Penny Lancaster 'burst into tears' as she battled with health concerns

Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel returns this evening on BBC One. Three contestants try to work their way to a life-changing sum of money, and can turn to seven celebrities to help them win big. This week’s celebrities are Penny Lancaster, Dermot O’Leary, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Judi Love, Michael Vaughan, Craig Revel Horwood and Nikki Fox.

Model, TV personality and police officer Penny, 50, is married to rock legend Sir Rod Stewart, 77.

She first made a name for herself as the face of designer lingerie brand Ultimo, before appearing on Strictly Come Dancing and joining Loose Women eight years ago.

She and her husband first crossed paths in 1999 while he was on tour, and a romance developed soon after.

They tied the knot eight years later, and have two children together.

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Penny first opened up on health concerns last September when she broke down in tears on Loose Women as she discussed the impact the menopause had had on her anxiety.

She recalled a conversation with her doctor about her symptoms.

Penny had been experiencing uncontrollable fits of tears, crippling anxiety and a feeling that she had lost her grip with the menopause.

She told viewers at the time: “I had a few tears with her [the doctor], trying to explain what I’ve been going through in the last few months and she said, ‘You’ve got to get to the point where you say to yourself, ‘I see you’.”

She continued: “You’d feel guilty for being upset, and then you go for coffee with a friend and they say, 'How are you, everything good?’

“And then you burst into tears and you don’t know why you’re crying."

The doctor prescribed her antidepressants, though they did not help a lot. She explained that they acted as a “form of plaster that covered it up”.

After speaking to an expert at Loose Women, she began taking HRT [hormone replacement therapy] tablets, which allowed her to come off the antidepressants.

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She no longer suffers from hot sweats, but continues to have anxiety and an underactive thyroid gland.

In an interview with Hello! magazine in October, she urged those suffering to speak to their loved ones, as she recalled one evening when things came to a head.

She said: “I was calling the boys [son Alastair, 15, and Aiden, 10] down for dinner, and getting impatient.

“When they eventually came into the kitchen, rowing, I screamed and threw a plate of dinner across the room and burst into tears.

“Rod was worried for me. We’re honest and talk openly about everything, but I didn’t know how to explain why I was feeling the way I did.”

She added: “The menopause freaked me out at first. I thought, ‘This is the end of the road. I’m not going to have any more sex appeal, I’m not going to be as lenient or forgiving.

“I’ve got to say goodbye to the old Penny and say hello to the new one.’ I felt it was all shutting down around me.

“But as you get older you embrace each stage of your life with more maturity, and give yourself a bit of a break.

“I wanted to show that I’ve still got something to give, which is why I signed up to train as a special constable. I wanted to continue to be productive, give back and be the best that I can be. So now that I’m on HRT it’s like a fresh start.

“Not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter.”

Rod gushed over his wife in a November interview with People. He explained that intimacy has been crucial in maintaining a successful marriage. He said: “I’m not talking about sex, but a kiss and a cuddle and a hold. Penny and I do that every morning.

“We hug each other — sometimes in bed, sometimes out of bed, all throughout the day. It’s a wonderful relationship. Lucky geezer, aren’t I?”

Penny Lancaster appears on Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel on BBC One tonight at 8:30pm.