When Pia Miller was asked by TV host Karl Stefanovic in 2018 whether she was going to move to LA, she replied, “If Hollywood calls.”
Just two short years later, Tinseltown has certainly come calling – in the shape of her millionaire fiance Patrick Whitesell.
The 37-year-old former Dolly magazine model, who rose to fame playing policewoman Kat Chapman on Home And Away, is enjoying the spoils of a life many could only dream of, after announcing her engagement to the 55-year-old “super agent” last week.
In a series of posts on Instagram, Pia showed off her enormous diamond ring – which is estimated to be worth $1.9 million – and an array of congratulatory gifts including a $700 bottle of Dom Perignon champagne and bouquet after bouquet of white roses.
And in the final image, which shows her glittery view of Sydney atop of her new multimillion-dollar mansion, it’s abundantly clear just how much Pia’s life has changed.
The images are in stark contrast to Pia’s early life, which saw her move from Chile to Australia when she was four years old with her mother, brother and sister.
Her quest for fame started when she enrolled in modelling school at the age of seven, before she hit the jackpot at 14 when she won the Dolly competition.
Young Mum
At 19 she became a single mother to her son Isaiah Loyola. In 2005, she began a relationship with AFL footballer Brad Miller and gave birth to their son Lennox, in October 2006.
She later told Elle magazine that she struggled with balancing motherhood and her new life as a model.
“I was in my late teens caring for a baby, working, bringing him to shoots and worrying that maybe I was damaging him in some way while everyone else was out finding themselves or whatever,” she said.
“But somehow I don’t feel like I missed out because as soon as the boys were older, I got a presenting job with Qantas and was able to see the world that way. Then I landed my Home And Away role so it’s all worked out, just in a different order.”
Pia married Brad in 2007 but they split in 2015. She hooked up with model Tyson Mullane, but their romance was also doomed with the pair ending their short-lived engagement in 2019.
Later that year she confirmed she was dating agent to the stars Patrick.
Her simple Bondi life quickly transformed with Pia enjoying a life normally reserved for Hollywood A-listers – frolicking around beaches in the Caribbean, sharing romantic dinners and shopping sprees in Paris, sailing around the Greek Islands on super yachts and rubbing shoulders with A-listers at blockbuster premieres in LA.
Before Patrick, Pia was renting out a modest flat in Sydney’s Randwick for $950 a week.
Family home
Now, the actress has well and truly upgraded after moving into a $7.8 million mansion in the heart of Bondi that wouldn’t look out of place in ritzy Beverly Hills.
Boasting five bedrooms, an infinity pool, state-of-the-art kitchen and sweeping views of the city, it’s the perfect family home for Pia, Patrick and her sons.
With Patrick’s star-studded list of clients including Ben Affleck, Michelle Williams, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman at her disposal, Pia will no doubt receive a boost in her acting career.
And with her fiance calling all the shots at his company, WME Agency, which has a branch in Sydney, it’s only a matter of time until he signs Pia and makes her his number one priority.
It seems her new exposure in Hollywood already has casting agents eager to work with her after she starred alongside Eva Longoria in Dora And The Lost City Of Gold last year.