"It broke my heart." Lorna Jane on the claims that shattered her self-confidence.

Fitness entrepreneur Lorna Jane Clarkson has revealed that a drawn-out court battle with an ex-employee over claims she had been body-shamed by her boss “broke her heart” and shattered her self-confidence.

The 52-year-old Australian fitness guru spoke with Jules Sebastian on her Youtube show Tea With Jules about the accusations of Amy Robinson, who sued Clarkson’s company alleging she had been bullied and shamed about her weight by her superiors.

Earlier this month, a judge ruled that Robinson – who was seeking more than $500,000 in damages claiming her six-month role at the company had left her depressed and with little self-confidence – was “a liar with a personality disorder“.

"I do not accept Ms Robinson's evidence that she was bullied by [her boss]," District Court judge Greg Koppenol said.

Clarkson said Robinson's allegations "broke her heart".

"I went through a time when the media was portraying me in a way that was completely not who I was," she told Tea With Jules.

"I'd spent 25 years building a brand and inspiring women, and then one person comes out and says one thing and the media just want to go with... It broke my heart."

Clarkson said her confidence was so shattered, she felt she couldn't speak publicly in defence of herself or her company.

"I felt like I couldn't even speak about it, which is probably one of my mistakes because I just hid in a little hole," she said.

Getting it done this afternoon ... could have talked myself out of it after a super early start this morning but that's not what Lorna Jane girls do! #gettingitdone #lornajane #nevergiveup #noexcuses

A post shared by Lorna Jane Clarkson (@ljclarkson) on Nov 13, 2017 at 1:01am PST

"I lost my self confidence. I didn't want to say anything, because I thought, 'Yeah, well they'll throw this around and turn this into something else as well'."

But there was one thing the creator of the $200 million activewear business learned through the ordeal, and now she's sharing it with her followers in a new book.

"The only way to fight negativity is to be yourself. Be yourself and prove them wrong," she told Jules Sebastian.

"Because how could what people are saying about me be right when I've spent 25 years doing the complete opposite.

"I feel like people know it's not true now, it's been proven, things have gone through the court system."

Watch Jules Sebastian's full interview with Lorna Jane Clarkson:

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