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Rachel Hunter was born September 9, 1969,
to a middle-class family in Auckland, New Zealand. Growing up Rachel
was taller than most of the other kids, and rather goofy, but she
wasn't too bothered by how she looked, she was too busy having fun.
She had no interest in fashion or beauty, but she did dream of becoming
a ballerina. She even spent all her pocket money on ballet shoes,
but her dreams of becoming a dancer faded when she caught toxoplasmosis
at the age of 13. Rachel was ill for about nine months, and tried
to get back to ballet but it never happened.
She was 15 when her parents split up. A year later,
Rachel was spotted by a local photographer and invited to go to
New York. A model by age 17, Rachel soon graced the covers of countless
fashion magazines, including Vogue, Elle, and Cosmopolitan. She
was also asked to pose for Playboy, but she felt she was too young
at the time so she turned the offer down.
After posing as a “Sports Illustrated”
model in 1989, Rachel quickly became one of the most photographed
international cover models in the world. Sports Illustrated offered
Rachel a lot of work, including posing ten years later in celebration
of her first appearance in the magazine. By 1994 she was appearing
in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, as well as the
accompanying videos.
At the young age of 21, Rachel wed rock star Rod
Stewart, who was 24 years her senior, on December 15, 1990. Its
no suprise, their marriage got a lot of attention from the Media.
They had two children together, daughter Renee Stewart, (born June
1, 1992) and son Liam Stewart (born September 4, 1994), but after
separating in 1999, they later filed for divorce on June 17, 2003.
Life after Rod has been a busy one for Rachel.
She has been romantically linked to Mark McGrath and Bruce Willis.
Rachel also started taking acting classes. After a few guest appearances
on TV shows, including 'The Drew Carey Show,' and 'Suddenly Susan,'
Rachel made the transition into feature films.
She worked on several independent films, including
1999's A Walk in the Park and 2000's Two Shades of Blue, starring
Gary Busey. She had a small part in 2001's Rock Star, with Mark
Wahlberg, and shared the screen with actor Alexandra Paul in the
2002 film, Redemption of the Ghost.
Rachel played "mom" in the Fountains
of Wayne, music video Stacy's Mom in 2003, has hosted VH-1's fitness
program as well as launched numerous fitness and workout videos.
She then hosted the show 'Make Me A Model, a countrywide search
for the upcoming UK supermodel.'
She is no stranger to adventure, having made a
trip to Cameroon to see at close range the endangered Gorillas.
Rachel is a staunch supporter of Born Free Foundation and set up
her own Rachel Hunter Lowland Gorilla Fund following her last trip
to the hostile Ugandan Rainforests. She has also been made an Ambassador
by BFF for her work with them.
Rachel is also a keen supporter of the Breast
Cancer Campaign, after having a scare herself. She found a lump
under her arm and thought it was breast cancer, fortunately it turned
out to be a blocked duct but it had started to poison her blood,
so it had to be removed.
Rachel landed a multi-million pound deal in autumn
2003 with Classified Cosmetics for the worldwide campaign of their
new spray-on make up. Rachel also closed a deal as the model for
Ultimo's underwear product, and in 2004 Rachel, who sports a 36C/D-24-35
figure, also posed nude for a Playboy cover, and Pictorial, she
was paid $1.8 million US.
Rachel currently resides in Los Angeles where she
juggles her modelling and acting careers with her role as mother
to her son Liam and daughter Renee. They live a stone's throw from
Rod's place, and he sometimes looks after the children while she's
away.
She says she'll probably do more work for the Born
Free Foundation, when she finishes modelling, and she like's nothing
more than spending time with her children. She loves to watch Liam
play hockey, and Renee dance, then on Sunday they have a nice cooked
meal. They also have two horses and enjoy riding and having a great
time - that's what life's all about.
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