THE ex-model and actress formerly known as Kate Fischer has responded to the wave of public interest in her new, post-fame life, sparked by a report in this week’s issue of Woman’s Day.
Several media outlets, news.com.au included, published news of Fischer’s quiet life in Melbourne, working as a therapist at an aged care home and barely recognisable from her former life as an actress, model and one-time fiance to billionaire James Packer.
The former star, who shot to fame in 1993 with the saucy hit film Sirens, has embraced Orthodox Judaism and now goes by the name Tziporah Malkah.
In a post on her Facebook page overnight, Malkah said she didn’t mind the public interest — but that conjecture about her weight was boring to her.
“‘Kate got fat! Kate got fat! Kate got fat!’ is older news than Moses. And anyway that’s not my legal name anymore,†she writes.
“Thanks guys for checking in with me. I’m no longer desirous of being a public figure but I’ve noticed a bit of interest in this page in the last 24 hours so I thought I’d say G’day!â€
In her ‘About me’ section of the public fan page, Malkah went into more detail about her embrace of Judaism and her new life out of the public eye.
“The initial idea for me to start a public page was that there are many lies and one-sided nasty things written about me, and while I have become immune to most of it, it bothers me when it bothers the people that I am close to or violates the privacy of my family in any way,†she writes.
“Let’s begin with Wikipedia. I cannot edit my ‘own’ page because I may not be ‘objective’. Well it’s true that I probably like myself better than the snarky person who did write up my page, however I know the facts and they don’t.â€
Malkah then goes on to refute some of the statements on her Wikipedia page, pointing out that she did not in fact “convert†to Judaism, as her family were already non-practising Jews.
After legally changing her name, she “busied herself with getting to know her culture, race and religionâ€.
“Tziporah is how I wish to be addressed. You won’t get far with Kate — it is not my name and it is disrespectful for people to be wilfully rude and ignore this simple request. As mentioned earlier I retired from the public life close to ten years ago. I do not grant interviews and have no interest in being in the public eye. I work in the health care industry and very much enjoy helping others. I am content in most ways and appreciate my life being a private one now.â€