Tziporah Malkah
WHONEWS The former model reflects on her mental health
SHE’S BEST KNOWN FOR her boisterous personality, but behind closed doors Tziporah Malkah – formerly known as Kate Fischer – has struggled to maintain a healthy frame of mind. Speaking to WHO, the I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here alum says that now she’s “in a much better place,” but during her 10-year hiatus from public life, things got tough and her support system was shattered, triggering her downfall.
“I’m not criticising any of the support or management I had before, but being back in Sydney I have now been put on the correct medication. For someone with deep depression like I have got, it needs to be managed,” she says. Nowadays though, “My psychiatrist is thrilled and said, ‘Everything I see you do is so much better – by December you should be off this medication.’”
Another means of support has been Malkah’s agent. “He won’t push me,” she adds. Even though jobs are coming her way, she plans to keep a low profile until she’s feeling better. “I could get with an agent who is young and hungry and is like, ‘Come on, Tziporah, you can do it!’ But my agent is senior enough to know…well, he doesn’t want another Charlotte Dawson on his hands. I didn’t really want to say that because I am part of Charlotte’s Law [a tougher Cyber Bullying Legislation petition ].”
In between tears, Malkah, 44, continued, “I don’t read comments … If someone writes something about me and there are comments I don’t read those. If I did I would want to hang myself, too. I’m not trying to take her death lightly, but I am trying to put it in context – my agent doesn’t want to push me so hard that I wear myself out and have a nervous breakdown and kill myself.” •
If you or someone you know needs help, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or lifeline.org.au