Rod Stewart insists there is ‘absolutely no rift’ between himself and wife Penny Lancaster and they ‘could not be more in love’ after ‘clash’ over full-time return to the UK

Rod Stewart has insisted there is “absolutely no rift” between him and wife Penny Lancaster and that they “don’t love each other anymore.”

The couple are said to be desperately trying to rebuild their 17-year marriage after the singer scrapped their plans to sell his $74 million Beverly Hills mansion and return to the UK full-time.

The 79-year-old British rocker reportedly did not want to leave LA, while Penny, 53, did not want to stay in the US, despite Rod extending his stay in Las Vegas and turning down two offers for their sprawling estate.

He shared an update on Instagram, writing: ‘We wanted to set the record straight. There is absolutely no rift between Penny and I and no disagreement about where we should live, in fact it’s the other way around.

‘A year ago we moved back to our beloved Britain for good, but we are lucky enough to have homes in other countries that we enjoy visiting.’

Rod continued, “We originally thought it made sense to sell our home in LA, but after spending a great time there with family and friends this summer while I was in Vegas, we realized it made sense to keep our home there. Two of my oldest children still live at Celtic House (the LA residence).

‘Penny and I could not be more in love after 27 glorious years. Please trust me on this…..there is no disharmony in our marriage. Rod ‘a very happy man’ Stewart.’

On Wednesday, DailyMail.com has learned that the pair are now at a ‘stalemate’, with Rod refusing to leave LA and Penny refusing to stay after he extended his stay in Las Vegas and rejected two offers for the sprawling nine-bedroom property just over a month ago.

“Rod is loving his life in LA and flying back and forth to Vegas for his performances,” a well-placed insider tells me. “He’s spending quality time with his grandchildren and hosting a banquet dinner at home for a group of his closest friends most Sunday nights.”

Rod announced plans to move to his native United Kingdom in June 2023 when he listed his 33,000-square-foot Beverly Hills home – which also includes a three-story guesthouse, a swimming pool and a full-size soccer field – for $70 million.

In December, he raised the asking price to $80 million, then lowered it by $6 million in February, bringing the price tag to $74 million.

But the rocker has since taken the property off the market, leaving Penny – who is a regular on British panel show Loose Women, works as a special constable for the London police and considers the British countryside her ‘home’ – furious.

“Penny has no plans to return to LA, which she is not a fan of, while Rod has no plans to move back at this time,” the insider continued.

“They’re at a stalemate and Penny is angry that Rod hasn’t kept his word. It’s about saving their marriage now.”

DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Stewart and Lancaster for comment.

Rod, who moved to LA in 1975, paid $12 million for the land on which he built his yellow mansion in 1991, after hiring famed California architect Richard Landry.

The property features 12 bathrooms, a large formal dining room that seats over 20 guests, a speakeasy, a movie theater, a wood-paneled library, a wine room, two gyms, an eat-in kitchen, a tea room and is also currently home to his 1,500 square foot model railroad.

He confirmed his return to the UK in June last year, citing his sons’ education as one of the key factors.

“The chances of me selling it are very, very slim because I love it so much I won’t sell it if I don’t get the right price for it,” he told Chris Evans on Virgin Radio.

“I love Los Angeles and the American people have been very good to me, but it’s time to leave. My two boys, [17] and 12, go to school here [UK].

The Grammy winner had planned to make his palatial Essex estate, known as Durrington House, his permanent residence. He and Lancaster bought the 10-bedroom, 18th-century property in 2016.

Former swimwear model Penny met the frontman in 1999 when she performed as part of his band while he was still married to his second wife Rachel Hunter.

Rachel and Rod separated that year and divorced in 2006. He had previously been married to Alana Stewart.

The chart-topper has eight children from five women: daughters Sarah Streeter, 59, Kimberly, 43, Ruby, 35, and Renee, 30, and sons Sean, 42, and Liam, 28, and Alastair and Aiden.

He also has three grandchildren: Delilah, 12, and Otis and Louie, both one.

Penny has been candid about her marriage to Stewart and their secrets to maintaining a healthy relationship for nearly two decades.

But she recently hinted at “family issues” when discussing the royal family’s rift with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry on Loose Women.

When asked if they should try to “fix” it all, Lancaster replied: “I don’t judge one side or the other – you know, do I like Harry, do I think this or that?

“I really look at the bigger picture, just the family. We all have family problems sometimes.

“I think it’s about rebuilding bridges, especially since there are so many health issues within the family.”

This is because Penny and Rod once made a pact to ‘never be apart for more than 10 days’.

In a resurfaced clip from a 2017 episode of Loose Women, Penny gave an insight into long-distance relationships, telling how she and her husband once vowed never to spend too much time apart.

On the ITV programme she explained: ‘He’s still working hard, he’s not going to retire anytime soon.’

Penny continues: ‘The first year of our relationship he was in America and I was in the UK. I was still at university, so that separation was a fact.

‘I thought: if this works, then it is a very strong foundation and we can respond to it better later.

“But now that the kids are still in school and Rod is working, we’ve made a pact not to be apart for more than 10 days. The longest we’ve been apart was two weeks and we thought, ‘This is too much, we can’t do this.'”

Penny recounts their first meeting on Loose Women in 2015, telling how she was ‘dared’ by a friend to go to a concert and ask him for an autograph.

“The next day I got an invitation to photograph him at a concert, because I was in college at the time,” she said.

Rod explains: ‘I had her number and gave it to my bass player, but he kept it for six months. I had just gotten out of a relationship and he said I wasn’t ready.’

“I called her six months later.”

Penny continued, “The funny thing is, when I got to photograph him, I thought he was asking me out of the goodness of his heart. Then he called me six months later and said, ‘I’d love to see those pictures you took.'”