Wearing slippers and wrapped in a bedsheet as she checks her mailbox, Kate Fischer – who now goes by T’Ziporah Malka bat Israel – is barely recognisable after completely reinventing herself since she starred in the risque film Sirens with Elle Macpherson and Portia de Rossi.
It’s 23 years since she shocked Australia by proudly stripping to play the role of one of painter Norman Lindsay’s life models in the movie – and a decade since she dropped out of celebrity life to “find herself.”
“I had no idea it was Kate Fischer,” admits one of her Melbourne neighbours, who says Kate is always polite and friendly on the rare occasion he spots her outside her swish apartment complex in Toorak.
Kate back in the ’90s with her Sirens co-stars.
“But she’s very private. I don’t think she goes out much. I see the lights on but I often don’t see her for weeks at a time. I think she leads a very simple life. There’s certainly never any loud music or latenight parties.”
Meanwhile, Kate has spoken out addressing her new life in Melbourne.
“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,” she penned on Facebook.
In her About Me section, Kate also goes in detail about herself.
“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 willfully rude and ignore this simple request. As mentioned earlier I retired from the public life close to ten years ago.”
WATCH: Kate talks about Sirens in the player below. Post continues after the video…
The 42-year is now living a quiet life in Melbourne.
James Packer famously called off their two-year engagement in 1998.
“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.”
What a change from the model, actress and TV presenter who courted fame on the red carpet for years after being discovered at 14 when she won the Dolly Magazine Covergirl of the Year competition in 1988.
Heartbroken Kate famously fled Australia for LA after billionaire James Packer ended their two-year engagement in 1998, to escape the limelight and the enormous shadow the Packer family and its billions cast over her.
Insiders say Kate is “very private.”
The model now goes by the name Tzipporah Malka bat Israel.
These days, the actress prefers to keep a low profile.
Kate changed her name to T’Ziporah Malka bat Israel, after converting to Orthodox Judaism following a “hiatus” on an Israeli kibbutz, before relocating to LA and becoming a US citizen.
Read the full story in the new issue of Woman’s Day – on sale now!
Kate first rose to fame when she won the Dolly Magazine Covergirl of the Year competition in 1988.
