Rachel Hunter was born to a middle-class family in Auckland on September 9, 1969,. Her parents endured a rocky relationship, and they eventually divorced when she was still a child.

While she had always dreamed of becoming a ballerina, Rachel inevitably wound up posing for the camera. A model by age 17, Rachel soon graced the covers of countless fashion magazines, including Vogue and Cosmopolitan.

At the age of 21 she wed British rock star Rod Stewart, who is 24 years her senior. Together they had two children: Renee and Liam.

Although Rachel was more reserved and inhibited as a young girl, her personality seemed to undergo a dramatic transformation in 1982 when she was diagnosed with a rare blood disease. Following her recovery, Rachel became much more extroverted, which may have given her the energy she needed to pursue a career in the spotlight.

By 1994, Rachel Hunter had established herself as a top fashion model, both on the runway and on magazine covers. She began appearing in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, as well as the accompanying videos.

After her divorce of Rod she worked on several independent films, including 1999's A Walk in the Park and 2000's Two Shades of Blue, and had a small part in 2001's Rock Star. In addition, she also hosted a fitness program for VH-1 and released several exercise videos.

On January 18, 2006,Rachel Hunter was slotted to appear on The Howard Stern Show, which is broadcast on Sirius Satellite Radio. She never even made it into the studio. Hunter and her publicist claimed that they didn't realize the show would be taped for Stern's inDemand channel, and backed out because she wasn't "camera-ready", despite comments from producers that she looked fine.