Penny Lancaster had a ‘panic attack-type meltdown’ during lockdown

Penny Lancaster has revealed how she had a ‘panic attack-type meltdown’ during lockdown, thanks to her menopause, which saw a chicken pie thrown across the kitchen.

Having recently admitted that she indulged a little too much during the country-wide shut-in, Penny, 49, has shared more about how she juggled the grip of the pandemic with her ongoing menopause.

Speaking to The Sun, she recalled: ‘[I had] a panic attack-type of meltdown, during lockdown. Usually I have a good threshold when it comes to being patient with people. That went out the window. I wasn’t in control and I just broke.’

Penny – who shares sons Alastair, 14, and Aiden, nine, with husband Rod Stewart, 75 – went on: ‘The kids were arguing. I’d done these individual chicken pies and one of them got thrown across the kitchen. I screamed, then I cried. The boys came running over to comfort me and I apologised.

‘I’ve had to explain to Rod and the boys that sometimes I might get angry and cry because my hormones are changing so much.’

Penny piled on the pounds during the summer, but has revealed she went on to lose more than 17lb in eight weeks after improving her diet and doing more exercise.

Posting the before and after pictures on Instagram, she wrote: ‘During the lockdown I found myself entering my menopause and the side effects were exaggerated by the anxiety and fear for the virus and the unknown.

‘I turned to food and drink as comfort and gained over a stone. As a wake up call I shamed [myself] by taking a photo. It worked and with a new diet and exercise, I lost 17lb and 4in off my waist in eight weeks!’

Miss Lancaster is mother to two sons – Alastair, 14, and Aiden, nine, with Sir Rod.

She told ITV’s Loose Women in August that the onset of the menopause had been a struggle, and at one point she had even thrown a meal across the room.

She said: ‘I was in the kitchen, it had been one of those days where everything had been going wrong.

‘I ended up throwing the dinner across the kitchen. I just screamed and burst into tears. The boys came and hugged me.’  

The TV star admitted she has found the past few months extra tough because of her symptoms, but gushed that her husband and sons have been very understanding.

She added: ‘Rod and I have a very close and intimate, open relationship about all sorts of things.   

 ‘I talk to him about how I’m feeling in the lead up to my period, feeling a little down or sad or… I always say, “Darling give me space today, it’s the time of the month.” 

‘I’ve explained to them [my family] about the hormones I’m experiencing since March, my last period.

‘I’ve been having the really hot sweats, and then freezing cold… my body temperature is fluctuating all over the place. It affects your mood swings, I’ve been putting on more weight.’