Rod Stewart thinks his ''sense of humour'' helped him bed women.

The 70-year-old rocker, who struck up a relationship with Swedish film star Britt Ekland in 1975 until the relationship came crashing down in 1977, believes his quirky personality helped him to lure women into bed when he was younger.

He said: ''I went to Hollywood and I was shagging a very famous film star. What 28 year old wouldn't have done the same? When I was younger, a sense of humour helped me get between the sheets.''

However, the 'Maggie May' hitmaker - who has been married three times and has eight children from five different relationships - believes his understanding attitude is the reason his romance with Penny Lancaster has worked out.

He explained to The Times newspaper's Review magazine: ''Now it's compassion, understanding and communication, in that order. The main thing is seeing the person there.''

Rod and Penny, 44, got married in 2007 and have sons Alastair, 15, and Aiden, four, together.

He said of Alastair: ''He's a great athlete, plays rugby, good footballer but he's getting a bit mouthy with his mother.''

He added: ''Yesterday he got 'Fifa 16' [a football video game] and asked her to get it working. She plugged it in and blew the whole bloody thing up, the sound system, everything. That's unforgivable, apparently.''