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Rachel Hunter
Rachel Hunter at the Slim-Fast Fashion Show, 8th January 2008. Photo by Luke Ford.
Date of birth	September 9, 1969 (1969-09-09) (age 39)
Place of birth	Auckland, New Zealand
Height	5 ft 10 in ( 1.78 m )
Hair color	Blonde
Eye color	Blue
Measurements	36C/D-24-35
Weight	67 kg ( 147 lb )1
Dress size	6-8 (US); 36-38 (EU)
Spouse(s)	Rod Stewart (1990-2006)
Official website

Rachel Hunter (born September 9, 1969) is a New Zealand model, actress and reality TV show host.

Biography

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 was paid a reported $1.8 million to pose nude for Playboy magazine 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.²

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 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.

Celebrity feuds

On January 18, 2006 Hunter had a "mental breakdown" while doing publicity appearances at Sirius Satellite Radio. She prematurely ended her interviews before appearing on the Martha Stewart Channel and the Howard Stern Show. After claiming suddenly that she was not “camera ready” she walked out of the building slighting both Stewart and Stern. While Stewart has not commented on this incident, Hunter lashed out at Stern and Stern took great offense to this saying she "is a nobody" a "cow" and "her only accomplishment was marrying Rod Stewart."³ Of notable mention is that this is the first time Stern broke his no cursing rule on his Satellite channel.

Reality TV

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 presently is on 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" [1]

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.

Personal life

In the late 1980s Hunter lived with rock musician Kip Winger.⁴ 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, 1990.⁵ 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.^{citation needed}

She has been romantically linked with several film stars and rockers, including: Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Michael Weatherly, Liam Gallagher, Robbie Williams, Wes Scantlin, Tommy Lee; ice hockey player Sean Avery was her date for some time. Hunter was engaged to ice-hockey player, Jarret Stoll - 13 years her junior, however, the engagment ended by Stoll emailing the wedding guests on June 23rd, 2 months before the wedding date, that the wedding is off.⁶⁷ 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.⁸ 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.⁹

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.¹⁰

References

External links

• Rachel Hunter at the Internet Movie Database
• Rachel Hunter at Fashion Model Directory
• Official site
• Official website of Style Me With Rachel Hunter
• Rachel Hunter at TV.com