Rachel Hunter (born 8 September 1969) is a New Zealand model, actress and the host of Imagination Television's ''Rachel Hunter's Tour of Beauty''. She has appeared on several magazine covers, including ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

'', ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' and ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

''. She has been on the cover of the ''

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted cov ...

'' twice; in 1994 (alongside

Kathy Ireland Kathleen Marie Ireland (born March 20, 1963) is an American author, entrepreneur, fashion designer, philanthropist, and former fashion model. Ireland was a supermodel in the 1980s and 1990s, initially known for appearing in 13 consecutive ''Spo ...

and

Elle Macpherson Eleanor Nancy Macpherson (; née Gow; born ) is an Australian model, businesswoman, television host, and actress. She is known for her record five cover appearances for the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' beginning in the 1980s, leading ...

) and in 2006 (alongside six other models).

Early life

Hunter was born in Glenfield, a suburb of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, and educated at Glenfield College. Her parents divorced when she was still a child. As a child she wanted to be a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer, but was diagnosed with a rare blood disease which curtailed her dancing ambitions.

Career

Modelling

Hunter began her career at age 16, modelling in France, Australia and New Zealand, appearing in Australian Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Australian Cosmopolitan and for various campaigns throughout New Zealand and Australia. She became the face of Tip Top Ice-Cream in New Zealand and was the "Trumpet Girl". She was quickly signed up to

Ford Models Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. Company Ford Models was started in 1946 by Eileen ...

and immediately embarked on a successful career, landing a

Cover Girl A cover girl is a woman whose photograph features on the front cover of a magazine. She may be a model, celebrity or entertainer. The term would generally not be used to describe a casual, once-off appearance by a person on the cover of a magaz ...

cosmetics contract and becoming the spokesperson for the company for quite a few years. Hunter rose to global prominence after posing as a ''

'' swimsuit model in 1989. She subsequently appeared on magazine covers, including ''

'' and on the 1994 "Dream Team" cover of Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue with other Supermodels

Elle MacPherson Eleanor Nancy Macpherson (; née Gow; born ) is an Australian model, businesswoman, television host, and actress. She is known for her record five cover appearances for the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' beginning in the 1980s, leading ...

and

, and again graced its cover, this time solo, 12 years later in 2006. Hunter also appeared on the cover of ''

Vogue Italia ''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964. Name ''Vogue Italia'' was first published as ''N ...

'', Australian ''

'', American and international editions of ''

'' and Dutch ''

''. Hunter posed

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

for a cover-featured ''

'' pictorial published in April 2004. Hunter is signed to Ford Models in New York,

Select Model Management Established in London in 1977, by founders Tandy Anderson and sisters Clare and Chrissie Castagnetti, Select Model Management is a global network of model and talent agencies. Company In their early days, Select was one of the first modelling ag ...

in London, and Chadwick Models in Sydney.

Acting

Hunter first appeared on television in 1985 in an advertisement for a New Zealand Ice-Cream brand promoting their "Trumpet" ice-cream. Hunter guest starred in a 1997 episode of ''

The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized ...

'' as herself. She has appeared in several independent films, including 1999's ''A Walk in the Park'' and 2000's ''

Two Shades of Blue 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

'', an erotic thriller with

Marlee Matlin Marlee Beth Matlin (born August 24, 1965) is an American actress, author, and activist. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a ...

. She stars as a lesbian cook doling out relationship advice in the award-winning

indie film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...

'' La Cucina''. She had a brief appearance as a sexy mother in

Dennis Dugan Dennis Barton Dugan (born September 5, 1946) is an American director, actor, writer, artist and comedian. He is known for his partnership with comedic actor Adam Sandler, for whom he directed the films ''Happy Gilmore'', '' Big Daddy'', ''The Be ...

's ''

The Benchwarmers ''The Benchwarmers'' is a 2006 American sports-comedy film produced by Revolution Studios and Happy Madison Productions, distributed by Columbia Pictures, directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Allen Covert and Nick Swardson, and starring Rob Schnei ...

'' (2006) and also played a sultry, bikini-clad mother in the music video for

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne was an American rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young. They released five albums from 1996 to 2011 before effec ...

's 2003 song "

Stacy's Mom "Stacy's Mom" is a song by American rock band Fountains of Wayne. It is the third track on their third studio album, ''Welcome Interstate Managers'', and was released to radio as the album's first single on May 19, 2003, through S-Curve Recor ...

." Hunter was one of six celebrities in the inaugural cast of the American dance

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

series ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' in 2005. She appeared on a 2005 celebrity episode of ''

Lingo Lingo, a contraction of language, often refers to jargon, but in a less formal or technical sense. Lingo may also refer to: Technology * Lingo (programming language), one of several unrelated programming languages * Lingo (VoIP Service operator ...

'', where she and her partner

Trista Rehn , stylized as Book☆Walker, is a Japanese e-book store that sells manga, light novels, and magazines from various publishers, as well as a few published by themselves. It is based in Chiyoda, Tokyo and was created by Kadokawa Corporation. The c ...

split $US30,000 for charity. Hunter is an ambassador to The

Born Free Foundation The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals in ...

, and established the Rachel Hunter Lowland Gorilla Fund. Hunter also appeared as herself in the 2004 Christmas Special of ''

The Vicar of Dibley ''The Vicar of Dibley'' is a British sitcom which originally ran on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2007. It is set in a fictional small Oxfordshire village called Dibley, which is assigned a female vicar following the 1992 changes ...

''. She also starred in ''

Confessions of a Go-Go Girl Confessions of a Go-Go Girl is a 2008 Lifetime made-for-television film starring Chelsea Hobbs, directed by Grant Harvey, based on a play by Jill Morley and written an co-executive produced by Lenore Kletter. The film aired on Lifetime on Augus ...

'' (2008), ''

The Perfect Assistant ''The Perfect Assistant'' is a 2008 made-for-television Drama film starring Josie Davis and Chris Potter . Plot The movie begins with the hiring of Rachel Partson (Josie Davis) as an administrative assistant at Wescott Public Relations. She is a ...

'' (2008), the science fiction TV movies ''

Piranhaconda ''Piranhaconda'' is an American science fiction B-movie, premiered on June 16, 2012, on the Syfy Channel. It is directed by Jim Wynorski, produced by Forest King and stars Michael Madsen, Rib Hillis, Rachel Hunter and Terri Ivens. Cast * Michael ...

'' (2011) and ''Swamp Volcano'', aka ''Miami Magma'' (2012). She appeared as a judge on ''

New Zealand's Got Talent ''New Zealand's Got Talent'' was a New Zealand reality television show which premiered in 2008. The show was based on the ''Got Talent'' series. The show featured singers, dancers, magicians, comedians and other variety performers of all ages co ...

'' from 2012 to 2013. In 2015, Hunter fronted her own television series titled ''"Rachel Hunter's Tour of Beauty"'' for TV One where she travelled the world to discover what beauty meant in various countries.

Personal life

In the late 1980s Hunter lived with rock musician

Kip Winger Charles Frederick Kip Winger (born June 21, 1961) is an American bass guitarist and singer, active as a member of the rock band Winger and as a solo artist. He initially gained notability as a member of Alice Cooper's band, contributing bass an ...

. Winger stated after their relationship ended that he was left heartbroken when Hunter left him for Rod Stewart. At the age of 21, Hunter met rock star

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

, 24 years her senior, in a Los Angeles nightclub. They married three months later at the Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church in Beverly Hills, California, on 15 December 1990. Together they have two children: Renée (b. 1992) and Liam (b. 1994). They separated in January 1999 after eight years of marriage, and their divorce was finalised on 2 November 2006. She had a year-long relationship with Canadian

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

ice hockey player

Sean Avery Sean Christopher Avery (born April 10, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. During his career in the National Hockey League (NHL), he played left wing for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Da ...

in 2004, and in 2006 began a three-year relationship with

Jarret Stoll Jarret Lee Stoll (born June 24, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Stoll has played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild. He is a two-time St ...

, 13 years her junior, also a Canadian NHL player who played for, and won the Stanley Cup with, the Los Angeles Kings. Her son Liam was a junior player being mentored by him while playing for the LA Kings Juniors when they first met. Stoll proposed to Hunter in 2008 whilst he accompanied her on a trip home to her native New Zealand later that year and they were due to marry on 14 August 2009, but the wedding was called off by Stoll seven weeks prior to their wedding day.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

''Dancing with the Stars''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Rachel 1969 births Living people New Zealand female models New Zealand emigrants to the United States New Zealand film actresses New Zealand television actresses Participants in American reality television series Family of Rod Stewart People from Auckland People educated at Glenfield College