Penny Lancaster has bravely opened up about a series of sexual assaults she endured from her childhood through to her teenage years. The 54-year-old model, who is married to legendary singer Sir Rod Stewart, 80, has detailed these harrowing experiences for the first time in her memoir, Someone Like Me, which includes an account of an attack at 17 where she believes she was drugged by a fashion designer.

Penny, whose book is set to be released at the end of September, shared some of its contents with the Daily Mail on Saturday, revealing how repeated encounters with predatory men left her deeply traumatised. According to the Mail, her memoir begins with her fear of the sound of footsteps, stemming from an incident when she was just five years old and a man attempted to abduct her from her garden. Her father later caught the man and "taught that guy a lesson he'd never forget", according to Penny's book.

At the age of 12, she was assaulted in an underpass by a man who grabbed her from behind as she walked alone to school. Despite managing to escape and assisting the police in identifying her attacker, the wrong man was arrested, and her assailant was never brought to justice.

The Mail reports that this trauma led to Penny developing hyperhidrosis, a condition causing her hands and feet to excessively sweat when she feels anxious. The publication also revealed that she suffered a "terrifying" sexual assault at the start of her modelling career when she was 17, a secret she has kept until now.

The Mail reported: "En route to a fundraising event with a much older client – a male fashion designer she still won't name – Lancaster was invited into his home and handed a martini while he 'collected something'.

Her next memory was waking up on a mattress in his bedroom. Penny revealed: "I had been drugged. I was lying face down with no underwear on and he was between my legs. I don't know to this day if I was raped.

"The Mail continued: "The next morning, the predator called Lancaster to ask if he could buy her a diamond necklace. She put the phone down.

"Penny confided to the Mail that sharing these experiences in her book has helped her to "dissect and break it all down".

She mentioned that actress Kate Silverton explained a technique where victims revisit their traumatised younger selves. Penny elaborated: "You go back to Penelope as a 12-year-old, the same with the five- and 17-year-olds, and try to remember what she was going through, hold her hand.

"However, she admitted she had not yet tried the therapy. Penny also faced belittlement on Celebrity MasterChef in 2021 by former judge Greg Wallace. She commented: "I'm not sure that someone like Gregg is even aware of how his behaviour affects people around him; possibly he's got away with it for too long.

"And he's a relatively short man, so, at first glance, not an intimidating character. You're put on the back foot."

The BBC has confirmed that Greg, 60, has been dismissed after 45 accusations of inappropriate behaviour against him were upheld.