A new fly-on-the-mansion-wall reality series looks set to make the 70-year-old rasping rocker into a TV star, says Michael Hogan
WRINKLY ROCKER Rod Stewart is following in the footsteps of his old mucker Ozzy Osbourne by starring in a reality TV series the E! channel.
The dapper 70-year-old recently began filming for the series in Los Angeles, which will feature the everyday lives and adventures of the singer, along with his 43-year-old model wife Penny Lancastaer, and their two young sons (Alastair, nine, and Aiden, four). Also expected to flit in and out of the show are the leathery lothario’s other children – musician Sean, 34, and socialite Kimberly, 35. Their half-brother Ashley Hamilton and his father George will also appear.
The celebrity fly-on-the-wall genre was pioneered by Ozzy over a decade ago, with the adventures of the former Black Sabbath singer, his tough-as-nails wife Sharon and his incontinent dogs proving irresistible for TV watchers worldwide. And then E! really struck gold with Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the show featuring the adventures of the extended Jenner clan which has become a global phenomenon and made a worldwide star out of Kim Kardashian and her prominent derriere.
It’s unconfirmed whether Rod’s four other children from past relationships – Ruby, 27, Renee, 22, Liam, 20, and Sarah Streeter, 52 – will feature in his new show but it promises to be a very 21st century saga about a sprawling extended showbiz family.
A source close to the family, speaking to the Daily Mirror, said: “Rod is very proud of his family and he wants to show everyone that.
“He will star very much as the dad, and it will show he has kept things together.
“Sean has a very prominent role as does Kimberly.
“There will be some ups and downs but they are keen to show that the Stewart’s ate close and they enjoy themselves.
“This is huge for them, the family ate hoping this is the start is something big for them.”
Given his ease in front of the camera and his famously arch sense of humor, Rod Stewart should make good TV. He certainly doesn’t need the money, with reliable estimates putting his fortune in the £140m range.
Rod’s main motivation then, would seem to be the vanity of the aging star. As one British columnist put it this week: “Stewart presumably fancies winning over a younger audience who don’t remember him croaking out hits in eye-wateringly tight leopardskin trousers on Top of the Pops. This might also be an attempt to pass on the mantle of fame to his wife and children.”
