Quotes from Penny Lancaster

Rod always dresses for dinner - even if I just want to wear tracksuit bottoms, he dresses up.

There are so many places I have visited which are unusual, but the ones my family and I tend to always go back to are those in Europe, particularly France and Italy.

Whenever Rod has four of five days off, he'll be bouncing off the walls with boredom.

Rod and I are living a very charmed and fortunate life, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

I'm lucky that I have a supportive partner who loves me when I'm bigger as well as slim.

There's certainly never a dull moment in the Stewart clan.

Rod's not very good at confrontations; he would rather walk away and avoid something rather than go into it.

I was bullied from the age of 11 onwards. I was always much bigger than the other kids. I spoke nicely, didn't swear, and I refused to try to fit in and be like everyone else. People assumed I thought I was above everyone else.

I like the idea of going to see the ice caps and the polar bears, because who knows how long they are going to be around for?

I used to be very into fitness and would happily pose for photos in my bikini. Now I look at those and think, 'Where did that body go?' But that was before children.

If I had a partner who asked when I was going to the gym or commented that I was eating too much or asked if I really needed an extra potato, that would make me feel awful. It would be terrible.

Rod has always been like my third child and my most demanding boy out of the three.

I got the best of Rod. And I am fully aware that, even though I love listening to his stories of the crazy days, no relationship could really last then. I sometimes wish I could go back in time to the 1970s or 1980s, sit at a bar, and observe him, but I'm glad our time came when it did.

People often say that if you have to work hard at a marriage, then it's not naturally good, but I think that's totally wrong.

I do look after everyone around me; that's just who I am. I am a real mother hen.

The truth is I'm a very traditional woman, and Rod - despite everything people may think - is a very traditional man. It's true he absolutely loves glamour, and he hasn't got a conventional job, but performing aside, he's happiest at home with his kids around him or lounging in front of the fire watching a war documentary like 'D-Day Remembered.'

Rod's always opening doors for me, but I usually tell him to walk through first. Otherwise, if we're at a restaurant and I'm in front, the paparazzi end up getting a big giant close-up of me, and then he's trailing behind, looking like my little child!

While wedged in the middle of a transparent rubber ring at a Dubai water park, I couldn't help but notice that I appeared to have grown my own rubber ring around my midriff.

I do love fish, and I thought it was healthy without understanding the high mercury levels that fish like tuna, swordfish and halibut can contain.

I wouldn't like to say that I spend most of my time on holiday, but I have done a lot of traveling and have been to a lot of places.

I'm a pretty organised traveller.

Rod and I believe that it's our duty to set an example, which means teaching our children to treat others as they would wish to be treated.

As long as you try your best, that is all that matters. You don't have to be the fastest runner or top of the class.

Rod and I are naturally in love, and that is what binds us together. But to keep the spark alive in your relationship, you really have to work at it.