Penny Lancaster fights crime on TV
PENNY Lancaster was threatened with a syringe as she helped fight crime on the streets – much to the horror of husband Rod Stewart.
But the Loose Women star says she loved being a volunteer police officer for Channel 4’s Famous and Fighting Crime – and has even vowed to keep it up.
That may be bad news for rocker hubby Rod, who has already lost sleep over the dangers she faced.
Penny said: “When he watched me head off into the unknown each shift, he was worried.
“I’d come home from a long shift at four in the morning and he couldn’t sleep until I got home safely.
“He did begin to worry when he heard some of the stories I had to deal with.” Rod was supportive when she told him she was taking part in the show.
But she said: “I think he thought I might be back at the Yard dealing with stuff from afar, but as you’ll see I got stuck in, which made him very nervous.”
Penny – mum to Rod’s sons Alistair, 12, and Aiden, seven – said the family were her main concern when faced with danger. She said: “When a woman was
ON BEING A VOLUNTEER POLICE OFFICER
threatening to stab me, the first thing was, ‘I’ve got kids.’ When you’re under threat like that, you do start thinking about your family, but I carried on.” Penny, 47, worked with officers in Peterborough, Cambs, for the show where she and fellow celebs – comedian Marcus Brigstocke, Made in Chelsea’s Jamie Laing, Gogglebox star Sandi Bogle and TV presenter Katie Piper – pound the pavements as volunteers.
The experience drove home to her how underfunded and understaffed the police are. She said: “There’s not enough of them and they need more money, plain and simple. “How can we fight crime? If Katie & Sergeant Rory Thompson crime keeps growing, then we need more crime fighters. We need to tackle it and clean up the streets.
“Then find resources and methods to re-educate people that are in trouble to be better human beings, to make a difference in their lives.”
Now she hopes to undergo training to become a fully fledged volunteer.
She said: “I do want to carry on because I’ve never found anything else that is as rewarding as that.”
■ Famous and Fighting Crime starts on Channel 4 on Monday at 9pm. FEAR Penny in show and, left, with husband Rod
I want to carry on because I’ve never found anything else as rewarding as that PENNY LANCASTER