Rod Stewart Says Split from Ex Rachel Hunter ‘Tore Me to Shreds' While Reflecting on His Marriages
He met his current wife, Penny Lancaster, shortly after his split from Hunter
Stewart officially divorced Hunter in 2006 and married Lancaster in 2007Rod Stewart is reflecting on his past marriages, despite being happily married to his current wife, Penny Lancaster.
In an interview with The Times, published on Friday, June 27, the music icon, 80, spoke about how he met Lancaster at a bar shortly after his 1999 split from his second wife, Rachel Hunter, whom he had wed in 1990. The musician was married to his first wife, Alana Stewart, from 1979 to 1984.
"She came up and asked for my autograph, so I said, 'Do you like dancing?' She was an incredible dancer, gorgeous, 6ft 4in heels, ai-yi-yi," recalled Stewart of Lancaster.
Although he admitted he was "very lucky" going "out of one marriage and into the next," Stewart said that his breakup from Hunter wasn't easy.
"There were six months between Rachel and Penny because my bass player, who had Penny's number, wouldn't give it to me. He said, 'All you're going to do now is shag around.' And he was right: I had a splendid time in those six months," said Stewart.
"Rachel left me because she was too young — my sister said I should never have married her in the first place — but it tore me to shreds," he continued.
According to The Mirror, Rachel was just 21 and Rod was 45 when they exchanged their vows, a fact that ultimately played a significant role in their relationship.
After Stewart and Hunter officially divorced in 2006, according to The Mirror, Stewart and Lancaster tied the knot in 2007.
"Now I'm with Penny and she's got everything I could possibly want," Stewart told The Times.
In fact, in a 2021 interview with PEOPLE, the musician said that Lancaster has ultimately "mended my heart in more ways than one."
"It's a perfect relationship. I always tell the girls in my band and my daughters, 'A woman has so much living to do.' It's your life! Forget men," he said.
Stewart added that intimacy has been crucial in their romance.
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"I'm not talking about sex, but a kiss and a cuddle and a hold," he said. "Penny and I do that every morning. We hug each other — sometimes in bed, sometimes out of bed, all throughout the day. It's a wonderful relationship. Lucky geezer, aren't I?"
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