Penny Lancaster opens up on Rod Stewart’s health fears prior to Glastonbury set as she admits ‘he’d never been so ill’
Penny Lancaster has reflected on the sweet moment she was reunited with husband Rod Stewart after his Glastonbury set following their joint concerns about his health.
Stewart, 80, had been fearful about the performance after having to cancel other gigs for medical reasons, with Lancaster, 54, admitting he had “never been so ill”.
Stewart’s much-anticipated Glastonbury performance on June 29 ended up being a huge success, with the rocker belting out his classics to the delighted crowd.
Just weeks before, though, the Maggie May hit-maker was forced to cancel a string of gigs in the US due to poor health.
Emphasising her husband’s real fears surrounding Glastonbury, Lancaster explained: “He had influenza A, which is the worst one you can get.
“It knocked him sideways – he’s never been so ill in his entire life. About five days before Glastonbury, Rod said, ‘I don’t think I’m going to be well enough. I tried my voice out and it’s not working.’
“He was on voice rest, and I was very, very strict with him. I said, ‘You have to visualise yourself being on stage and the great headlines, and manifest this whole experience, because it’s going to happen.'”
Speaking to Hello! magazine, the Loose Women presenter continued: “He came off stage with the biggest grinning face.”
“The picture of him coming down the stairs is just relief. He was on such a high.
“He kept saying, ‘We did it.’ I said, ‘No, you did it, darling’, and he went, ‘No, we did it – I couldn’t have done it without you.'”
In early June, Stewart took to Instagram to explain he’d be cancelling his Las Vegas gig at Caesars Palace, vowing to reschedule for the following week.
However, he soon shared another update, expressing he was “awfully sorry” to have to cancel his June 5 show.
Days later, he cancelled six US tour dates, sharing on social media: “I have to cancel and reschedule my next six concerts in June as I continue to recover from the flu.”
He ended the message: “So sorry my friends. I’m devastated and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience to my fans. I’ll be back on stage and will see you soon.”
Fans became anxious about whether Stewart would recover sufficiently to deliver his much-anticipated Somerset performance.
Elsewhere, Stewart took a jokey swipe at Lancaster recently, detailing a “change” in his wife.
Former model Lancaster, 54, began her volunteering work in 2022, after initially becoming interested in 2019 when she appeared on a Channel 4 show called Famous and Fighting Crime.
Speaking recently, Stewart claimed the work has “changed” Lancaster, explaining: “I have noticed she’s got more bossy”.
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Speaking to The Times, he continued: “The kids have noticed, we’ve all noticed. She seems to think she knows everything now.”
Lancaster herself also spoke to the same publication last year about the role and how her family reacted to the news that she’d be joining the police.