Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter's split left both of them with lifelong scars. They gave different accounts of why they got divorced.
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Add BollywoodShaadis on GoogleRock legend Rod Stewart is currently in the spotlight after announcing his sudden retirement. After an illustrious music career spanning more than 60 years, he has decided that it's time to step away. The 81-year-old singer will finish his career after one final tour, which will begin at Dublin's 3Arena in 2027. Rod's retirement plan has led fans to revisit his journey and controversies.
Beyond Rod's music, his personal life generated immense buzz. Rod had a Casanova-like image, stole the hearts of several ladies, married three of them, and got embroiled in infidelities. Of all his relationships, the one that left him truly heartbroken was his failed marriage to his second wife, Rachel Hunter.
Rod Stewart was unfaithful to his first wife, actress Alana Stewart. After five years of marriage, he began an affair with model Kelly Emberg, who was 15 years younger than him. He left Alana for Kelly, but that relationship didn't last too. After that, he met another woman who made him want to put a ring on her finger. She was his second wife, New Zealand supermodel, Rachel Hunter.
When they met in 1990, Rachel was 21, and Rod was 45, making him 24 years older than her. The duo had a whirlwind romance, and after just three weeks of dating, he proposed, and she said yes. As cheating ended his first marriage, he swore to remain faithful in his second marriage. Rachel admitted that while he was extremely loving and caring, she felt like a gilded trophy wife trapped in the marriage.
Despite Rod Stewart being a devoted husband to Rachel, she divorced him in 2006. The music icon said he felt their age gap led to their split. In an interview with The Times, he recalled his sister being against their union because she was "too young" for him. Rod added that the split broke him and stated:
"Rachel left me because she was too young. My sister said I should never have married her in the first place...but it tore me to shreds."
Rachel presented a different account of why she and Rod divorced. In a bombshell interview with the London Mirror, she revealed that she left Rod because she couldn't continue "living a lie" as his devoted wife. She shared feeling trapped in the prison of marriage, from which she had to break free to find herself again. She stated:
"To the outside world, I was mother of two beautiful kids, a wife to Rod and a successful model without any financial worries, but, inside, I was in torment. By the time I was 29, I had spent eight years with someone else's group of friends."
Rachel claimed she had lost contact with her friends, forgotten what her likes and interests were, and lacked a hobby. She poignanty stated, "I felt I no longer had an identity. I was just nothing." Rachel added:
"In the nine years we were together, I'd never done anything for myself. If you'd asked me then what I liked or didn't like, I wouldn't have been able to tell you. I didn't even have a hobby. I'd become so cosseted, I was too scared to do anything for myself."
When Rachel decided to finally do something on her own, without her then-husband's help, she took the "amazing step" of traveling from Los Angeles to London and spent a week there. There, she met new people, befriended them, and felt liberated. That feeling stayed with her for a year, after which she decided to part ways with Rod Stewart.
Rachel realized that while her then-partner was growing, she stayed at the same spot. She knew that her decision to split from Rod would leave him "distraught", but she had to take the step for herself. She admitted to feeling guilty about hurting him and said she would "take to the grave" the pain she caused him.
What are your thoughts on Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter's split? Let us know.