AceShowbiz - Sir Rod Stewart claims Penny Lancaster is the first of his wives he has seen go through menopause as his marriages have never been as long-lived as their relationship. Married to model Penny, 51, since 2007, the 77-year-old made the comment while describing how his wife's symptoms would send her into "blinding" fits of rage.

"I hadn't seen (the effects of the menopause) before, because my marriages didn't last that long," three-times married dad-of-eight Rod told Reader's Digest.

Rod divorced his first wife Alana Stewart, 77, when she was 39 and ended it with his second spouse Rachel Hunter, 53, in 2006 after 16 years of marriage, when she was aged 37.

The "Maggie May" singer, who is supporting part-time special constable Penny's "Menopause Mandate" campaign, added about how men should be more aware of the menopause and its effects, "She (Penny) would get into blinding fits of rage."

"One night she threw utensils, so me and the boys gave her a hug - and since then she has worked to let people know what it is. Men have to understand, and not just go down the pub."

Rod has previously said he found the experience of Penny's menopause symptoms scary as he saw her change from the "person I married," leading him to research her symptoms.

He added, "I googled menopause so much when she was going through it, she was in a fragile situation, I just had to listen and learn and get ready for saucepans being thrown through the kitchen. It was frightening, it wasn't the person I married, she explained it through the tears and we talked it through."

Penny, who shares sons Alastair, 16, and Aiden, 11, with Rod, has admitted how the menopause dramatically altered her moods, saying, "I had a couple of major meltdowns. I couldn't justify my feelings and emotions, couldn't pull myself out of it and would collapse into a ball of tears of frustration and scream, which is not like me at all."