TEARS OF‘PENNY LONG LEGS’
Sir Rod’s wife breaks down as she reveals her ordeal at the hands of school bullies and backs charity drive to protect young victims
SHE enjoys a jet-set lifestyle and is known and respected around the world for her modelling work.
But Penny Lancaster has revealed that she was viciously attacked by bullies during her school days who beat her until she bled.
The 48-year-old wife of Scots rocker Sir Rod Stewart broke down in tears as she recalled the bullying at her secondary school in Essex.
It culminated in her being pelted with eggs and flour by a gang of girls on her final day. In the most vicious attack two girls followed her home from school with a boy who they urged to ram his bike into the back of her legs until they bled.
In a video, the former Strictly Come Dancing contestant wept as she relived the trauma.
She said: ‘I ran home to my mum
‘Used to slap me on the head’
crying. I thought I was strong enough to deal with the bullies.’
The video marks the launch of a campaign by charity The Diana Award, and includes shocking figures on the scale of bullying. Pupils affected say it is leading them to skip vital school days and even attempt suicide.
Data shows half of children returning to school will be affected by bullying, despite efforts to tackle the problem.
Miss Lancaster who has two sons with Sir Rod, is seen looking at a photograph of herself as she remembers her first day at secondary school.
She recalls being quite a confident pupil who was popular with her peers but says things changed when she went to her senior school.
Miss Lancaster then wells up as she recalls the attacks she suffered.
She said: ‘I didn’t think I was going to cry today, certainly not as early as this.
‘I guess the bullying started just with name calling. I was different because I was taller than not just the girls but the boys – Penny long legs.’
As a schoolgirl Miss Lancaster wore her hair tied up because she did ballet.
She said: ‘A boy grabbed a big chunk of my hair out of the neat bun to make it scruffy and untidy. I had to wait until my break time to go to the bathroom and put it back to how it was.
‘They used to come up and slap me on the head and call me spam head.’
To stand up to the bullies she once went to school with ‘spam’ written on her forehead.
Miss Lancaster added: ‘It seemed every time I was able to be strong enough to stand up to them it did stop.
‘It went from calling names to things being thrown at me, getting my hair pulled to being smacked to being followed home one day.
‘The girls were teasing me and had a boy ram his bike up the back of my legs until they bled.’
Miss Lancaster said that the support of her family gave her the strength to deal with the bullies and she believes school counselling groups would help the victims.
Miss Lancaster is one of 25 celebrities who revealed their bullying torment to back the charity. In the video clip she tells how she suffers the stress-related condition hyperhidrosis, which causes excessive sweating.
She said: ‘Just talking about bullying my hands are dripping right now. It is like I have just run them under the tap.’
The Diana Award campaigns for every school to have anti-bullying ambassadors who can counsel and provide support to younger potential victims.