'It's a gift that Rod and I found one another'

Penny Lancaster opens up on her marriage to husband Rod Stewart and his hope to be laid to rest in their garden

- GEMMA CALVERT

Penny Lancaster is the undisputed queen of reinvention. She began her career as a model in the 90s, later trained as a photographer and, after finding love with rock icon Rod Stewart, embraced her most cherished role yet - motherhood.

She went on to compete in both Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity MasterChef and has spent a decade guest-presenting on Loose Women. And after appearing in Channel 4’s Famous And Fighting Crime in 2020, Penny, 54, qualified as a special constable for the City of London Police.

Now, as a new year approaches, she is contemplating another professional pivot as she divulges to OK! her dreams of moving into nature television.

“I love the idea of doing my own gardening show, maybe even based out of Durrington,” she tells us, referring to Durrington House, the 18th-century Grade II-listed Hertfordshire estate that she and Rod have shared for 12 years. Spread across over 50 acres, the grounds boast a walled garden, a 48sqm greenhouse, formal topiary, a woodland area and eight beehives.

“I’m learning more about different varieties of plants with our head gardener. I love being among nature. When things are getting too much, if I spend time in some greenery, by a source of water, listening to birds, in the rain or the sunshine, it feels like an injection of goodness. It’s not an everyday thing but I hug trees a lot. Rod and I both do.”

On Sunday, Penny and Rod will give the nation a rare glimpse behind Durrington’s gates as TV host Anita Rani visits their luxurious home for a new series of BBC One’s My Life At Christmas. Together, the couple reflect on their relationship’s biggest chapters, including first meeting at a Christmas party at London’s Dorchester Hotel in December 1998.