Rachel Hunter is left heartbroken before her big day
Seven weeks before she was due to wed her “first true love since Rod”, Rachel Hunter has been dumped by her fiancé Jarret Stoll. Even more painful for the Kiwi model is that the Canadian hockey player, who is 12 years her junior, has given no explanation for the shock move.
Jarret made it clear the relationship was finished when he suddenly called off the engagement by emailing guests to inform them the 14 August nuptials were cancelled.
Rachel’s New Zealand representative Andy Haden has confi rmed the news and a close friend of Rachel’s reveals, “She is absolutely devastated. Everything was in place for their wedding – she had the venue, the designer dress, the guest list.
She has absolutely no idea why Jarret has done this. It could be a classic case of cold feet. He is a fair bit younger than her.”
Just last week Rachel’s stepmother, who lives in the Bay of Plenty, was still speaking of the upcoming ceremony in the US. The event was to be a star-studded affair with A-list guests including Michelle Pfeiffer and Sharon Stone.
A heartbroken Rachel, who turns 40 in September, is being comforted at this painful time by her ex-husband, rocker Rod Stewart (64), who she wed in 1990 and separated from nine years later. A friend says,
“Rod has been amazing through all of this – a real support.”
The situation is a far cry from the beaming couple’s barely contained joy when they announced their engagement in August last year.
Jarret popped the question on his first visit to New Zealand to meet Rachel’s family.
The 27-year-old professional sportsman arranged for Rachel’s mum, Janeen, and her two children, Renee (17) and Liam (14), to be there when he asked for her hand, and Rachel was ecstatic when she was presented with an incredible antique-style cushion-cut, five-carat diamond engagement ring rumoured to be worth about $100,000.
Afterwards she declared, “I have never changed my mind about the importance of marriage. When Jarret asked me, I didn’t have a doubt in my mind.”
Rachel revealed how much she loved her new fiancé, saying, “Jarret has a great strength of character and I love that he’s so consistent and loving. He’s the kind of man who has got direction. He knows who he is and where he’s going. We both put family first. We like hanging out at home, having a barbecue and watching TV.”
And Jarret was equally smitten with his bride-to-be. A friend said, “Jarret is a real sweetheart and, whenever I’m with them, I’m struck by how crazy he is about her.”
Jarret also formed a great bond with Rachel’s children and there was much talk of adding to the family in the near future. “I’m ready to take the plunge,” Rachel confessed. “I’m sure Renee and Liam would be excited if I had a baby.”
Love first bloomed three years ago when Rachel took Renee and Liam to see Jarret’s team, the Edmonton oilers, play hockey. There were introductions after the match and Jarret was smitten with Rachel right away
He says, “I knew who Rachel was, but when I met her, the thing that impressed me was how down-to-earth she was and how incredible she was with her kids. I could see they had a great relationship, there was a lot of laughing and joking between them, and I thought she was a pretty special person, so I asked her out.”
The couple’s romance was a slow and steady burner, something Rachel claims was unusual for her. over the next two years, the mum-of-two regularly made the four-hour flight from her LA home to visit Jarret in Canada.
Fortuitously, Jarret was transferred to play for the Los Angeles Kings mid-way through last year and the long-distance love moved up a gear. The couple bought a $5.6 million home together in California’s Hermosa Beach and, with Renee and Liam, they quickly became a family unit.
Recently, an excited Rachel gushed about her big day, saying, “I need to be given less than a year to plan because I change my mind so often. It was going to be in Mexico, but then we decided otherwise. I’ve made seven changes to the location.”
Now it seems the stunning model’s main priority will be healing her broken heart.
Eliza Nicholas
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