Penny Lancaster thinks of Rod Stewart as her ''eldest child''.

The 41-year-old beauty - who has sons Alistair, nine, and Aiden, four, with the 'Maggie May' hitmaker - believes men can be ''needy'' so thinks it is important to make a ''conscious effort'' to spend quality time with her husband.

She said ''I try and split my time between my eldest child - Rod - and my other two boys.

''Most men are still needy, especially when you have been in a long relationship before children arrive, and then children do take up a big part of your time and men feel they are left out a bit.

''So I make a very conscious effort to dedicate time - the two of us going out for dinner or having breakfast together. Just a moment amongst the madness, he still needs attention.''

And one of the ways in which the couple enjoy spending time together is indulging in pampering sessions.

Penny told the Daily Mirror newspaper: ''We have facials together. He's a man's man with a very feminine side. He's a proud man, he takes care of how he dresses. He's a performer, a man who makes an effort.''

And though they have been together for 15 years, Penny - who married Rod eight years ago - thinks they are still in the ''honeymoon period''.

She said: ''Our honeymoon period seems to have lasted forever, we still have a connection like we just met.''