Rod Stewart says 'it tore me to shreds' as he opens up on marriage heartbreak

Edinburgh Live

a day ago

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Sir Rod Stewart has opened up about the breakdown of his marriage to his second wife, Rachel Hunter. After walking down the aisle for the first time in 1979 with Alana Hamilton, the pair, who have two children, Kimberly and Sean, called it quits five years later.
The rockstar went on marry former model Rachel Hunter in 1990, who at the time was 21, while he was 45. Together, the former couple also share two children; Renee and Liam.
According to The Times, Rod, 80, met his current spouse, Penny Lancaster, only a day after his split from Rachel in 1999. Speaking to the publication, he reminisced about their initial meeting, stating that Penny requested his autograph, while he asked if she enjoyed dancing.
"She was an incredible dancer, gorgeous, [and wearing] 6ft 4in heels," he fondly recalled.
Although he took an instant liking to the Loose Women star, Rod confessed that he was advised to remain single after parting ways with Rachel.
(Image: GETTY)
"There were six months between Rachel and Penny because my bass player, who had Penny's number, wouldn't give it to me," he explained.
"He said, 'All you're going to do now is s**g around'. And he was right, I had a splendid time in those six months."
The couple's divorce was officially finalised in 2006. A year later, he tied the knot with Penny, a Loose Women star and police constable.
"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 confessed.
Speaking about his present wife, he went on to gush over their relationship, claiming Penny has "got everything" he's ever desired.
The pair, who have two sons together, Alastair, 19, and Aiden, 14, have been married for 18 years.
(Image: GETTY)
Just last week, Penny provided Rod with support as he took to the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival for a showstopping 90-minute set.
Also in the crowd were their two sons, alongside Renee and Ruby, who is another one of Rod's daughters, with former model Kelly Emberg.
Before Rod's performance on stage, the couple gave fans an insight into their 18th wedding anniversary celebrations last month.
To mark the occasion, they hopped on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, to revisit the locations where they got engaged, married, and honeymooned.
Rod proposed to Penny in the romantic city of Paris and they later wed in the Portofino, Italy, followed by a yacht-bound honeymoon along the Italian coast.