Sir Rod Stewart told Penny Lancaster “I don’t know why you bother” after noticing she was getting “upset” trying to win over his son Sean. The Loose Women star began dating the Maggie May singer in 1999.

Their relationship however hit a snag after Rod, 80, was pictured in newspapers with model Caprice Bourret. It prompted Penny, 54, to send a firm message to Rod if he wanted the couple to remain together. “My message to him was clear, don’t bulls**t me and I won’t bulls ** t you,” she writes in her upcoming memoir Someone Like Me.

Penny says she dislikes being known as the woman who “tamed” Rod, instead saying she “nurtured” the hitmaker, reports the Daily Mail. And while she managed to keep him on the straight and narrow, she had some struggles navigating his romantic history.

Before walking down the aisle with Penny in 2007, Rod had been married twice and had a number of high profile relationships. Penny says she is closest to Rod’s former partner, Kelly Emburg, who he shares one of his eight children with.

Her relationship with his second wife, Rachel Hunter, was more complicated she says. Matters only became more complex when Penny discovered that Rachel’s sister was still living in Rod’s LA home when she visited.

By far the most difficult Penny says however was trying to win over Rod’s son Sean. Rod shares the former Sons of Hollywood star with his second wife, model Alana Stewart.

“I had to be more patient with him, but he’s got a heart of gold,” Penny told the Mail. She went on to say she has a “de-escalation thing” and where she “needs to find a solution” when facing a problem.

Penny feels as though Rod often thinks she is a “fairy with a wand” but admits he said “I don’t know why you bother”, as she tried to win over Sean. She explained: “He saw my upset when my efforts weren’t always appreciated.

“But isn’t that parenthood? We never give up on our children and even though I didn’t give birth to them, I consider them my children and I love them.”

Penny and Rod, who share two children together, celebrated their 18th wedding anniversary in June. Rod originally popped the question in Paris in 2005 before the pair wed in Portofino, Italy, two years later.

They spent their honeymoon on the Lady Ann Magee yacht, which was anchored in Portofino. To celebrate their anniversary, the couple retraced their steps to these memorable locations by taking the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express.

Uploading some snaps from their trip to Instagram, Penny captioned the sweet pictures: “Entering a bygone era @vsoetrain from Paris where we got engaged to Portofino where we got married 18 years ago, it’s totally magical Sir Rod Stewart xxxx.”