Penny Lancaster

Penelope Claire Lancaster, Lady Stewart (born 15 March 1971) is an English model and television personality. She is married to rock singer Rod Stewart. In 2014, she joined the ITV lunchtime show Loose Women. She appeared as a panellist from 2014–2019 returned in 2021 and returned permanently from 2024 onwards.

Lancaster was born in Redbridge, Essex, England, on 15 March 1971, to Graham and Sally and has a brother named Oliver, born two years later. She grew up in the Ilford suburb of Barkingside and in 1986 her family moved to Chigwell. At the age of six, Lancaster took up dance, including tap, ballet and modern. At 16, she gave up because of her height and decided that aerobics would better suit her frame, and six years later she became a certified fitness trainer. It was during this time that she was spotted by a model scout, who suggested she should consider a career in modelling. Lancaster suffers from a chronic sweat problem called hyperhidrosis.

Throughout the 1990s, Lancaster was in a long-term relationship with city trader Mickey Sloan. They lived in Bermuda from 1996 to 1998 but separated in 1999.

Around this time, Lancaster decided to learn about the other side of modelling and began taking photography classes.

In 2002, Lancaster signed up to be the face of designer lingerie brand Ultimo for £200,000. Although she was a success at promoting the brand—raising its profile, especially in the United Kingdom—two years later, Lancaster's contract was not renewed. She was replaced in the role by Rod Stewart's ex-wife Rachel Hunter. Lancaster soon signed a deal with another top modelling agency, Elite New York. Ultimo's decision to replace her, dubbed Bra Wars by the British press, was seen as a publicity stunt, which infuriated Stewart, who described Ultimo's founder Michelle Mone as "manipulative". However, two of Stewart's daughters—Kimberly and Ruby—have since modelled for Ultimo.

Lancaster was one of fourteen celebrities taking part in the fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2007. In week 4, she was revealed as one of the bottom two participants. She and her dancing partner Ian Waite were in the week six dance-off with Matt Di Angelo and were voted off.

Performances

On 15 September 2014, Lancaster was billed as an occasional panellist on the lunchtime TV chat show Loose Women. She made four subsequent appearances during her first series. Through series 20 and 21 Lancaster started appearing on the show more regularly, usually twice per month. However, from series 22, Lancaster returned to appearing much more infrequently, making a total of six appearances. This was followed by a further ten appearances in series 23 and four in series 24. In series 25, she appeared more frequently and was a regular panellist. After taking a break from Loose she recently returned in 2025. She has not officially left the show.