Twenty years after their traumatic break-up, Tziporah Malkah has finally reached out to her former billionaire fiance James Packer – with a potted plant.
The TV celebrity was spotted outside the Bondi Beach mansion she once shared with James, surreptitiously dropping off a pansy plant to the mogul who left her heartbroken after their 1998 split.
Asked by New Idea what prompted her to make the tender move, she responds: ‘It was just one of my ridiculous impulsive things.
‘I tried to buy forget-me-nots, but the shop didn’t have those. So I just bought a dark purple pansy for James.
‘I must admit, I felt a bit nervous at the door, it had been so long since I’d been around there. Looking at the place, it looks a bit run down, to be honest! When I was last there, I thought it was so glamorous.’
Tziporah, 44, says she’s a bit ashamed about bringing her gift to James, who was her fiance when she was known as Kate Fischer.
‘I’m actually feeling a bit embarrassed,’ says Tziporah.
‘It was a silly thing for me to do, I suppose.’
Explaining how it had come about, she says: ‘I’d been buying some plants for my balcony and a stranger approached me, and said how nice I’d been about James and his recent struggles. And I just thought I’d drop him off something small to show him I wished him well.’
After James recently announced he had mental health issues, Tziporah had publicly praised him for his honesty.
‘In case anyone is wondering, no, I’m hardly trying to get back with James after all this time!
‘I was just wanting him to know I was thinking of him and wishing him well after what he’s gone through lately.’
It’s unknown if James, 50, is aware of his ex’s botanical gift.
The day Tziporah was visiting his Bondi home, the mogul was spotted across the globe, holidaying in the French Riviera with his girlfriend Kylie Lim.
His visit to ritzy St Tropez with the leggy New York socialite, who he’s been dating for six months, comes just days after he was released from a US hospital.
Tziporah, who has also battled mental health issues, recently revealed it took her about eight years to get over her love affair with James – who she dated for five years when she was a top model and TV personality – and that she ‘fantasised for years’ about getting back together.
‘I was heartbroken… I was very smitten with him – I was in love with him,’ she confessed.
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After the break-up, she moved to the US for more than a decade, before returning to Australia where, for several years, she lived under the radar.
Then last year, she finally re-entered the limelight, doing an exclusive interview with New Idea.
The move led to more showbiz opportunities, including a stint on Ten’s popular reality show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!.
The brunette recently moved back to Sydney, where she has embraced life back in her old hometown.
Tziporah’s gift to James comes just a week after she was spotted in Sydney kissing her new man, Justin.
‘We’ve just been having a great time,’ Tziporah told New Idea.
‘He’s a very nice person, I’m not sure where it’s going. I enjoy spending time with someone else a little older than me.’
For the full story see this weeks issue of New Idea – out now!
