She stands out like a sore thumb on The Real Housewives of Sydney.
Single, child-free and independently wealthy, she’s certainly not a ‘housewife’ in the traditional sense, yet veterinarian Dr Kate Adams is a breath of fresh air among the warring WAGs of sport, industry and entertainment.
She’s proud of her achievements and the fact she isn’t known simply for being somebody’s wife.
So it’s no surprise she has strong feelings about the tradwife movement.
Tradwives are all over TikTok at the moment. The movement encourages young women to submit to their husbands, abandon work and embrace homemaking.
Its blend of 1950s nostalgia, classic femininity, traditional gender roles and conservative social beliefs has found a rapt audience among Gen Z women, who see a life of domesticity as preferable to the corporate rat race.
Dr Kate Adams from The Real Housewives of Sydney has spoken out against the tradwife movement, which she says leaves young women vulnerable to financial abuse
The tradwife lifestyle is all the rage in Sydney’s east, with young women enjoying the perks of being an older man’s second, or even third, wife (stock image posed by model)
The tradwife movement’s blend of 1950s nostalgia and traditional gender roles has found a rapt audience among Gen Z women, who see a life of domesticity as preferable to the corporate rat race. (Pictured: tradwife influencers Nara Smith, left, and Hannah Neeleman)
Notable tradwife influencers, such as Nara Smith and Hannah Neeleman (a.k.a. ‘Ballerina Farm’), post videos showing how they cook, clean and take care of their children.
Dr Adams knows from bitter experience it’s better to have your own money after finding herself in a toxic relationship when she was in her twenties.
At the time she was still in veterinary school and working part-time to fund her studies – but the man she was with apparently didn’t want her in a profession.
After they moved in together, he allegedly took steps to try to prevent her from graduating, including taking their internet modem to work so she couldn’t study and hiding her textbooks.
‘He knew that when I graduated, I would be in a situation get work and to leave the relationship,’ she says.
‘So he would do things to me so I had to do what he said. That did not go well.
‘My first thought was, but what about my house? What am I going to do? I’m not going to have anywhere to live.
‘Coercive control is not overt like physical violence, but financial abuse is a form of domestic violence.
Dr Adams explains it’s common in Sydney’s east to see young women embrace a ‘tradwife’ lifestyle after shacking up with older men on their second marriage. They do so at their peril
‘You might think marrying a really rich man will make your life easier, but there is a cost to that,’ warns Dr Adams (stock image posed by models)
‘That was the very first time I realised as a woman, you need running-away money.’
In a recent Instagram video, Dr Adams says the risk of the tradwife movement is that such a lifestyle leaves women financially vulnerable if the relationship turns sour.
‘No one really talks about the consequences, or what happens to you, when tradwife goes wrong,’ she says.
‘Trad wife gone wrong isn’t a fun place to be… I see this an an older person, and it’s something I didn’t think about when I was 20.’
Dr Adams, who owns her own veterinary practice in Bondi, urges young women to stay financially independent and not give up their career for a man.
She explains it’s now commonplace in Sydney’s east to see young women embrace a ‘tradwife’ lifestyle after shacking up with older men on their second, or even third, marriage.
It’s a disturbing sight, for several reasons.
‘You see in every second household in Double Bay and Point Piper, men that have young wives. I always think, “Where’s Wife No. 1?”
‘You might think marrying a really rich man will make your life easier, but there is a cost to that,’ she says.
Yes, there are plenty of men who are generous with their younger wives – but those same men also take steps to protect and hide their wealth in the event of divorce.
And while they spend big on handbags, designer clothes, cars and even surgery, they aren’t paying into their younger wives’ superannuation or investing in their education or professional development.
So when things go sour and the husband lawyers up, many of these pretty, young Stepford wives of the eastern suburbs will be left with nothing more than gifts to show for all the years they spent as homemakers.
Dr Adams (left) is the only unmarried and child-free cast member of Real Housewives of Sydney. She is pictured with (L-R) Nicole Gazal O’Neil, Caroline Gaultier and Krissy Marsh
Dr Adams is particularly worried about the daughter of a friend has recently quit work to move overseas for an older, wealthy man.
‘She was on a reality show. She moved her entire life to a different country to be a tradwife. She doesn’t have a job there. No family there. No friends. She’s 22,’ she says.
‘A few people said that I’m attacking stay at home mothers, and I’m not,’ Dr Adams adds.
‘I’m an advocate for women having and making their own choices. As much as we all don’t necessarily love going to work every day, work is freedom.
Dr Adams took Daily Mail Australia inside her stunning Bronte home and designer closet
‘If you give up your skills, and then for whatever reason you end up not being able to work, your choices are limited when you financially depend on someone else.’
Dr Adams, who is the only unmarried and child-free cast member of Real Housewives of Sydney, also tells me she returned for season two of the volatile reality show because she wanted to continue representing successful, single working women.
She rose to fame in 2019 when she appeared on TV’s Bondi Vet, three years after Dr Chris Brown left the show to focus on other projects.
She has owned and operated the Bondi Vet Hospital in Sydney for several years.
