You Do Something To Me: 51-year-old Modfather Paul Weller gets engaged to his 24-year-old girlfriend

By Ben Todd

Engagement: Paul Weller and his fiancee Hannah Andrews at Glasgow airport
Last night, his spokesman said there was ‘no official comment’ on the marriage plans. But a friend said: ‘He’s besotted with Hannah.’


He’s known as the Modfather and certainly old enough to be his current love’s dad.

But that has not stopped rock legend Paul Weller, 51, from becoming engaged to Hannah Andrews, who is more than 27 years his junior – and just two years older than his son Natt.

The pair – who have been living together in Maida Vale, North West London – were seen shopping in the capital earlier this week with Miss Andrews, 24, proudly showing off the huge diamond ring on her engagement finger

The engagement comes just days after Weller – who already has five children by three different women - spoke of Miss Andrews publicly for the first time by insisting he had finally found his ‘soulmate.'

The star - formerly frontman of both The Jam and The Style Council - said: ‘It’s funny to think that after all these years I’ve finally met my soulmate - and at my age. All I can say is that I am very, very much in love.’

He told another interviewer: ‘Because she's so much younger than me, the press was all, it's a midlife crisis - "Wrinkly Rocker", "Mutton dressed up as ram" "Old enough to be her Modfather". But it isn't like that. We're really in love and that's that.’

It is a remarkable turnaround for the rock legend, who did not marry his ex-partner Samantha Stock despite being with her for more than a decade.

Weller left Miss Stock just before Christmas in 2008 after 13 years together. At the time, a devastated Miss Stock said: ‘It's very sad - especially at Christmas and with the children.’


Father figure: The singer with two of his children Leah and Nathaniel
He soon moved in with Miss Andrews.


She had been a backing singer on his album 22 Dreams - which came out earlier in 2008 - singing on seven of the tracks. The brunette, originally from Bristol, had also become close to Weller when she toured with him.

Coincidentally, Weller’s most famous relationship was also with another backing singer - Dee C Lee. She sang with him in his 1980s outfit The Style Council and they married in 1988.

They had two children together, Natt, 22, and 18-year-old Leah, before divorcing six years later. Natt is now a working musician and has appeared on stage with his father.

Weller also has a daughter - Dylan, 14, - from a short-lived relationship with a make-up artist. She lives with her mother in Los Angeles.

He met Miss Stock - now 39 - in a recording studio in 1995. They have two children together - Jesamine, 10, and four-year-old Stevie Mac.


The Modfather: Paul Weller with Pete Townshend in 1980 six years before Hannah was born


But when he started his relationship with Miss Andrews in November 2008 he moved out of his and Miss Stock’s £2million home in North London and into the younger woman's nearby flat.

Within weeks, Weller and his new love were left embarrassed after a drunken evening in Czech capital Prague.

In video footage posted on the Internet, they were seen taking over a resident pub singer’s gig before ending up collapsed on the cobbled streets.

They even ended up being threatened with a night in jail by local police if they could not sober up enough to remember where they were staying.

Speaking of the experience, he admitted recently: ‘I'm not proud of it - my kids were embarrassed - but I don't give a f***. Plenty of people get p****d and fall over and end up on the cobbles. And it won't be the last time for me.’

The singer also said he has always been the prime mover when relationships have failed, saying: ‘I’ve always done the leaving.’

The star releases his 10th solo album Waking Up The Nation on Monday.

In an interview to accompany the release, he said it was unsurprising he had ended up having a series of relationships because he had dedicated himself to music rather than women since he was a teenager in suburban Woking, Surrey.

He said: ‘Right from the start with music, I was like, I'm just going to do this and I don't care about anything else. There are certain things you have to give up, even at 13, 14: your Friday and Saturday nights, having a regular girl, lots of things like that.’


source: dailymail