Penny Lancaster Stewart is lounging on the floor in a sequined mini-dress.
‘It looks like I’ve fallen over in training – someone help me up,’ she jokes. Penny’s posing for Celebs On Sunday’s fashion shoot and of course, in reality looks anything but a dancing casualty. With her mane of blonde curls and those epic pins (at 6ft 1in, with feet encased in platform wedges, our hair and make-up artist can hardly reach to powder Penny’s nose) she does sophisticated glamour like no one else.
Currently tripping the light fantastic every week in Strictly Come Dancing, Penny admits she’s having a ball and living out a childhood dream.
‘I always wanted to dance as a child, but they told me I was too tall,’ says the 36-year-old model. ‘I was asked to do Strictly twice before, but being based mostly in Los Angeles, then falling pregnant with my son, Alastair, the timing was never right.’
This time however, with hubby Rod Stewart currently touring in Europe and the couple planning to spend Christmas in the UK, the logistics worked and it was finally a ‘yes’ to the Strictly sequins. And the gruelling training, of course. Penny’s been putting in a lot of leg work (so to speak). Not only has she found muscles she never knew she had, her famed pins have bruises and little nicks from catching her heel on them. Ouch.
‘I know, I have so many bruises!’ she says. ‘Each new style of dance uses new muscles. It’s quite demanding and I wont lie – the old joints are suffering.’
With her gentle and unassuming manner (she arrives at our shoot with zero fanfare and demands nothing more than a good old cuppa) it’s hard to imagine Penny getting all fired up for a bit of murder on the dancefloor. She’s said herself she doesn’t have a competitive ‘killer instinct’ and insists there’s no rivalry between the girls.
‘There honestly isn’t any,’ she says. ‘Maybe that’ll happen in weeks to come, but really we’re all just suffering with nerves too much. I genuinely hope to keep in touch with everyone. I love Letitia Dean.
She’s such a character – we really click as we have the same sense of humour. And of course my partner Ian (Waite). He’s been round to ours for dinner already.’
At 6ft 3in, Ian is the tallest dancer on Strictly – perfect for Penny.
‘I requested someone tall,’ she laughs. ‘Ian’s perfect. So, yes, I guess we are the giants of the dancefloor. No one wants to stand next to us!’
In the first week of Strictly, the judges heartily praised Penny’s quickstep, calling her a ‘goddess in green’ (thanks to her
floor-length emerald gown).
But after her jive, there was no escaping the wrath of the Revel Horwood, who described her performance as ‘lumpy,’ and even made poor Penny weepy.
‘The jive is renowned to be difficult for tall people,’ she admits.
‘It’s very hard to control my long limbs, they’re a bit gangly. You have to work extra hard.’
One thing she attributes to calming her nerves every week is the presence of her friends and family in the audience. Husband Rod, her parents, and stepdaughter Kimberley have come along for the live show.
‘Thank God for them really,’ she laughs. ‘They help me believe in myself. Especially Rod. If I’m down and feeling unsure of myself, he’s like,
“No, you’re brilliant, don’t be silly.”
And of course he’s loving the show. He likes to see I can be elegant in the ballroom and sexy in the Latin number.’
And Rod’s even been helping Penny out with a few moves...
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‘He had to help me out with this one move,’ she says. ‘I said, “Rod hold my hand, then I’m going to count to five and you have to drop to the floor. Then I’m going to kick my leg over your head.” He was like, “Er, OK!” I don’t think anyone has ever tried to choreograph for Rod. He has his own kind of dance!’
Ordinarily when Rod tours, Penny accompanies him, but in this case, dance practice has taken over.
‘He’s feeling a bit neglected,’ she laughs. ‘But he’ll have me back one day. I did come home to a note left on the front door saying, “I’ve lost my wife to Strictly Come Dancing”, but I do make up for it. We still make time to have romantic dinners even though I’m tired. Having so little free time does make the moments we can spend together more special. It definitely rekindles things.’
And since starting Strictly, Penny’s also been missing the other man in her life, the couple’s son, Alastair (almost two).
‘Oh, little Alastair’s being looked after by my mum at the moment,’ she says. ‘It’s so sweet, he’s usually in the bath by the time I come home and when I go up to see him he insists I put my feet in the water – he likes to wash my toes! The other day I was like, “Oh dear, mummy’s aching, ouch,” and now he’s started to mimic me going, “Ouch, ouch”. He likes to dance too and occasionally does a bit of air guitar before I leave in the morning. Between me and his dad, he’s got no hope in hell of doing anything other than entertainment.'
As Alastair’s second birthday is at the end of November, there’s every chance Penny will still be waltzing away, but she insists she’ll take time out to arrange a birthday party.
‘His favourite colour is purple so I’ve promised him a purple party,’ she says. ‘He was like, “Yes! Pupple party, pupple party!” It’s very sweet.’
Despite being married to one of the UK’s most famous singers, Penny is remarkably grounded. In fact, she says her best friends are still the girls she grew up with in Chigwell, Essex.
‘I think I am very normal,’ she says. ‘I had a wonderful upbringing. I had – and still have – the best friends ever. Good old Essex girls. When I married Rod this summer, I had three bridesmaids. One I’d known since I was five-years-old and another since I was 13. And it’s so refreshing to hear them tell me, “You’re still the same old Pen.”
Just because I got whisked off to LA and married Rod Stewart, doesn’t mean I have to change. And they look at him as a regular guy who happens to be an amazing singer.’
Despite being able to enjoy the ‘best things in life’, Penny’s keen to point out her family life is really not that different to anyone else’s.
‘We do regular things like go to the pub, watch the footie on a Sunday, get an Indian takeway, that sort of thing,’ she says.
And as an Essex gal has she ever had a hard time about her roots?
‘No,’ she laughs. ‘It’s a bit of an old stereotype. It reflects a small minority of Essex which doesn’t relate to me. I’m very proud to be from Essex. We’re real “salt of the earth” people, and there’s been such support for me there. All my friends have “Vote for Penny” banners in the back window of their cars. You can’t ask for more
than that...’
PENNY ON:
GETTING FIT...
‘I’m definitely more toned since starting Strictly. It’s non-stop – four hours a day. My legs and waist feel more toned and I’ve not got on the scales, but I must have lost weight. My clothes feel loser. I’ve always been a gannet but now I’m making sure I eat even more. Especially carbs. I have low blood pressure and get a bit faint if I don’t. I’m also trying to eat food with good nutritional value – I don’t want to get sick and be out of the running.’
EXPANDING THE BROOD...
‘Rod and I have decided we want to have another child,’ says Penny. ‘When I left the hospital with Alastair, I said, “See you this time next year.” It’s been a bit longer, but we’ll try again soon. A girl would be perfect but Alistair would love to have a brother I think – a playmate.’
Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC1, Saturdays, 6.15pm and Sundays, 6.50pm
