Penny Lancaster Biography

Penny Lancaster started doing aerobics at the age of 16 and became a certified fitness instructor at the age of 22. During this time, she was noticed by a model scout who advised her to think about pursuing modelling as a career. Consequently, she joined London College of Fashion and completed a one year modelling course with distinction. The beautiful Penny, soon, began bagging modelling assignments for swimwear, lingerie, beauty and hair products.

However, her interest was not restricted to being just in front of the camera, therefore she decided to learn photography. Between 1998 and 2000, she pursued a diploma course in professional photography from Barking College and passed with distinction. It was while studying photography that she met Sir Rod Stewart.

After completing her course, she became a photographer and began receiving assignments from newspapers and magazines. She bagged an assignment with HELLO! magazine to shoot celebrities and followed it up by working for more newspapers and magazines like Sunday Times, Cosmo, and Essentials. She also received work from few Australian magazine.

In 2002, she became the face of Ultimo lingerie and endorsed its products for two years. Thereafter, she released fitness DVD, entitled Ultimate Body Workout in 2003.

In 2007, she participated in the fifth season of the celebrity dance competition show, Strictly Come Dancing. In the show, she was paired up with British choreographer, Ian Waite. The two lasted for six weeks in the show. Simultaneously, she also appeared in the companion show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two which features interviews of celebrities and judges of show as well as latest footage from rehearsals.

In 2008, she became one of the judges of Young Photographers Award organised jointly by HELLO! Magazine and Nikon.

Beginning September 2014, she joined the lunchtime chat show Loose Women as guest panellist. She later became a regular panellist in the show.

Over the years, Penny Lancaster has also appeared as a guest in numerous news and talk shows as well as games shows including Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Friday night with Jonathan Ross, Breakfast, The Paul O’Grady show, The Graham Norton Show, Lorraine, The One Show and Good Morning Britain.

In 2019, she appeared in Channel4’s television series documentary Famous and Fighting Crime. In the show, she worked with Cambridgeshire Police and was, at one point of time, faced with a drug dealer who threatened to stab her with a needle. However, she liked her experience in uniform so much that in 2020, she joined the City of London Police as a volunteer Special Constable.

She has been frequently involved in charity works too.

Penny Lancaster was born on 15th March, 1971 in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Her family includes parents Graham and Sally and a brother, Oliver. Her parents were both ardent fitness lovers and encouraged their children to stay fit. She developed a love for dancing when she was just six years old and thus went on to learn various dance types – tap, ballet and modern – for the next ten years. After this, she moved to aerobics which was more suitable for her due to her body frame.

In the 1990s, she was in a relationship with city trader, Mickey Sloan; however, they broke up in 1999. Around the same time, Penny met British rock and pop singer, Rod Stewart, who invited her to take photographs at his concert tour. Later, the two began a long term relationship and eventually married in 2007. The couple have two children Alastair Wallace Stewart (2005) and Aiden Patrick Stewart (2011). Penny is Rod Stewart’s third wife and is around 26 years younger.

Penny Lancaster suffers from hyperhidrosis, a severe sweat problem and has lately been also diagnosed with dyslexia as well.