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Rachel Hunter (born September 9,
1969) is a New Zealand model, actress and reality TV show host.
Born in Glenfield, Auckland, New Zealand, Hunter began modelling by age 17
and rose to prominence after posing as a Sports Illustrated model in 1989.
She appeared on magazine covers, including Cosmopolitan and on the 1994
"Dream Team" cover of Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue.
She posed nude for a cover-featured Playboy pictorial published in 2004.
She also replaced Penny Lancaster, the wife of Hunters's ex-husband Rod
Stewart, as the face and body of Ultimo, a Scottish lingerie house. In
2006, Hunter was replaced by Helena Christensen.
Hunter guest starred in a 1997 episode of The Drew Carey Show as herself,
the spokesmodel for fictional beer brand, Cap-beer-chino.
Trying to develop a career in acting, she has taken a series of acting
lessons and appeared in several independent movies, including 1999's A
Walk in the Park and 2000's Two Shades of Blue, an erotic thriller with
Marlee Matlin. She stars as a lesbian cook doling out relationship advice
in the award winning indie film La Cucina (film). She had a brief
appearance as a sexy soccer mom in Dennis Dugan's The Benchwarmers (2006)
and also played a sultry, bikini-clad mother in the music video for
Fountains of Wayne's 2003 song "Stacy's Mom".
Hunter appeared on a 2005 celebrity episode of Lingo, where she and her
partner Trista Rehn split $30,000 for charity. Hunter is an ambassador to
The Born Free Foundation, and established the Rachel Hunter Lowland
Gorilla Fund. Hunter also appeared as herself in the 2004 Christmas
Special of The Vicar of Dibley.
Hunter is signed to Select Model Management in London, and Chadwick Models
in Sydney, Australia.
She has been a contestant on the United States reality television series
Dancing with the Stars and The Real Gilligan's Island, and appeared on the
BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and NBC's "Celebrity Circus".
She was a judge on the ABC reality competition Are You Hot? with Lorenzo
Lamas. It was cancelled after one season.
She appeared on the VH1's sci-fi celebrity reality show Celebrity
Paranormal Project.
She appeared as a celebrity guest on the first week of the NBC reality
competition Phenomenon.
She featured in a documentary about bra history & design for Discovery
Channel "Bra Wars"
In 2005 she hosted a series of Make Me A Supermodel, a reality show for
Britain's Five TV channel. The series was marked by an ongoing feud
between Hunter and contestant Jasmine Lennard. In 2006 she hosted a
reality program for U.S. cable TV channel WE, Style Me With Rachel Hunter.
Contestants on the show participated in a series of fashion challenges to
prove that they "measured up" and were capable of being Hunter's stylist.
Hunter, Phillip Bloch and Milica Kastner were judges. The opportunity to
style Hunter for the People's Choice Awards and a cash prize was awarded
to the winner, Buick Audra.
She was a contestant on NBC's new celebrity circus act Celebrity Circus
which premiered June 11, 2008
In the late 1980s Hunter lived with rock musician Kip Winger. Several
Winger songs were written about her.
At the age of 21 Hunter met British rock star Rod Stewart, 24 years her
senior, and they were married on December 15, 1990. Together they had two
children, Renee and Liam, but in January 1999 they separated. Stewart
filed for divorce in 2005. The divorce took over a year to finalise, and
was official on November 2, 2006. Having signed a pre-nuptial agreement,
Hunter claimed a lump sum plus full financial support of Renee and Liam,
on the condition of remaining in Los Angeles, California. It was rumoured
to have cost Stewart $66 million.
Hunter was engaged to ice-hockey player, Jarret Stoll—13 years her junior,
however, the engagement ended by Stoll emailing the wedding guests on June
23, 2 months before the wedding date, that the wedding is off. The couple
have a joint house in Hermosa Beach, while Hunter on a trip to Auckland
has been pictured with a ring on her engagement finger. The two were
planning an August wedding, however Rachel's reps confirmed on June 25,
2009 that the wedding has been called off and the pair have decided to
split.
In 2004, Hunter had a scare when she found a lump in her breast. Found to
be a blocked duct, Hunter required surgery when it was discovered the
problem was causing blood poisoning. |
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"You can't really expect a
22-year-old girl to react the same way as a man 24 years older than
her". - on life with Rod Stewart.
"By the time I was 14, I'd been a born-again Christian, a
Presbyterian, a Mormon, you name it, I know the religion. I think
that's great now, but at the time, when you're 14 and getting
baptised in front of 400 people, in your bikini, it's not fun." |
