Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster. Photo / Getty Images
Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster. Photo / Getty Images
Penny Lancaster wears a red bracelet to let her husband Rod Stewart know when it's her time of the month.
The 44-year-old star came up with the simple idea to indicate to the superstar singer - who she has been married to since 2007 - that she needed a bit of time to herself each month without having to divulge too much information.
She said: "The PMS [Premenstrual syndrome] can get more extreme so I wear a red bracelet, I know this might sound strange. It's just a little bit of cotton that I tie around my wrist.
"If I say to my husband, 'I know there's a lot of decisions going on, we've just moved house, but don't ask me right now because I've got my period.'
"Two hours later, he'll come to me, 'Look darling, about that, I don't agree.'
"Explaining it is very simple, there's probably one day a month that I'm just not ...
"I was just thinking, 'How can I raise that red flag that there's an emergency?'"
Penny has noticed a change in herself in recent months when she has snapped at her and Rod's kids - Alistair, 10, and four-year-old Aiden - more than usual, so she went to the doctor to have some blood tests.
She added: "In general I'm a very easy going person and I like to keep the boat afloat and make sure everything is organised and everyone is happy.
"But the last six months I've been having the odd little time when I've asked the kids twice to do something and they haven't listened and I've had to say, 'Will you listen to me mummy's talking!
"And I think, 'Where did that come from?' It's like I've been taken over by some sort of strange devil and it's very uncharacteristic in myself.
"So I went to the doctor to get a blood test. I'm 44 which tends to be quite young for the menopause."
Penny admitted she was fortunate to have a husband like Rod, 71, who she can talk to about delicate topics in their relationship, but said she would be keen to attend counselling sessions with her husband if they didn't ever talk about such issues.
Speaking on talk show Loose Women, he explained: "We're in that lucky position where we're not split up by work commitments one way or the other we're together most of the time so we get that opportunity to talk and that's the biggest key I think.
"I know it's a personal area but it's something that every couple goes through. Just because it's the woman who is experiencing the menopause it doesn't mean to say the husband isn't being affected."
When asked if she would consider counselling, she replied: "If as a couple we spent our lives apart and he was working all day and we didn't get that chance together, you come home and it's the kids and you're too tired and go to bed.
"If I was in a relationship where I didn't get that chance to have that conversation I would definitely put ourselves forward to sitting down."
Penny didn't confirm whether she was going through the menopause or not.
