Penny Lancaster opens up about beg diagnosed with dyslexia in her 40's

Penny Lancaster often shares the personal details from her life at home with her husband, Sir Rod Stewart, and their children, and her openness doesn't stop there. In 2018, the former Loose Women panelist opened up about being diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 46.

Penny, 52 spoke about her diagnosis in an interview with the Mirror, revealing that she had long suspected she was dyslexic but hdecided to undergo testing. Penny further credited her husband, Sir Rod Stewart, with giving her the confidence to finally address her learning difficulty. "I'm dyslexic – something I've always known and kept secret until I recently got diagnosed," she shared.

"Rod has given me so much confidence. Rod has never made me feel in any way like I can't do things. I was asked to read a pledge at a charity event. I was in a panic, but he said, 'Go on Pen, you can do it.' I could hear him cheering for me and I read out the words. I didn't get them all right but I read them and I felt like bursting into tears afterwards because it was such a big deal for me."

The blonde model also shared that she has been aware of her learning difficulty from a young age. "My dad used to take me to extra English classes after one teacher said to him, 'Why bother? She'll never amount to anything.# That just totally floored him," she said.

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Penny and Rod, 73, have been happily married since June 2007, and are parents to two boys together: Alastair, 12, and six-year-old Aiden. In celebration of their tenth wedding anniversary last year, the couple renewed their vows in a romantic ceremony in the 45-acre grounds of their Essex home – as featured exclusively in HELLO! magazine. They were joined for the special occasion by their sons, as well as Rod’s daughters Kimberley, 38, and Renee, 25, sons Sean, 37, and Liam, 23, and Kimberley’s daughter Delilah, six.

Stars diagnosed with dyslexia later in life

Penny Lancaster

TV presenter Penny Lancaster received her dyslexia diagnosis at the age of 46. Speaking to The Mirror, the Loose Women panellist said: "I'm dyslexic – something I've always known and kept secret until I recently got diagnosed. Rod has given me so much confidence."

Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi wasn't diagnosed until adulthood. The actress has spoken candidly about how she struggled in school and later dropped out aged 17.

Speaking about her diagnosis, the Sister Act star told Child Mind Institute: "I think perhaps it made me more introspective. Made me more thoughtful, maybe slightly slower in how I do things because it takes me a minute sometimes to figure things out."

Jennifer Aniston

Friends actress Jenniferwasn't diagnosed until her 20s. "I thought I wasn't smart," she told the Hollywood Reporter. "I just couldn't retain anything. Now I had this great discovery. I felt like all of my childhood trauma-dies, tragedies and dramas were explained."

Mel B

Former Spice Girls singer Mel B didn't receive her dyslexia diagnosis until 2017 at the age of 42. During an appearance on Loose Women, the hitmaker explained how she struggled with reading her whole life and often felt "stupid" at school.

Opening up, she said: "I was diagnosed with dyslexia last year. I find it very difficult to read sometimes and especially when I get emotional… All my life I've just thought maybe my brain was wired differently."

"Penny is my whole world. What a girl," Rod told HELLO!. "Love means many things to many people but to me it's wanting to share everything with the one you love, and I love Penny more now than ever, if that is at all possible. It was a beautifully romantic thing to do. We're not proving anything, just sharing our love with our friends and family."