Sir Rod Stewart's wife Penny Lancaster is ''everything'' to him.

The 'Maggie May' hitmaker is ''stunned'' that his wife has kept him around for two decades, as he admitted he feels so strongly about her.

He said: ''I'm stunned that Penny has kept me around for 20 years. They have not invented the words for how I feel about her. She is everything.''

And the 75-year-old singer says Penny has taught him a lot about marriage and relationships, something which he now passes onto his children.

He added: ''It took me a while to learn, because I have been a scallywag in the past. But I would say the most important thing is good manners - which is what I try to teach all my boys. You can wear the best suits in the world, look great and have the best carpet, but you still have to show manners. Open the door for a lady, stand up when a lady goes to the bathroom when you are having dinner. Secondly, humour is very, very important.''

And Rod - who has eight children, including Aiden, nine, and Alastair, 14, with Penny - feels he also helped give his wife ''a lot of confidence'' to allow her to do her television work and carve her own career.

He shared to the Daily Mirror newspaper: ''I gave her a lot of confidence. She does a lot of TV work now and when we first met she was just a shy little person who would not talk very much. I have instilled the confidence in her. I am sure she'd tell you that. And she is here for me.''