Packer’s ex Tziporah Malkah: ‘I still fear becoming homeless again’

Tziporah Malkah, formerly known as Kate Fischer, has revealed she lives in fear of becoming homeless again and could be ‘a fortnight away from being evicted’, after spending almost two years living in a women’s shelter in Melbourne.

The 44-year-old ex-fiancée of billionaire James Packer told Channel Nine’s Today show on Friday that the feeling of ‘having nowhere to go and no-one to turn to still hasn’t left her’ despite living in private accommodation now for several years.

In a candid interview with Sylvia Jeffreys and Georgie Gardner, the former model described how her glamorous life fell apart while living in America when she was  ’embezzled’ by a boyfriend and left with ‘no money’.

Ordeal: Tziporah Malkah (right), formerly known as Kate Fischer, has revealed she lives in fear of becoming homeless again and could be ‘a fortnight away from being evicted’, after spending almost two years living in a women’s shelter in Melbourne

Speaking about her return to Australia after a period living in the US, she said: ‘I thought, “If you are going to be poor in any country, the best country in the world to be poor in is Australia, even though it is still not great.”

‘So I came back to Australia. I moved to Melbourne, I know too many people in Sydney. I wanted to go somewhere where I’m anonymous… and moved into what was effectively a women’s shelter. It was ran by a women’s housing group.’ 

Tziporah, who admitted she ‘never learnt any life skills’ during her heady days as a model and actress in the 1990s, claimed she lived in the homeless shelter for ’22 months, so about two years’.

Tell-all: In a candid interview with Sylvia Jeffreys (left) and Georgie Gardner (right) on Channel Nine's Today show, the former model described how her glamorous life fell apart while living in America when she was 'embezzled' by a boyfriend and left with 'no money'

Tell-all: In a candid interview with Sylvia Jeffreys (left) and Georgie Gardner (right) on Channel Nine’s Today show, the former model described how her glamorous life fell apart while living in America when she was ’embezzled’ by a boyfriend and left with ‘no money’

Trauma: Tziporah, who admitted she 'never learnt any life skills' during her days as a model and actress in the '90s, claimed she lived in a homeless shelter for '22 months, so about two years'. Despite the fact she now has a 'decent' place to live, she still fears being homeless again

Trauma: Tziporah, who admitted she ‘never learnt any life skills’ during her days as a model and actress in the ’90s, claimed she lived in a homeless shelter for ’22 months, so about two years’. Despite the fact she now has a ‘decent’ place to live, she still fears being homeless again

She was eventually able to find herself private accommodation after spending time on the public housing list without success.

However, she described the accommodation as ‘condemnable’, adding: ‘It was terrible. I mean, there were millipedes coming through the carpet. Every night, the sink would over fill with water.

‘The gas was constantly leaking. If I lit a match, I could have gone at any second. It was terrible. But I needed to get my rental history up, my credit up.’

Back in the spotlight: Tziporah was thrust back into the headlines in 2016 when unflattering photos of her wearing a bed sheet outside of her house were splashed across the tabloids. Pictured this week in Sydney, where she relocated to earlier this year

Back in the spotlight: Tziporah was thrust back into the headlines in 2016 when unflattering photos of her wearing a bed sheet outside of her house were splashed across the tabloids. Pictured this week in Sydney, where she relocated to earlier this year

After two years in dire living condition, because she paid her rent on time regularly and was earning a steady income as a personal carer, Tziporah was able to rent a place that ‘was slightly more decent’. 

‘I was still living on the poverty line. Let’s not kid ourselves,’ she said of her time living in the sub-par accommodation, adding that she was grateful she didn’t have children or elderly parents to take care of. 

Tziporah, who is the daughter of NSW Minister for Social Housing Pru Goward, acknowledged that one of the reasons she was able to turn her life around was being ‘outed as a media personality again’ in 2016.

But she insisted that the homeless women she speaks to at shelters on a regular basis aren’t interested in her life in the celebrity spotlight. 

‘They don’t give a stuff. They don’t want to know about Sirens [the 1994 film she starred in alongside Elle Macpherson], they don’t want to know about the billionaire.

‘They want to know, “How did you get into private accommodation?” That is all they want to know.’

WHO IS TZIPORAH MALKAH?

Tziporah, formerly known as Kate Fischer, was one of the most in-demand models in Australia in the ’90s and was even engaged to businessman James Packer.

She split with James, 50, after a two-year engagement in 1998 and later relocated to the US, eventually becoming an American citizen.

Upon her return to Australia several years ago, however, she found herself broke, homeless and living in anonymity.

Eventually she found work in aged care in Melbourne, but was thrust back into the headlines in 2016 when unflattering photos of her wearing a bed sheet outside of her house were splashed across the tabloids.

She has since embraced her return to the spotlight, appearing on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and signing with celebrity agent Max Markson.

The way they were: Tziporah, formerly known as Kate Fischer, was one of the most in-demand models in Australia in the '90s and was even engaged to businessman James Packer (left). Pictured during their relationship in the 1990s

The way they were: Tziporah, formerly known as Kate Fischer, was one of the most in-demand models in Australia in the ’90s and was even engaged to businessman James Packer (left). Pictured during their relationship in the 1990s

When asked to describe the feeling of ‘having nowhere to go and no-one to turn to’, Tziporah’s answer was surprisingly candid.   

‘The feeling hasn’t left me,’ she said. ‘I mean, I’m a renter and luckily, the people I rent from are lovely. But what if I do something that upsets something on the body corporate?

‘I’m still a fortnight away from being evicted, you know. We are all vulnerable. I’m a vulnerable woman in my mid forties trying to hustle a buck in the media.’

Tziporah added that earning money in the media ‘is not as easy as it was when [she] was young pretty Kate Fisher’, adding: ‘What am I going to do? You know. I still have that fear of becoming homeless again.’ 

Drawing from her own experience, Tziporah is now working with homeless charity White Caravan, an initiative that will see renovated caravans accessed by women leaving toxic or abusive relationships. 

 



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