Penny Lancaster says Tanzania holds her ‘heart and soul’ after romantic safari trips with husband Rod Stewart, where he carved ‘I love you’ into a tree before first saying it
Matt Jackson Trendswatch Content Editor
08:30, 15 Feb 2026
Penny Lancaster has hinted she might one day quit the UK(Image: Getty)
Sir Rod Stewart’s wife Penny Lancaster has dropped a major hint about potentially leaving the UK whilst opening up about their relationship. Penny, 54, and Rod, 81, have jetted across the globe since beginning their romance in 1999.
The Maggie May legend popped the question during a romantic Parisian getaway in 2005, before the couple tied the knot in Portofino, Italy, in 2007. Last year saw them celebrate Rod’s 80th birthday aboard a yacht cruising the Caribbean with their nearest and dearest.
However, it’s an African country that Penny admits has captured her “heart and soul”.
Speaking on the LNER Routes podcast, Penny disclosed that she even tells sons Alastair, 19, and Aiden, 14, in jest that she’s “going to end up there”. Penny said: “Tanzania, that’s one place that really…my heart and soul is there”.
“I said to the boys when we got to take them there the second time round, ‘If you ever want to know where mum is going to end up, this is the place.'”
Penny and Rod have travelled the world together(Image: Getty)
When questioned about what draws her to the nation, Penny explained: “It’s the culture, and the light, as a photographer it’s stunning. I first went with Rod, before I had children, and I remember him etching a heart and our initials into a tree.
“Before he said I love you he wrote it in a tree. So it was all very romantic. It was like those movies, kind of whisked away in your safari outfits across the Serengeti, and we said when we do have children, we must take them back and we did.
“We got to learn about the local tribes and the schools and my eldest would love to go back. Not just for the animals but just, it really touched him too.”
Penny and Rod are understood to have stayed at the lavish Mwiba Lodge during their east African adventure with the family. The exclusive retreat sits within a sprawling 51,000-acre wildlife reserve.
Penn Lancaster has hinted where she would go if she quit the UK(Image: Getty)
Beyond witnessing Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti, Penny revealed the family immersed themselves in learning about the Mwiba tribe. Throughout the journey, Penny posted a photograph of herself coming face-to-face with an elephant whilst on safari.
In The Times, she hailed her Tanzanian adventures as “the best”. She went on: “We stayed at the Mwiba Lodge and visited the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, flew over Mount Kilimanjaro, and got up early each morning to watch the animals at sunrise.
“It was wonderful. Rod and I had been on safari before we had kids, so the best bit was seeing it through our sons’ eyes. They were blown away.”
Penny is set to appear on Alan Titchmarsh’s Love Your Weekend from 9.30am on ITV One, joining Olympic champion Max Whitlock as a guest on the programme.
