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Peta Mathias speaks out about being sexually assaulted

The celebrity cook opens up about the moments that changed her life.

Celebrity Kiwi cook Peta Mathias has spoken out the two sexual assaults she has been the victim of, and the emotional toll they took on her.

She’s become a much-loved Kiwi, well-known for her wicked sense of humour, sunny outlook and always colourful, flamboyant dress-sense. But Mathias has only recently spoken of some of the darker moments in her life.

Mathias shares details of the two harrowing assaults in this week’s New Zealand Woman’s Weekly.

Speaking from her part-time home in France, she recounts the two separate attacks – one that happened when she was a teen, and the other years later.

“There’s a part of you that thinks that you have somehow provoked it, ‘What’s wrong with me – why has this happened to me?’” she says, remembering how she felt in the aftermath.

But, as Mathias tells the Weekly, while the attacks were harrowing, she has managed to rebuild her life and move on.

And the 68-year-old says she has no intention of slowing down her busy schedule any time soon. She regularly bounces around the world, taking tours within France as well as India, Italy and Morocco.

Mathias has also just finished putting pen to paper for her memoir, hilariously named Never Put All Your Eggs In One Bastard. Later this month she’ll return home to New Zealand where she’ll be embarking on a one-woman show, which includes an agony aunt session, singing, cooking and plenty of laughs.

“It’s great fun,” she tells the Weekly. “What usually emerges is ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’ and ‘it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings.’ You must never let yourself be restricted by age or looks or education because life can be very long.”

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For the full interview with Peta Mathias, see the latest issue of New Zealand Woman’s Weekly.

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