Former supermodel Rachel Hunter, 46, has a new show on the Ovation network called “Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty.” It sounds very similar to that 2010 Vh1 show starring Jessica Simpson, “The Price of Beauty,” in that Simpson toured the world to view different cultures’ beauty standards. That show highlighted Simpson’s ignorance of other customs, although that may have been inevitable considering whom we’re talking about. It sounds like Rachel’s show, which originally aired in her native New Zealand, takes a more pragmatic view. She said in a press conference that she has felt pressure to get plastic surgery and that people have said rude things about her aging:
Rachel Hunter confesses she has considered plastic surgery after feeling “horrified” seeing photos of herself. The 46-year-old former Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model took to wearing scarves to hide her jowls.
“In real life I was fairly happy with myself. In photos I was horrified,” she said Tuesday from the Television Critics Association winter meeting. “People were like, ‘Why don’t you get rid of those deep lines (around her mouth)?’”
Hunter, who has two grown children with ex-husband Rod Stewart, changed her opinion once she began working on her new Ovation series “Rachel Hunter’s Tour of Beauty.” The 13-episode show debuting Jan. 17 takes viewers around the globe to discover indigenous beauty secrets and how beauty is defined in different cultures.
“I was very much considering plastic surgery, and then I had an amazing opportunity to go on this journey which really changed my view on the whole idea of it. That moment of beauty when a woman actually feels beautiful— it’s the synchronicity between internal and external that have to have this amazing harmony moment.”
“When I first started modeling, the idea of what beauty was– that certain look… After going on this journey and seeing other cultures away went that superficial idea of beauty… I think the ideas of beauty are old and need to be shattered and there is individuality and the importance of being joyful and happy and connected and self-acceptance is extremely important of the wellbeing of women and men.”
She looks damn good at 46 and she would only look like everyone else if she had plastic surgery. I used to hate those lines around my mouth too, the nasolabial folds, and they looked so pronounced when I first lost weight. I’ve since gained about 3-5 pounds back, it varies, and they’re not as noticeable. (Either that or I got used to them.) It’s really true what they say about getting older – your ass or your face. When you take a shortcut like injectables or surgery it makes you somehow look older for trying to cheat. There are those rare treatments like lasers and electromagnetic current (ok, I own this and use it) that give results which look natural, but it’s really hard to tell if we’re just paying for snake oil ultimately. Maybe Jessica Simpson’s series had a more accurate title.
photo credit: WENN.com and FameFlynet
When Carrie Fisher hosts this kind of show, I’ll watch. Or Jaime Lee Curtis.
Otherwise, nah.
There is a meme I shared on my page on Facebook with a photo of Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford together and it says, “It’s not that men age better than women … it’s that they are allowed to age.”
I really hope Rachel does not fall prey to the injectables/botox mindset that is so prevalent in show business. So many women who I once thought were stunningly beautiful, now look waxy and nothing like themselves.
I’d rather see the real them with wrinkles.
You’re going to age. You’re going to get a boatload of negative messages about aging. The only person who can turn it around is you. The only thing you can really change is your own attitude about it. Everyone wants to look their best, but your best isn’t always going to include looking young. That’s why I’m getting tired of comments like “she looks great for 46.” What is 46 supposed to look like, death? Why must beauty be 22? She looks beautiful, period.
Good names all taken on point!!!
Wonderfully said!
Such great points.
Looking good doesn’t necessarily mean looking young. Exactly.
Always so insightful, GNAT.
A beautiful soul usually shines through to the outside, no matter how old a person is.
Wonderfully said GNAT. <3
I love your outlook on aging, GNAT. ♥
Yes!
Totally agree!
So right you are. Agree in every point!
Amen!
Brilliant.
Cheers to you!
Beautiful, GNAT. I 100% agree!!
She’s a very beautiful woman.
I loved her back in the day. Beautiful lady.
By the standards of the supermodels of her era, I never thought her particularly beautiful. Her competition was Stephanie Seymour in terms of areas of modelling they excelled in ie SI and swimsuits.
I always felt that Rachel’s fame was primarily based on being Rod Stewart’s wife.
And looking like an 80s throwback of the tawny Kitean (sp?) ilk.
I still don’t think she’s beautiful, but she’s very attractive.
Stephanie, even with the surgery, is STILL an outstandingly beautiful woman.
I was going to say the same thing — in her heyday I never got her appeal. Lovely as she is she just didn’t strike me as in the same realm of the other supermodels. Although…wasn’t she famous already before she got together with Rod? I can’t remember the timeline, lol/
In any case, she’s still lovely and I like what she has to say here. I’m a little older than her and I, too, have taken to hiding my neck with scarves much of the time. The added bonus of extra coziness is really nice, too. My dermatologist once told me that I have the type of skin that sags sooner/more than most. First world problems, I know.
My only other concession to aging is wearing eye makeup to work. After years of not wearing it I’ve realized I look more alert and less haggard with a little mascara and concealer.
Rachel Hunter was already famous when Rod Stewart entered the picture. She was primarily a print model and very successful. Then she did a fitness infomercial. Rod saw her – as did everyone in the U.S. – on a fitness infomercial that ran constantly. I remember most how they lit Rachel Hunter. They had light reflecting off a swimming pool and onto her. In any case, she looked luminous and golden and athletic.
Yeah she was famous before Rod Stewart, Covergirl contract, Vogue Italia, Elle, high fashion etc then she started doing the SI work and fitness videos. I think she had the natural beachy look that was in at the time.
I’ve seen her series and I really enjoyed it. It’s so interesting to see how beauty is valued in other cultures.
Her main competition was more like Elle McPherson (sp). And yes she was famous before she met Rod. I think because she was so young when they met that maybe it makes people forget the timeline etc.
I have this type of skin too. All women inmy family do, unfortunately. I started sagging as soon as I turned 35 and badly. I’ve seen already how women in my family look at 40 and 45 and it just makes them so much older. Skin type can be a bitch. Weight differs in my family, so it’s not that either, just DNA. I do lasers and for now am happy.
Hadn’t seen Stephanie in a while so I googled and yes, she looks phenomenal.
Other than that, I really appreciate what Hunter had to say here.
No. She was famous before she met and married Rod. She had a very cool beachy look which the other supermodels didn’t have and Eileen Ford was captivated with.
Rachel has always been, and probably will always be, very true to herself and all-natural unlike her counterparts who have all (probably) gone down the botox/plastic surgery route.
Wow, she looks normal. I think that is beautiful.
I feel you girl. It’s not easy.
As with a lot of models from the 80’s and early 90’s… she has that perfect 80’s look. It doesnt translate well 30 years later so I see why some people say she wasn’t so pretty.
She’s right though. I’m 35 and there are changes to my body that I am not thrilled about but cutting them off and tweaking them doesnt really change anything. It’s all in your head and it has a lot to do with emotional maturity. And I do realise its easy for me to say that because I never was a supermodel so its not like Im losing anything!
35? You’re a baby. Enjoy it.
Shewolf, I’m 63 and have reached the IDGAF stage where paranoia about aging has disappeared. I take care of myself, look great for my age, but I have grey hair (I don’t colour it), a saggy jawline, and cellulite. Oh well…I have wonderful friends who love me, a boyfriend who adores me and loads of interests that don’t involve myself. Life is good…believe me. So please don’t start fretting, you’re only 35 and have many years to go and grow.
I just turned 37 a couple weeks ago and I have to tell you what I told myself at 35: ENJOY it because it’s the last time you’ll be this young. Seriously. That’s not to say that I don’t know what you’re going through, it’s just a reminder to both of us that we shouldn’t waste time obsessing about getting older because it’s an inevitable.
We’ll only be this young once 🙂
Well said Kitten, it’s also what I tell myself all the time too.
Haha! You people are lovely.
in the US, what is weird to me is we judge people by parts – legs, boobs, hair, face, body. I feel like if someone has a wonderful beauty in their face we say, “yeah, except for their body” and vice versa (great body, butter face).
It’s so nice to see that she looks like a real person, and not all stretched/pulled/botoxed.
Also, I want to know if that Nuface gadget really works! I wouldn’t do surgery but I might consider something non-invasive that might help a little.
Yeah she looks great IMO.
Is the nuface like a high-frequency device? I have one of those that I use and I really like it.
Yes nuface is a microcurrent device. I don’t know if it tones so much, it looks like it does a little something, but it makes my skin so smooth and nice after using it. I really like it for that reason. Also your eyes do look lifted after using it (you don’t use it within the orbital bone, just above) but that effect is temporary. Still I really like it so far. I only use it on low! I get a metallic taste in my mouth with the medium and high settings.
Thanks for the explanation, CB. It sounds similar to my HF device except mine was a lot cheaper (maybe sh*ttier quality).
When I use mine I get the metallic taste AND that creepy metallic/iron smell as. I guess that means it’s working lol.
I posted below re Dermawand, what my sister uses … it sounds like a similar thing?
She took before and after photos and is in her 40s. In six months her jawline definitely looks different (she’s happy) and the lines on her forehead are definitely less noticeable.
I like what she is saying! After all, people we love or admire often are “beautiful” to us despite their outwards appearance.
If you’re in your 20’s or 30’s and are reading this, if you smoke, stop! I am convinced that smoking was a contributing factor to the nasolabial folds I have at 48 🙁
I never smoked and have always had brackets around my smile. It is just the way my face is constructed.
And be careful with the sun.
Hunter seems like she has clocked some serious time tanning.
I think sometimes it’s genetics, sometimes it’s just good luck. I smoked a pack and a half a day for 25 years and miraculously I don’t have any wrinkles around my mouth or deep nasolabial folds. I quit smoking 10 years ago and am 51. My problem area is around my eyes.
It causes “drawstring” lines around the mouth, and makes your fingers smell. Smoking is just gross.
Rachel looks very good, and hopefully she won’t get a lot of work done and look like a freak.
No. It’s structure and type of skin. I have this type of smile that just folds the skin around my mouth, it was inevitable that at 30 I had deep cracks around my mouth and I also have hereditary saggy skin, very saggy. Unfortunately, it’s not always something external to blame. I wish it was.
I had those folds since I was 14 (23 now). It’s just the way my face looks, like blake lively. It’s so annoying. My mum in her 60’s has hardly any wrinkles around her eyes…Just had some serious mouth lines. Damnit. Hopefully fillers look better when I reach that age. They look pretty crap still.
All this aging gracefully is great, but you know what else is great? A good dermatologist who you can trust and who won’t inject your face with stuff you don’t need. Nothing wrong with a little bit of help.
I get a little bit of Juvederm in my lips – they look fabulous. My Doc has turned people away when they want too much. It is his name on their face, and he does not want anyone looking like a trout/duck/frozenfaceNicoleKidman.
She’s lovely, then and now, but it’s the sun worshipping (and smoking?) that cause the biggest issues.
Late 50’s never used Botox – went to a cosmetic surgeon 10 years ago to look at my face. He said he could “take my money but you won’t be happy 2 years later, wait, until, when you look in the mirror and don’t know who is looking back , then it’s time”‘ so never did anything. But spend more then I could afford on my teeth…nothing helps you look young like a nice smile and If you are going to invest $ at middle age for procedure consider your smile!
I see a healthy, happy, vibrant woman. Age be damned.
I am a Kiwi (New Zealander) and watched this series with my sister. It was great! Even I – as a straight male – found it really interesting. And ‘our Rach’ (as she’s known down here) is a fantastic presenter who communicates with her audience more as a friend.
I didn’t see the Jessica Simpson series so I can’t compare the two, but Tour of Beauty was definitely very interesting.
I learnt recently – from a lady at work – that if you do botox and then stop, then you’ll age worse than if you’d never done it in the first place. Probably best just to let nature take its course. Although my sister does use something called a DermaWand which seems to prevent aging quite well.
Wear sunscreen every day of your life and you’ll age beautifully. It’s really that simple. But don’t wait until you’re 40 before you start. I’ve been doing it since I was 25…
Nev – loved her then, but love her even more now. Not afraid to get old, she reminds me of Pamela Anderson someone with a work persona and an everyday persona – not shy to be seen out and about good days / bad days. Or out and about with the kids without the make up on. Very much a real woman. Love her. xx