|
Rachel: I Hate My Big Bum
12 August 2004
EXCLUSIVE
By Barbara Davies
At an age when most women start to fret about their fading beauty and straying figures, Rachel Hunter remains confident enough to pose for Playboy.
But the 34-year-old supermodel - who last week appeared in the Daily Mirror dressed as a stunning cavegirl - still has insecurities about her body.
"I'm very insecure about my butt," she admits, laughing. "I suppose I tend to put on weight there. I'm just happy it's behind me and I never have to look at it."
"And I'd never say never to plastic surgery. Some women have beautiful character lines. Certain lines show amazing character. You want to keep those ones and lose the others."
After her split from husband Rod Stewart in 1999, Rachel piled on the pounds, blaming it on too much alcohol and junk food. But she lost the weight after giving up drinking and taking up swimming and riding.
Now back in sensational shape, the mother-of-two's recent photo shoots reveal a more confident, sensuous woman than the shy bride who married Rod 14 years ago. When she posed naked for Playboy magazine earlier this year, it wasn't the first time she had been asked - she's turned down requests several times since finding fame as a teenager.
"I was first asked when I was 18 and I kept saying: 'No, no, no'," she recalls. "Then I got to a stage where I felt comfortable about doing it. I was pleased with the result.
"Playboy is a part of history and I wanted to be a part of that. It's a notch on your belt in some ways.
"Being in your 30s is a great time for women. You're more knowledgeable, your face doesn't have that plump, blank look.
"I am pretty full-bodied. I am not stick thin. I'm proud of the way my body is. I'm healthy and fit."
It is hardly surprising she is so in demand to endorse health and fashion products. Her beauty somehow seems more real than other models. She has fought her own weight loss battles and is not afraid to be seen without make-up.
"I've been there," she says. "I've had kids and had to lose the weight afterwards. I feel so bad that women see these ideal women. They do use airbrushing and touching up. It's an unreal world.
"It bothers me that people associate thinness with sexiness. It's about feeling comfortable with yourself. As far as I'm concerned Italian women are the sexiest. They eat these fabulous lunches and celebrate their bodies.
"I was genetically very lucky with my parents but, at the same time, I can sympathise with women. Before I had children, I was in a pretty ideal situation. I had to work at it afterwards. You have to eat sensibly, but exercise too."
Her latest promotion is for a new low-carbohydrate snack bar called CarbWise. Even so, Rachel insists she has little time for diets. "I find constantly dieting is boring," she says. "Diets come in and out of fashion. A diet becomes a fad and then they find out there's something wrong with it. We have to think sensibly about what we should be eating.
"It's a question of finding what works for you. I always do Sundays where I eat whatever I want. We all have cravings. But if I have a shoot coming up I watch what I eat and may need to lose a pound or two.
"But you have to keep in mind not to let yourself go, for your own sake more than anything else."
Modelling hasn't prevented her from acting. She recently finished filming You And Your Stupid Mate, an Australian film due out next year and El Padrino, in which she plays a newscaster, is already released.
"Acting is something that if I get to do, it's awesome," she says. "I did theatre at school, but then modelling came along and took over. So when I get the opportunity to do that more creative side, it's great. I love doing that now and again, but I do love endorsing and promoting things."
Halfway through her 30s, it seems that Rachel has come of age, finding the fulfilment and peace of mind that marriage to Rod Stewart couldn't bring her.
|
