani Meets Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster
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00:00the nights are drawing in everything's getting a bit twinkly it's about joy it's about parties
00:06but also this is a moment to think about the journeys we've come on and the people we've
00:11made them with so i wish you a merry christmas i wish you a merry christmas come on how are you
00:18over the next three weeks of advent i'll be meeting some well-known faces
00:22as they share what makes the season so special to them it's my favorite time of the year
00:30the most important thing about christmas is being with my family the moments which have brought
00:34them to where they are today oh dear there's a wonderful honesty between the two of us as a
00:40little girl i'm here with my little grip and platform 19 was where i first stepped out in
00:48london the faith that sustained them on the way i'm definitely calling upon someone that's higher
00:55than me to give me that courage and i think you can pray at home you can pray in the garden you
01:01can pray at a football pitch i'm sure rod's played a few times and how christmas is past and present
01:09out comes my little snowman mark key moments in their lives they used to do the okie-kokey out into
01:15the street all the way up the street and it was snowing i remember seeing the snow for the first time
01:21ah i mean that's what you call matching i don't know where i would be now if i'd had to spend
01:29those christmases on well
01:31i'm in essex and i could not be more excited about the couple i'm on my way to meet
01:47she's modeled for iconic brands put the world to rights on loose women when you put a heel one
01:53you rise above me and now protects the streets of london as a special constable and he is quite
02:00simply rock royalty
02:02i'm a firm believer in marriage i really do i think it can work
02:11so rod stewart and penny lancaster have been a couple for more than 25 years and we have been
02:17invited to their home to talk about the role family faith and the festive season have played
02:22in both their lives
02:24hello penny
02:34how are you darling
02:35i'm great
02:36how are you
02:36oh
02:37lovely to see you
02:38come in
02:39come in
02:39this is lily
02:40come on lily
02:41she's dressed for christmas
02:43she's ready
02:43come on let's go
02:45shall we go
02:45oh lily little beauty
02:55christmas doggie
02:56how are you both
02:59great
03:00good
03:00looking forward to christmas
03:02very much so because
03:04magically we have ruby
03:08and her husband jake
03:09my stepdaughter
03:10and and our grandchild otis too
03:13and we also have god's other son my stepson liam and his wife nicole and their two babies
03:20louie who is two as well named after god's mommy
03:26yeah elsie and aiden and alistair so it's a gathering of the clan
03:30is it a big deal to get the family together
03:33oh you betcha they live all up well most of them live in america
03:36but it's getting their timings right and penny takes over that job very well
03:40she books all the flights and everything you're really good organiser she's organised my life
03:46terrifically
03:46she's organised us today
03:48she's amazing
03:49this is this is a house designed for christmas really
03:52it is isn't it
03:53it really is it's beautiful
03:54it's perfect for big family gatherings
03:57we have a massive christmas party every year where we invite all of our friends and family
04:01so everyone just spills out everywhere and of course the staircase
04:05we're all decorated and so it is magical
04:09we'll invite you
04:10and we have a bagpiper to welcome everyone
04:12i can come and blow
04:13we have like an eight piece band
04:16oh my god
04:17and then my band all get up and plays and usually ronnie wood comes up and plays with me
04:20we do a faces song
04:22i'm there
04:23this sounds like my kind of christmas
04:24it strikes me that it's about the celebration but it's about the people for the two of you
04:29absolutely i think we spent so much time living in america rod particularly but when i first met him
04:35we lived together there for 10 years so we missed we craved being home with family missing everybody
04:41is there a spirituality around christmas
04:44we believe there is some kind of higher power higher force um an energy um a spirit or something
04:53i kind of have a spiritual feeling about a lot of things um i believe in calm and i believe in um being good
05:01because you know to be good you know then surely that will only come back your way
05:06so there's there's some kind of spiritual connection there something um that is hard to describe really
05:14we're not really church goers we don't go to church every sunday funerals weddings christmas and that's it
05:21when i was younger we used to go to church the first sunday of every month i was in the brownies
05:26oh right yeah so we would attend church once a month
05:29i've always believed is be good and do good
05:32yeah which is i think what both of us try and do
05:35yes do to others as you would have done to you
05:38that's one of my songs isn't it
05:39it is
05:40so this is kind of the sort of stuff that you put for christmas time
05:45oh yes
05:46oh yeah
05:49remember that
05:49still got the moves when was this
05:52three years ago
05:53yeah it was probably about three years ago there was you know they get those things
05:56on instagram and tiktok and they're like everyone wants to follow the moves and
06:01you have to do it
06:02yeah you have to do it whose idea was that
06:04probably mine
06:08and you don't you've done you do a lot of charity work particularly with the king's fund
06:12and the king asked to dance with you penny is that right
06:15yes so it was king charles's 60th birthday and he had requested that rod perform at his birthday
06:23party and he said would you promise me a dance so when rod was singing do you think i'm sexy i tapped him on the shoulder and i said what this one do so we were both dancing to do you think i'm sexy which was quite amusing
06:39there's only a little tiny dance floor and the stage was only this high so i could see everything going on it was i was very proud yeah
06:46you see what happens when you dance
06:49well there'll be dancing at christmas here
06:51oh you better believe it mate
06:53way
06:54yeah
06:54they're wonderful
06:56four months before the end of the second world war on the 10th of january 1945
07:13roderick david stewart was born in highgate north london
07:17he was the youngest of five children to dad robert and mum elsie
07:2214 miles away on the 15th of march 1971 in redbridge essex penelope claire lancaster entered the world
07:33they would eventually meet and fall in love but their early lives followed very different paths
07:39so i wonder what childhood christmases were like in the stewart household to start with
07:44see i was i was born at the top of a house and the germans are still dropping bombs
07:49yeah blew up uh highgate police station and you were a surprise weren't you yeah yeah yeah yeah
07:56yeah how much how many years younger from
07:58from uh bob i have about eight i think eight or nine years five five children so yeah the gift
08:06yes as my brother used to say very expensive gift
08:08so if i can take you back to highgate rod so when you were a kid what were christmases like with
08:16oh what was it what can you remember um going way back we lived in a not an expensive house but
08:24my dad rented it because two brothers two sisters and a huge clannish family they'd all come down
08:31from scotland for christmas my dad had to go down in the cellar and put up scaffolding scaffolding
08:37boards because he was so frightened all the dancing brilliant that the house would collapse and the
08:41piano with it and the piano was we had we had a little grand piano and i was always told to go up to
08:46bed about half past nine and then i'd hear all the singing all the old jolson songs and i'd come to the
08:54edge of the stairs and look over the banister and there was men walking around in kilts and then my brother
09:00i remember once um they used to do the okey cokey oh you know you hold something around the waist
09:06and they came out of the living room uh down the front stairs out into the street all the way up the
09:12street and it was snowing so that's why i remember it so well perfect christmas how were your christmases
09:18in uh redbridge oh they were great how are they what do you remember from your childhood penny um
09:26i specifically remember the tree of course and all the presents around it and but then i remember the
09:32night before christmas my brother and i used to stand at our back patio glass doors and look up at
09:39the sky and we were always told that father christmas when when you see him he must rush to bed because
09:45if he knows the children aren't asleep he won't come so then we'd be looking out behind the clouds and
09:50then my dad would like there he is that there's the sleigh and we were convinced there was the sleigh
09:55there was the reindeer there was the presence somehow in our imagination we we saw it in that
10:01magic of christmas and we'd run upstairs to bed and we'd done the same thing with our boys
10:05change really we i've dressed up for all my kids so you know all different ages of course dressed up as
10:11as as just stop ruining my interview as father christmas of course that's gorgeous you never
10:21know with you darling with the beard the whole lot and the pillow underneath yeah and i've fallen over
10:28a couple of times down the pub before you know like you do
10:36back in the swinging 60s north london rod had left school at 15 with no particular career path in mind
10:43he was a talented footballer but after a trial for the then third division club brentford in the summer
10:48of 1960 led to nothing and a string of short-lived jobs he turned his attention to music first busking
10:56then playing harmonica and singing backing vocals in various bands still living at home with his
11:03parents it was 1964 before 19 year old rod finally got his break after a chance encounter with one of
11:11his musical heroes while waiting for a train you were spotted playing um harmonica in twickenham well
11:19that was around christmas time it was early december i'd gone over to watch the late long john
11:25baldwin and his hoochie coochie band yeah i went to the back to the railway station twicken them to
11:30go up to waterloo i think it was and i just got my harmonica outside playing and he came across and
11:35said young man uh would you like would you join my band as a harmonica player and backup singer
11:42because he was obviously very posh and i took the opportunity and of course i would love to
11:47and a few days later we come around to see my mum and dad and ask permission
11:51and it was because my dad mum had a little sweet shop you know very humble and he was six foot six
11:57and he came through the door with a bunch of flowers for my mum and he said mrs stewart i'd like to ask
12:04you if your son would like to join my band and she said well that's nice as long as he's home by up
12:1010 every night he said that was my start and he put me on the pricely sum 35 pounds a week in the
12:17early 60s that was a load of money say that sounds probably loads of money do you remember what you
12:21spent it on first of all i saved up for a car yeah every penny i saved up to buy a motor car what was
12:27the first car it was a mini traveler rod's early days with long john bouldry in his rhythm and
12:40blues band the hoochie coochie men was captured in a documentary made in 1965 following rod as his
12:48career started to take shape after some further success with the jeff beck group in 1969 rod joined
12:56the notoriously raw and energetic the faces alongside legendary guitarist ronnie wood whilst also
13:03working on his own solo material and then 1971 you i was born you were born and you you had maggie
13:22may i mean what a year for you two amazing things happened in the same yeah lovely lovely really
13:27lovely i think there's some sort of magic in that something quite poetic same month as well march so
13:32yeah i do kind of hold some significance to certain special dates let's watch this let's take you down
13:38i'm the only one performing you know everyone else's mind and that lovely red velvet suit he'd like to have
14:00that now still got it it was on rod's 80th birthday we all dressed up as a rod stewart through the time
14:12and that one's playing where's ronnie's off the stage he went for a quick pint oh no football
14:25it's keep the football on yeah it's football way go on and wait what's it like watching it it's
14:34absolutely wonderful yeah memory lane so your life changed after that i mean dramatically oh yeah it did
14:42yeah yeah yeah yeah it really did the day maggie may got on to number one i was in swiss cottage
14:48drive all the way back to mussel hill to and they'd already heard they were sort of became they were
14:53in tears you know i mean i gave him a big hug it's a big hug right go now mum and dad it was lovely
15:00that was the number one single both sides of atlantic every picture tells a story is the number one
15:05album all over europe so and it all went so your life completely changed but what did christmases become
15:12like because i was reading about one particular christmas in beverly hills where you went to cubby
15:16broccoli's house we were talking about snow earlier now beverly hills being beverly hills they import the
15:21snow i mean it's not cold but his house looked i don't know how they did it it went through the
15:27gates and everything the trees the highest trees were covered in snow because it was you know it's
15:33hollywood isn't it yeah tremendous yeah like a film set almost and she was just a little dicky bum
15:39and over here in redbridge in essex another little magic thing was happening
15:48while a young penny was opening barbies and roller skates under the tree global superstar rod stewart
15:53was now rubbing shoulders with huge celebrities and was convinced he'd finally found the perfect
15:59christmas gift for his great friend and fellow global superstar elton john we used to live just around
16:05the corner from each other so we saw a lot of each other you know a lot of history there um so i went
16:12out down to selfridges harrods and i bought him this a fridge that he had by the side it doesn't look
16:17like a fridge a piece of furniture so you press a button and the lid opens all steam comes out
16:24and up it comes two bottles of champagne glasses all chilled and everything pour yourself a drink
16:30and it goes back down so i was all pleased with myself and i took over to elton's i said here you
16:35are dear and it's all thank you it's so lovely here's your present it was a rembrandt that big a
16:43rembrandt etching which in those days was worth about 12 grand
16:48what about your parents when you got all the success and the money started coming in when was
17:02the moment they realized like our son has made it and what did you start getting them for christmas
17:06oh well three days before christmas and phone number what do you want i'd really like a nice bread
17:12bin a bread bin a new bread bin you know simple pleasures well you know that's practical isn't
17:20it practical but also it kind of gives us an insight into who brought you up yeah you know really beautiful
17:26grounded grounded people you don't want for much like yeah you could ask for anything from your son
17:30yeah and she just says a bread bin you know i think there's something very beautiful about that
17:35yeah it is yeah all of my family are like that i just realized
17:47rod's career success continued through the 80s and 90s with worldwide tours
17:52and hits on both sides of the atlantic meanwhile a young penny lancaster was leading a very different
18:00life there's our red holly we headed outside for a spot of christmas crafting and a chat about her
18:07early years oh this is nice wreath making look at us getting creative do you do this every year
18:15i would normally do it with a group of girlfriends lovely yeah we have a local tea house and they put
18:19on one of these events but it also includes wine oh my kind it's a bit early it's a bit early fairly
18:25yeah my kind of wreath making their penny um and we collected these from the garden yes so this is
18:30lovely a lot of this foliage as well yeah so if i can take you back to when you were a kid it was
18:37your height that you were bullied for when you were younger it was well the thing is there was a few
18:43bumps in the road to begin with because at school i was too skinny so i've always struggled with my
18:49weight with the sort of body image i suppose but at school i went undiagnosed with dyslexia yeah so
18:56i had real struggles learning because i learned differently and i was told by a teacher that i
19:02wouldn't make anything of myself oh my gosh because if i can't like you know because of the dyslexia
19:08because the dyslexia well obviously he didn't recognize what that i had dyslexia or even what that
19:13meant yeah and we all know now um that it's it's actually a skill set because you're always coming
19:20up against obstacles and barriers but we learn to go under them over them around them so actually
19:28we tackle problems not just head-on but from a different perspective so we're great problem solvers
19:33yeah and we learn to understand and have empathy for other people because of the challenges we face
19:39so actually it's it's a it's a gift but there wasn't any understanding of how people can learn
19:46just as well if not better but just in a different way because it was just one way only so i was sort
19:53of dismissed so i always wondered well if i can't pass exams then i'm not going to get a job and if i
19:58can't get a job then how am i going to pay the bill you know it sort of spiraled into those thoughts
20:03and a careers teacher so well let's look at what else you have to offer you're tall but like you
20:10said i was bullied for being tall so i didn't think that was a good thing but it's you know in
20:14modeling of course it's good and i was very skinny so so it seemed like a natural path at least i could
20:20give that a go
20:25penny enrolled in the london college of fashion and was soon landing modeling contracts with big brands
20:31taking her all over the world on glamorous shoots but penny had ambitions on the other side of the
20:37lens when i was in front of the camera i was very observant about everything else on set and i thought
20:44i'd love to be more creative and learn photography so i did a two-year diploma course at barking college
20:50parking college and that's halfway through that course that's when i met rod
21:03rod and penny first met in 1998 but it wasn't a straightforward start to their romance
21:10who's going to tell the story yeah that the two of you met for the very first time
21:14penny you tell us it was christmas wasn't it it was a christmas party yeah i'd been invited to a
21:19christmas party by a group of girlfriends of mine had no idea really uh much about rod stewart and his
21:27music we hadn't been a family that played his music where your mum was more rolling stones i would say
21:34but we soon to fall in love with them with the rod stewart music that's for sure um but there we were
21:41i was dancing on the dance floor and one of my girlfriends said
21:45penny you're the daredevil please go and get an autograph for me i went whose autograph she went
21:51that rock star rod stewart is over in the corner he's with this bunch of people well of course it
21:56was his band i'd had a few champagnes i think or something so i i had the dutch courage and wandered
22:02over and saw this very charming twinkly eyed leather jacket and great hair great hair and so i had a big
22:15beaming smile and and i very apologetic and i said i'm i'm very sorry to interrupt but um a girlfriend
22:22of mine really love your autograph and would you mind it's of course come and come and sit down did the
22:28autograph there you go and he said um would you like to come and see one of my shows and i said
22:32i'd love to and he said what do you do i said well i'm studying photography right i'll get you a photo
22:38pass and i was like oh my god i was studying photography at barking college i mean my second
22:44year amazing and i've got this opportunity i didn't have a long lens on my camera i didn't have time to
22:49rent one or whatever but i was going to be there and i wasn't thinking there was like an attraction or
22:54anything beyond he just wanted to help someone out he said if you give your telephone number
22:59to carmine my bass player he's he's the leader of our band he'll contact you and make the arrangements
23:10band leader and close friend carmine dutifully arranged for penny to take photos at the concert
23:16he'd spotted a spark between them but with rod in the process of divorcing rachel hunter with whom
23:21he'd had two children carmine also realized that this was not the right time for rod to be meeting
23:27someone who might turn out to be the new love of his life so he did them a favor he was an absolute
23:35gentleman really lovely he's a band leader and he was a bass player in the band at that time so
23:41and he kept her address away from me he didn't think i was right telephone number didn't think i was uh
23:48you know in in the right position because i just got a divorce you know and i didn't know whether
23:52i was coming or going and he said uh i'll give it to you when i think you're ready because she's
23:58special i should have fired him but i couldn't he had the phone number and here we go
24:05oh come on timing is everything not only in music but in life rod i'm so glad that i held penny's
24:17phone number back from you until the time he was right even though you kept fighting me for it but
24:23thankfully it worked congratulations on over 25 years together wow and wishing you and your family a
24:31very very merry christmas oh bless him he was instrumental carmine yeah he's got you emotional
24:39he thought i was too much of a yob at the time
24:44tell me why the what's the what's the what's the feeling well the tears of happiness he was a very
24:50soulful very sweet man and he saw this energy and this kind of thing no and and and and i really
24:58thought that would be the last i would see of rod i remember going back to barking college
25:02photography um studio in the dark room and processed those photographs i took that night
25:08and just thought what a lovely memory and and that was that
25:16for the best part of a year penny went back to her studies while rod toured america
25:20and readjusted to life as a single man
25:23well nine months later i get a message left on my answer phone hi it's rod stewart i'm back in town
25:33um let let's have let's have a date let's go for dinner and i'm thinking this is not rod this is
25:38someone winding me up yeah this is nuts so i told my friends i told my mum and they always said like
25:43well give it give it a couple of days don't return the call yet you know and then someone might you know
25:48give up the game but nobody did so i called the number and sure enough it was the rod the husky
25:55tones of rod stewart rod and penny began dating navigating the early stages of their relationship
26:03around penny's blossoming career as a photographer for glossy magazines and rod's hectic tour schedule
26:10neither of them had been churchgoers previously but now they found themselves drawn to spending time
26:16in churches without the other realizing it they were both calling on a higher power which up until
26:22now they'd never realized was present in their lives to help them understand whether their feelings for
26:27each other were real still i look to find a reason to believe and i was thinking is this the right girl
26:38because i'd just come out of a you know a marriage and i'd been left um but we used to when we was in
26:45new york there was one church we used to just go in let's go in the church but we were both hoping
26:50and praying for the same thing which was just get married have children we were we were were we the
26:57right um couple fit for each other yeah was this was this it and so yeah i used to kind of sit there
27:04at the front and looking up and having my own little prayers and thoughts and and rod be doing the same
27:09but we didn't realize it was just i don't know just i felt like there was an energy and it was calling
27:13every church door was calling us to walk in with their prayers answered convinced they were indeed
27:21right for each other penny and rod now had to navigate more than just their own budding romance
27:27penny had to find her place within a blended family as rod shared six children with three ex-partners
27:34all of whom he remained on good terms with what was it like stepping into this world
27:39it was it was uh but how did you how do you go how did you step into like that that cope with this
27:49in totally different world i tiptoed hmm i tiptoed very lightly um because there were obviously lots of
27:58personalities and more importantly there were children ranging from different ages from liam who was only
28:03five when we first met to through teenagers to kimberly who was about to turn 21 so it was delicate um
28:13children from different mothers um so it was it was a scenario that i'd never faced before
28:21and i thought i just need to stay in the background but present and there if they wanted to approach me
28:29so it what i you know i didn't want to feel like a huge force that was going to take over um i wanted
28:35to sort of watch and observe and just take my time really and it it took a long time but we got there
28:43and i got to a place where i've never thought i'll get to with them they they i must have met the kids
28:50adore her now they looked to her for advice oh dear i got so silly silly and teary no it's beautiful
28:58because it's a it's love and emotion and it's real and it's your life it is and there's a lot that's
29:03happened after six years together in the spring of 2005 rod has an important question for penny
29:16rod surprised me for my birthday and he had a plan unknown to me to to propose and took me on a surprise
29:24visit to to i didn't know to paris and more surprisingly invited my parents and on the way
29:30to the airplane asked my father permission for their hands he went all wonky his legs went like
29:36this and he's a big tough gator his legs went all wonky like this he couldn't stand up that's very
29:41beautiful of you rod very traditional yeah yeah he is it so there we were in paris at the eiffel tower
29:48and rod was on one knee proposing to me at the end of the year penny and rod welcomed their first
29:58child alistair it was now that they started to bring religion more formally into their lives when i
30:05was giving birth to alistair it was in saint john and liz's um birthing unit and they had a chapel
30:14so when my contractions were starting of course there's always that fear that something's going
30:18to go wrong and we went into the chapel there and when i brought him home the room was done up beautifully
30:26for christmas and i brought alistair into the room it's a little baby i remember on the radio the
30:33newborn king the carol was singing yeah that was my little king yeah yeah and you always wanted to be
30:40a mom it's got me going now you wanted alistair to be christened in scotland in edinburgh because
30:48your father coming from leaf he came from me and that particular priest we flew down to italy to marry us
30:54in 2007 two years after baby alistair's birth rod and penny married in portofino italy a celebration
31:07which included a beautiful religious ceremony at a monastery some wedding ceremony it was oh i cried
31:15oh dear did i cry we're waiting for penny to come from dressing up and we're all sitting in a little
31:20church you know and we're all sweating and pennies late and all of a sudden the italian choir which
31:28was like about 10 10 singers so i just approached the door yeah i know i know it's hurling but i did
31:34just at the timing i had just approached it was yes everyone was waiting and i was standing outside
31:40with my father holding my hand ready to walk down the aisle and the children's italian choir began
31:46singing the fields of athen rye which is a big celtic song but also a wonderful song can you give
31:52us a little bit please low lie the fields of athen rye where once we watched a small bluebirds fly
32:03it's a big irish wonderful national anthem did that just happen i know he belted that one out didn't
32:09it's beautiful what a moment in my life thank you for that rod yeah i didn't get me rod stewart
32:14no i'll give it an irish no no no no more i know and didn't you say to jim cregan who was best man
32:22yeah please tell me they're not going to do another verse because the more they kept singing in their
32:27beautiful choir voices he was well first of all they did it in italian which was really moving then
32:33they did they did it in english which was absolutely wonderful you mentioned your best man so look
32:47we've got a little note from someone special here we go yeah he's my best mate hello dear friends
32:53i was really honored and delighted when you asked me to be best man at your wedding and i was also the
33:01master of ceremony so it fell to me to announce you coming into the reception so in my best
33:10loud british voice i said ladies and gentlemen please welcome for the first time mr and mrs roderick
33:22david esmeralda cleopatra nigel brian philomena scotland 10 nil stewart
33:39oh dear we loved him it's a great love affair you have and i look at it and i think wow these guys
33:48they managed to get it right they managed to get it right so merry christmas i love you and i shall
33:54see you soon jimmy well done mate what a beautiful message yeah i love that name all the names
34:01emerald scotland 10 england one oh dear can i have a tissue again yes we can yeah we're going to go
34:08again waterworks well you know when you wish upon a star
34:19makes no difference who you are a second son aiden was born in 2011 completing their family and the
34:30following year more than 40 years after his first number one rod released yet another record-breaking
34:36album merry christmas baby photographer penny took the cover photo as she's done with many of his albums
34:44in 2012 uh you released a christmas album yeah and this was a huge success yeah it really was yeah
35:00it was sort of almost launched from the great american songbook wasn't it right yeah yeah all those
35:06because that was a massive massive successes 37 million albums unbelievable just on the american
35:12songbook so this was a natural follow-up and it is a beautiful album and you'll i've given all the
35:18crew here their own copy of the album would you just show everybody please generous shall we show you
35:24that we've all got them we've all got them we've all got them and i hope you like it but yes it was
35:32a wonderful success um i'm going to play you another clip here we go oh i was just thinking about
35:40that yes this is beautiful my son my little uh 18 month old aiden he was being put to bed the other
35:47night and he heard silent night and it wasn't being sung by me but he immediately said oh that's daddy's
35:53song which is great you know anyway this one's for little aiden stuart
36:09oh
36:19oh
36:23oh
36:39Sleep in the heavenly peace
36:43It's beautiful.
36:48Sleep in the heavenly peace
36:54I sung that rather well.
37:00It's not an easy song to sing.
37:02I was just worried about getting it all in pitch right and everything
37:06because it goes from very low to very high.
37:08I remember you, we were obviously in Scotland at Stirling Castle
37:12but who were you in the dressing room beforehand?
37:16There was a couple of guests.
37:17It was Gordon Strachan and then there was...
37:18Neil Lennon.
37:19Neil Lennon, Celtic manager.
37:22Two Celtic managers.
37:24That's amazing.
37:25That's what I remember.
37:25I was in my element.
37:28Are we going outside now?
37:29Let's do it.
37:30Come on, Lydia, we're going to go walkies.
37:31Rod and Penny moved here to this beautiful house almost ten years ago
37:40and they've offered to take me on a seasonal stroll through the gardens
37:44to see how they've transformed the place.
37:46None of this topiary was here, none of this statuary, none of this was here.
37:52It's so romantic.
37:53All the statuary I bought from around the world.
37:56What, these?
37:57Phone wings, you go like this.
37:58Ding, ding, ding, ding.
37:59Statue.
38:00That's a little joke, lads.
38:02There must be lots and pieces of it that are really meaningful.
38:08So Rod loves a bit of Versailles sort of gardens and palaces
38:11so he tries to sort of inject a little bit of that glory and glamour into the garden
38:16as well as the traditional English themes.
38:19Obviously you're not seeing it mid-summer when it's really beautiful
38:22but Penny, I must admit, is in charge of all plants.
38:26I'm a bit of a green finger.
38:28I put in all that stuff over there.
38:30And you put the tennis court in?
38:32Tennis court, I put the football pitch in.
38:35So Rod's the hard landscaper and I'm the soft landscaper.
38:39I like it.
38:39This place goes on and on and on.
38:41What a find.
38:42I know, I know.
38:44Mum found it.
38:45Yeah, that's handy.
38:46I mean, it was really derelict.
38:57This feels quite spiritual, being in nature.
39:00It does.
39:01If I feel a little bit stressed or, you know, had a particularly long, hard day or whatever,
39:07if I come with the dogs and I come out here, talk about the bees and the birds,
39:11sit here and listen to nature, whether it's the wind in the leaves, it's just a...
39:19You're a mother of Earth, aren't you, darling?
39:20It's a reset button.
39:23Earth, mother.
39:24Well, you can't help it.
39:25Ask me if I come up here.
39:26Go on, do you give a...
39:28No.
39:28I'm in my train room all day.
39:30All the foot...
39:31Come on, tell us, we haven't even talked trains.
39:33Not the gym.
39:33You've been collecting for 30 years, though, haven't you?
39:35Well, it's not collecting, you build it, really.
39:36Build it, sorry.
39:37Get the terminology right.
39:38Yeah, you've got to get the terminology right.
39:40You've been building it for 30 years.
39:42And then it got moved from America, which took two months.
39:45Goodness me.
39:47Two great big containers.
39:49How long do you spend with the railway?
39:51Spend a lot of time making it.
39:52So it's your hobby, but it's also creative.
39:55Oh, yeah.
39:55I mean, when I'm in a hotel room, you know, I've been all around the world,
40:00most cities I've been to, especially America.
40:02Yeah.
40:02So I've been doing it all my life.
40:04What do you do in the afternoon?
40:05You know, I'm not one, but steady.
40:08So what do you do?
40:09Steady on.
40:10I mean, trains, you know.
40:11I get big suitcases flown in, and a hotel will set me up a lovely room.
40:17I had no idea.
40:18They do it in the hotels for you.
40:19The hotel will do it for me.
40:20Lovely.
40:24This is all kind of wild, looser style of gardening with the fruit trees and everything.
40:30This is like I'm in an episode of Countryfarlow.
40:35With the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War coinciding with Rod's 80th birthday,
40:43Penny's present to Rod last Christmas was particularly special.
40:47Here's our soldiers that Penny brought me from the Second World War.
40:51This was a Christmas present.
40:56To the fallen, never to be forgotten.
41:00Absolutely.
41:00Our boys.
41:01Let me salute them.
41:03Much loved, much respected.
41:06We love you guys.
41:07Thank you for our freedom.
41:10There we go.
41:11Very poignant present.
41:19Puppies!
41:20Penny's looking for the puppies.
41:21They've gone to look at the Christmas decorations in the West End.
41:24Come on!
41:25Come on!
41:28Babies!
41:28Come on, babies!
41:30Oh, Lily's got to greet.
41:32Oh!
41:34Where's my baby?
41:36Come on, you guys.
41:39Come on, then.
41:41Come on, then.
41:42This one's got...
41:43One blue eye.
41:44David Bowie eyes.
41:45He does.
41:45He does.
41:46Oh, you are gorgeous.
41:48You are absolutely gorgeous.
41:49Yeah, we are.
41:50Oi!
41:52Sorry.
41:52Of all the homes that you've had, do you have a favourite?
42:01Well, they're all different.
42:02The one in Beverly Hills is the biggest.
42:05But this is home, though, isn't it, Ruddy?
42:07Yeah.
42:07The green grass of England and...
42:09It's Britain.
42:10Yeah.
42:10Their home clearly means a lot to Rod and Penny, and there's a spiritual element here, which
42:18is really important to them.
42:21When we moved in here, because it was such an old property, we felt there were spirits,
42:26like, but not daunting, scary kind of ghost spirits, but I felt we needed to pay some kind
42:32of respect, just to say, thank you for looking after this beautiful property.
42:41Our old souls have left, our new souls are here.
42:44I mean, it makes sense to me.
42:45Indians, Hindus, Sikhs, we do house blessings.
42:48We bless everything before we do anything.
42:50It's about cleansing the air.
42:51Cleansing and just respecting the space and the time that went before.
42:56And making space for the new life.
42:58For the new life, yeah.
42:59And who better to perform the house blessing than the minister who'd married Rod and Penny
43:06and christened both of their children?
43:09Ian Gilmore.
43:10Ian Gilmore, yeah.
43:11It has been a pleasure to be involved in Rod and Penny's life.
43:16On one occasion, they were moving from an old house to a new house, and Rod said, let's
43:21get in a car to go to the new house.
43:23There was a Lamborghini and two Range Rovers, and then said, oh, no, Penny, look at that.
43:28But the Ferrari's in the way.
43:31You bring the Ferrari out, and I'll get the Rolls Royce.
43:34So suddenly, I found myself being chauffeured by a rock star with a former model.
43:40I'm sitting in the back seat of a Rolls Royce, moving to a new house to do a blessing.
43:45This wasn't a normal activity for a parish minister who's usually cycling around to visit
43:51parishioners in their home.
43:53Anyway, I hope you have a fantastic Christmas.
43:57Just one comment that, Penny, Rod doesn't need another car for Christmas.
44:01Have a great time.
44:02That's true.
44:03That's true.
44:04That's wonderful.
44:05We're done now, Penn.
44:06While Rod goes for a wonder, Penny and I are going to finish our wreath making and chat
44:18some more about their lives and her TV work.
44:22Yeah.
44:23You know, I'm sitting there thinking, I'm 74.
44:25You're people going mad.
44:26I'm telling you, you're 75.
44:27No, I'm 74 now.
44:37Oh, I love it.
44:38You two need a show together.
44:40What's it like having Rod on Loose Women, interviewing your husband?
44:44Well, Rod often finds it kind of a bit daunting when there's like multiple people interviewing,
44:49especially four women.
44:51So I think having me on his side, it was kind of like I could give him his knee a little
44:55tweak or a little, you know.
44:58So it's sort of, yeah, just having his teammate with him, I think, helped.
45:01And then when I go, so darling, when was the da-da-da-da, you know, asking me a question?
45:06And then he would sort of normally turn the question back on me.
45:09Well, you tell me, Penny.
45:10So it was, you know, a bit of banter and back of all, which I think kind of our humour
45:15between the two of us kind of shines out.
45:18But it's been really special seeing that dynamic up close and personal.
45:22It's lovely.
45:23It keeps me on my toes and I keep him on his toes too.
45:26I see that.
45:27I absolutely see it.
45:28It's not until it kind of hits you, literally from every angle, that you just think this
45:34is what they're all talking about.
45:36Because we're so good at hiding.
45:37No stranger to discussing personal matters on Loose Women, one topic which Penny has been
45:43particularly vocal in bringing into the public consciousness, both on the show and in her
45:48autobiography, is menopause awareness.
45:53I was reading about how you're very pro talking about the menopause, particularly around the
45:59house.
45:59Your sons know about it and Rod knows about it.
46:01And did I read that you're the first wife that's got to menopause age, which is why
46:05he's having to deal with it?
46:07Well, I mean, Rod would often say, you know, oh, the teenage boys, you know, I don't remember
46:12ever having to deal with this.
46:13And I said, darling, that's because you were never around under the same roof as the children
46:18growing up because they were all about the age of five when those relationships broke
46:22down.
46:22When I hit menopause, I didn't know what was happening to me.
46:26The boys certainly didn't know what was going on, but they knew something was wrong.
46:30This was like, not like mummy at all.
46:33But actually, if you think about it, it's happening to us all.
46:36Because if it's happening to women, then it's happening to all the men around them.
46:40Yeah.
46:40My son came home from a football game once and said, mum, I had one of the dads come up
46:44to me on the sideline saying, please thank your mum, because now I understand what's happening
46:49with my wife.
46:50But, incredibly, I'm an ambassador for Menopause Mandate, and together we've shouted from the
47:00rooftops, and there's just been a new bill that's come through.
47:04Firstly, women are able to get their HRT for one prescription only for an entire 12 months
47:10instead of having to pay each and every month.
47:12And then recently, believe it or not, the 40-year-old check for women with the NHS,
47:20they never spoke about menopause.
47:22How could they not discuss that?
47:23Yeah.
47:24When most of the perimenopause begins in mid-40s.
47:27Yeah.
47:28So now that's included in the conversation when you go for the check at 40.
47:32So well done you.
47:33So your memoir that you wrote, Someone Like Me, why did you choose to write it?
47:39Why now?
47:41Well, I feel that I've finally found myself.
47:46You know, we're all kind of asking ourselves, where's our destiny?
47:50What are we here for?
47:52What makes us happy?
47:53And I've come to a place where I couldn't be happier, because I hit menopause, and then
47:59I decided that was the time not to sort of give up on myself, but actually reinvent myself.
48:04And so I thought, I have my story to tell now.
48:07I'm finally where I'm always supposed to be.
48:10Whereas for a long time, I've been wondering where that place was.
48:13Isn't that interesting?
48:14Yeah.
48:15Because from afar, you think, oh, there's a very settled woman, but no one really knows
48:19what's going on with anybody.
48:20You and Rod have met the Pope.
48:39I know, how extraordinary was that?
48:42Well, yeah, tell me, how, when was this?
48:44In Italy, in Rome.
48:46As Pope Francis came along,
48:50he, the eye contact that we got, it was very powerful.
48:57He spent quite a time with us, and he placed both of our hands on top of one another,
49:01and his hand on top of ours, and held it together.
49:05What did that mean to you?
49:06It sort of cemented, I suppose, all the wishes that Rod and I had for one another.
49:23Yeah.
49:25All those sort of prayers that we'd had quietly.
49:27He gave us two rosary beads as well, and he blessed us, and it was just like, yeah, made it all feel like it was our destiny.
49:43We keep saying, you know, we're not particularly religious, so I suppose we sort of sit at the back, as opposed to the front.
49:53Yeah.
49:54I think lots of people can relate to that.
49:56We're not quietly religious.
49:57Yeah.
49:58But it's meaningful.
49:59Yeah.
49:59It's for you.
50:00Yeah.
50:00You do it for you.
50:00And I think you can pray at home, you can pray in the garden, you can pray at a football pitch.
50:05I'm sure Rod's prayed a few times at a football pitch.
50:08I don't think you need to be in church, but the church is where everyone pays respect to that space, and there's silence, and you can collect your thoughts.
50:19So I think it is an important space, yeah.
50:22Oh, no, I mean, I love a church.
50:24So Christmas, is church important for you?
50:28It is.
50:28It's probably more so for me, but the family are great.
50:32We're going, come on, let's do this for mum.
50:35Yeah.
50:35You know, let's all go to church, dress up nicely, be respectful, and sing our carols.
50:42Last year, we went to church in our local town.
50:46It's on a lovely green, and so all the locals are coming together, holding the candles, singing Silent Night, with all the lights off in the church.
50:57It reminds you to sort of think back to the past, to families that are no longer with us, that would have been ordinarily sharing that Christmas time, and to look at the new generation coming through, and just sort of family, I suppose.
51:14Yeah, I can see that family is so important to you, and Rod, both of you.
51:19Yes, very much so.
51:20I mean, I think that's what's ultimately brought us both back to living in England, being closer to the bosom of our family, and sort of realising that, you know, you've got to grab every moment while you can.
51:34With thoughts at this time of year, often turning to reflections on mortality, Rod's got some of his own.
51:46Follow me, gentlemen.
51:46So this little house here is where I'm going to be laid to rest.
51:55Like the Duke of Edinburgh, I like to plan ahead, so that's where I'm going to be.
52:00That's my special place.
52:04Penny hates to talk about it, but we all have to die.
52:06You know, Rod's sister is 96 now, and I keep telling her she's got to give us to at least 100.
52:15Yeah.
52:16How's she getting on?
52:17She's incredible.
52:1896?
52:18Yeah.
52:19Good genetics.
52:20Amazing genetics.
52:21Look at Rod.
52:22I know.
52:22How's your wreath coming along?
52:23That's gorgeous.
52:24Well, I think if I do any more, it will be overdone.
52:27I think it's perfect.
52:28And I've done that.
52:29Look at yours.
52:30Look at that.
52:30We've both done something.
52:31Can we put them on my front door?
52:33Yes.
52:33Oh, my gosh, yes.
52:35Absolutely.
52:35Shall we go back to the house?
52:36Let's decide which door we're going to put them on.
52:38Oh, yeah.
52:39Come on, Lily.
52:41Let's go, baby.
52:42Good girl.
52:48It might be nearly Christmas, but Rod and Penny are both as busy as ever.
52:53When you think back on your life, Rod, you must think, like, what happened?
52:58There must be some sort of...
52:59Every day.
53:01Yeah.
53:01Every day.
53:02It's truly amazing.
53:04I have to keep pinching myself.
53:08I literally do.
53:09And I've been at this since I was 19 and I'm 18 now.
53:12Yeah.
53:13I've just finished Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.
53:17And it's still going on.
53:18I mean, doing a month's tour in Europe.
53:21It's all sold out.
53:22Next year's already lined up.
53:24And the year after that, hopefully I'll do a British tour.
53:27Oh, yeah.
53:32Meanwhile, Penny's got a rather unexpected new career of her own, which grew out of a life-changing appearance on a challenging reality show.
53:40Can we discuss your new career as a special constable?
53:45Like, you don't need to do this.
53:46People just probably still can't believe that you do this, but you are out there working as a special constable.
53:52I was last night, actually.
53:53Were you?
53:54Yeah.
53:54And this is where it all started, as you did this TV show.
53:58Penny's team take the first 999 call.
54:00Two young women with a history of violence are suspected of shoplifting in Peterborough's city centre.
54:07She's going to do a runner.
54:10Excuse me, ladies.
54:11So brave.
54:12Stay where you are.
54:12Excuse me.
54:13Stay where you are.
54:14I have a suspect.
54:16One of the females I'm running after on the street right now.
54:24No, no, no, please.
54:25Move.
54:27Stabbing.
54:29No, we're on Gladstone.
54:30Stabbing with my dirty needle.
54:32Yes.
54:32Threatening to stab.
54:33Yeah.
54:34God.
54:35Gosh.
54:35That was before all her training.
54:37Yes.
54:38She was a mere novice.
54:39Yeah.
54:39I wasn't quite expecting to be thrown into the deep end like that.
54:42But you kept going.
54:44Your instinct was to keep going.
54:45You could have stopped.
54:46You could have turned around and said, I'm not doing anything.
54:48But you kept going.
54:49But that's why I'm doing it now.
54:51Exactly.
54:51It just felt like it was a kind of, you know, where I needed to be.
54:56And I feel more myself in the uniform than I do anywhere else.
55:00Well, isn't that interesting?
55:02Penny said once, and I quote, the reason she does it, she loves London and she wants to
55:08look after it.
55:09Yeah.
55:11That's wonderful.
55:12How do you feel about it?
55:13I'm over the worrying period now when she would be late coming home.
55:17You know, I'd worry, is she OK?
55:19No, she's great.
55:21But he got kind of used to the routine.
55:23And he's met some of the guys that I work with who are amazing.
55:27It's great to work in the city.
55:29You've got so much backup.
55:30It's a small, you know, one-mile area, including the bridges.
55:35I absolutely love it.
55:37Good for you.
55:37Really good for you.
55:40Such an amazing love story.
55:4125 years.
55:43What's the secret?
55:43I think that over the years you've become a little more understanding and compassionate
55:53to others around you.
55:55Because obviously being the super legendary star that Rod Stewart is, is on a pedestal all
56:01the time.
56:02Yeah.
56:02But I'm quite diplomatic and carry a lot of empathy.
56:09And I think maybe some of that is rubbed off because the kids will say that dad's much
56:15easier to talk to now, for instance.
56:17So I think because I'm very open and honest, as you said, it's kind of encouraged Rod to
56:24do a similar thing.
56:25Yeah.
56:26With my other kids, the grown-up kids.
56:29You've brought a great energy to the whole set-up.
56:32Openness and honesty about it.
56:34I think, to be honest with you, I think the age difference has, there are downsides to
56:40the age difference.
56:42Not many, but I think there's a maturity that I may have taught Penny and there's a certain
56:48honesty that she's taught me.
56:51For instance, I've always said, we don't argue before we go to bed and we do not argue
56:56when we've had a glass of wine.
56:58Yeah.
56:58And we wait till the morning.
56:59And if we do have arguments, it's over real quick.
57:04And I try and teach my boys, all of them, real men can say sorry.
57:09Do you know?
57:10And that's what we do.
57:11I'm always, I've got to be doing that.
57:12Has that come over time?
57:14Yeah.
57:14Oh, look at me.
57:15Yeah, no, it's true, but it's, you know, you do.
57:17It's the old bugger.
57:19Oh, dear.
57:20Yeah, but, you know, there's a wonderful honesty between the two of us.
57:25And I think, long may it last.
57:28Absolutely.
57:29Here's to that.
57:40What a joy and pleasure to be in the company of Rod and Penny.
57:43And what more fitting way to end our time together than a Christmas sing-along.
57:48What a privilege.
57:49So, I wish you a Merry Christmas.
57:51I wish you a Merry Christmas.
57:54We wish you a Merry Christmas.
57:56And a Happy New Year.
58:02Was that right?
58:03That was amazing.
58:04Merry Christmas, Rod.
58:05Oh, my God.
58:05Thank you so much.
58:07Bye, darling.
58:08Oh, so good.
58:11Look at the flags.
58:27We noticed the flags.
58:28It's the Pope on one of them.
58:29Is that when you went to Italy?
58:32Yeah, you went to Italy.
58:33It's the Celtic Park.
58:35It's just a Catholic team.
58:36Yes.
58:38My name is Celtic.
58:41It's the Celtic Park.
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