Rachel Uchitel

Early life

Uchitel is the granddaughter of Maurice Uchitel (1911–2000), a Ukrainian-born Jewish American restaurant and nightclub owner in the 1950s and 1960s, including the El Morocco club.

When Uchitel was 15, her father died, reportedly from an overdose of cocaine, which according to her, required her to mature quickly, and which she claims was one of the incidents in her life that led to her own addictions later.

She graduated from Millbrook School in 1992 and graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1996 with a degree in psychology. She spent five years after college as a news producer in New York for Bloomberg Television.

Television

Uchitel began her career after college working in television and film, with a five-year stint as a producer in the Bloomberg News television division, a period in which she became "engaged to a man who died in the 9/11 attacks." Uchitel has served as a special correspondent on nightlife for Extra.

VIP hosting

In 2005, Uchitel moved to Las Vegas and became a "VIP host" at the Tao in Las Vegas, Nevada, whose ownership included Jason Strauss. In 2005–6, she was the VIP hostess at the Tao. She states in an interview:

In a random career move and a life-changing experience, I found myself living in Las Vegas to launch Tao nightclub and restaurant, which quickly became the number-one grossing venue in the world. Two years later, I was back in New York to oversee VIP operations for all of their companies and venues, such as Stanton Social, Marquee, Tao Bistro, and Dune.

Uchitel ran the VIP section of "some of the most successful clubs in New York." As of 2009, Uchitel was living in Las Vegas, but was self-described as being "too old for being a VIP host anymore".

Other endeavors

In December 2013, Uchitel opened a children's boutique on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The store is named Wyatt Lily, after her 2-year-old daughter, and was named "Best Kids Birthday Presents" in New York magazine's annual Best Of issue in 2015.

Media appearances

Uchitel was a cast member in the fourth season of the VH1 reality television program Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which documents notable persons being treated for substance abuse. Dr. Drew Pinsky, who normally is not involved with casting for the series, reportedly visited Uchitel personally in order to convince her to be cast on the show, for which she was paid $500,000 to appear, double the amount initially offered to her by producers.

Personal life

Uchitel had been engaged to James Andrew O'Grady, an investment banker, who was killed in the September 11 attacks of the World Trade Center. A few days later, she appeared on the front page of the New York Post holding a picture of O'Grady, which was republished worldwide. Uchitel and her fiancé's family subsequently debated the disposition of his estate.

In 2004 Uchitel married Wall Street trader and childhood friend Steven Ehrenkranz. Their marriage lasted four months.

In late 2009, The National Enquirer published a story that alleged that Uchitel had had an affair with Tiger Woods at the Australian Masters, an allegation Uchitel denied to the Associated Press.

On October 2, 2011, she married insurance underwriter and former Penn State fullback Matt Hahn. In May 2012, Uchitel gave birth to a daughter. Hahn filed for divorce from Uchitel in 2013. The divorce was finalized in January 2014.