The wife of singing star Sir Rod Stewart broke down in tears as she described the heartbreaking moment he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Penny Lancaster told how the 74-year-old faced a nervous wait to discover whether the disease had spread to his other organs before being given the all clear in the summer.

Speaking on Loose Women, Penny, 48, revealed Sir Rod has undergone three months of aggressive radiotherapy at a London Clinic after a specialist uncovered a lump that could not be ignored.

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Stewart later joined the programme in a video message from New York to urge men over the age of 50 to get themselves checked.

Penny told the ITV daytime show: “With Rod it was an aggressive one. It left the gland and travelled to the outside tissues.

"So that was another scary moment where we had to have more invasive tests and scans to see if it was anywhere else secondary in his body, which was the most frightening test of all. But it hadn’t gone.

"It’s emotional. We kept it quiet for two and a half years now. The positive news is we caught it early enough."

She later admitted the couple kept the news from Rod’s younger children, though did tell the older ones.

She said: “It would be too much for them the younger ones to understand.”

"When daddy finally told everybody the good news, and to get the message out there for guys out there over 50 go and get the test, then we told the little ones."

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Sir Rod was given the all clear from the condition in July, but only revealed he had beaten the condition at a charity gig for the Prostate Project at the Wentworth Club in Surrey in front of a 500-strong crowd.

Speaking from the US, Sir Rod said: "I've just been given the OK. Guys please get down to the doctors and get tested, It's a rotten disease. Finger up the bum, no harm done."