Rod Stewart quips he has only been introduced to the menopause by Penny Lancaster as his previous marriages did not last long enough for his wives to reach it.
Sir Rod, 77, divorced Rachel Hunter after 16 years in 2006 when she was 37. And his first wife, Alana, was 39 when they ended their marriage in 1984.
Now, he is backing 51-year-old Penny’s drive to raise awareness of menopausal symptoms.
He says: “I hadn’t seen [the menopause] before, because my marriages didn’t last that long,” he laughs.
Penny, who wed Rod in 2007 and has sons Alastair, 16, and Aiden, 11, with him, has highlighted on ITV ’s Loose Women the “hideous” symptoms she experienced. Rod has backed her Menopause Mandate, and believes that men should be made aware of what women go through.
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“She would get into blinding fits of rage,” he tells Reader’s Digest. “One night she threw utensils, so me and the boys gave her a hug – and since then she has worked to let people know what it is. Men have to understand, and not just go down the pub.”
The rocker has previously told how Penny was hit hard by her mood swings. He said: “It was frightening because she wasn’t the woman I married.
“Penny explained it in tears. The husband’s job is to shut up and get on with it.”
Penny’s life is not the only one which has changed though – Rod says his days of wild touring are long gone.
He says: “In the old days it was all sleeping around and drinking but you can’t carry on like that.”
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