James Packer is leaving the love of his life, Tziporah Malkah says

James Packer’s former fiancee has revealed the early signs of his mental illness as well as the toll his father’s pressure took.

James Packer with Tziporah Malkah, then known as Kate Fischer, in 1998.

James Packer’s former fiancee has commended the billionaire for being honest about why he’s leaving the “love of his life” and revealed the early signs of his mental illness as well as the toll his father’s pressure took.

The tycoon announced yesterday he was stepping down from the board of his casino empire Crown resorts, citing mental health reasons.

Tziporah Malkah, formerly known as Kate Fischer, appeared on breakfast television program Sunrise this morning to support Mr Packer’s decision and to commend him for his honesty.

“I just wanted to come on and say it could happen to anybody, I also have my own mental health issues,” she said, “It’s a good thing James has given the reason he’s stepping back because of the stigma that’s still around a lot of mental health issues.”

#EXCLUSIVE: "It's a good thing he's given the reason he's stepping back because of the stigma around mental health issues"

Tziporah Malkah on James Packer's shock resignation. pic.twitter.com/dh7XTsilpR

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) March 21, 2018

The former model also said she was shocked when she found out because of how deeply the billionaire loved what he did.

“I was so shocked for James to step away from his business, that’s the love of his life,” she said. “He was never going to give up the business, so I thought for a man who is so passionate he must be really, really suffering.”

Ms Malkah and Mr Packer were together for five years until they split in 1998. Mr Packer recently went through a highly publicised split with singer Mariah Carey.

Being James Packer

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Ms Malkah said she remembers Mr Packer coming home from work and being very withdrawn. “He would really go into his shell and not be communicative sometimes for days at a time.” she said.

She also implied his domineering father Kerry Packer would bully his markedly gentler son. “He put him under so much pressure, and sometimes would be a bit mean to him as well, to sort of man him up.” she said. “Cause Kerry’s got that very full on sort of alpha male presence, and while James is sort of a big man he’s got a much more gentle approach.”