Published Monday, 08 October 2012
The singer was left heartbroken in 1998 when the supermodel confessed she was unhappy and wanted to end their eight-year marriage.
In his autobiography, serialised in British newspaper Mail on Sunday, Stewart revealed Hunter was the first woman he was ever faithful to, admitting he was driven to the "point of madness" when their romance crumbled.
"For four months, it was like some kind of 19th Century romantic fever. I lost 12 pounds in weight. I felt cold all the time.
"I took to lying on the sofa in the day, with a blanket over me and holding a hot-water bottle against my chest. I knew then why they call it heartbroken: you can feel it in your heart. I was distracted, almost to the point of madness."
The Maggie May hitmaker was desperate to move on and even sought therapy - but quit after one session ended badly.
He recalled: "I went to a bookstore and left with a bag full of books off the self-help shelves. Other methods of pulling myself out of the depths descended into farce.
"I'd decided to take up yoga, so a man came to the house to teach me the fundamentals (but) I fell over into the fireplace. And I tried therapy. This had never appealed to me. For me, I'm British: we don't do therapy.
"But I was in extremis, so I went. Indeed, I tried three different therapists... One was a middle-aged woman, and what can I say? She came on to me. I'm sure there are one or two stern paragraphs advising against that kind of thing in the professional statutes for therapists.
"Anyway, no, I didn't respond to her interest. Instead, I got out pretty sharpish."