10 years ago, Mary Bonnet was offered a drink at a party. She's still healing from the events that followed.

Content warning: This story includes descriptions of sexual assault that may be distressing to some readers.

Selling Sunset's Mary Bonnet has shared a harrowing story, one that only too many women are familiar with. 

From an excerpt in her new memoir obtained by PEOPLE, Selling Sunshine, Bonnet opens up about her traumatic experience with sexual assault a decade ago. 

In the chapter, titled 'Rock Bottom', Bonnet describes the details of a Memorial Day from 10 years ago, where she was drugged and sexually assaulted by a man she refers to in the book as 'Joe'. And what she describes is every woman's nightmare. 

Bonnet describes being invited to Joe's Los Angeles home, where her plan was simple: to "go out with a fun group" and be joined by another mutual friend. 

That's not what ended up happening. 

Mary Bonnet at the 2024 Espys. Image: Getty Images

She recalls being offered a "bright blue liquid" drink in a glass by Joe, which he said was a vodka cocktail. Shortly after consuming the drink, she felt "fuzzy" and her eyelids "growing heavy" before falling unconscious. 

"When I woke up, I was on Joe's bed, with my arms pinned against his mattress, and my pants around my ankles. He was on top of me and inside of me," she details in the book. 

She left "bawling and shaking".

While Bonnet shares the experience itself, she also speaks on the aftermath of the assault and how it continues to affect her life, even today. 

In regards to working through the trauma of the event, Bonnet explained that she had to "talk to [her] therapist quite a bit".

"I had to really put myself back in situations that I never want to be back in again and really think about it to describe the situations properly," she said. 

Despite a decade-long journey working through the emotional damage, including Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), a form of therapy that helps process trauma, Bonnet said that she is still healing.

"The repercussions of that night still haunt me," she says.

"I won't be alone with any man that I haven't been friends with for at least five years or who's 100 percent gay, so I know I'm safe."

Mary and Romain Bonnet from BELLA insider's cover story. Image: Instagram/themarybonnet

Following the incident, Bonnet leaned on her friends for support, including Taye Diggs, and Selling Sunset cast mates, Amanza Smith and Jason Oppenheim, who she described as "such a good friend and so comforting and protective".

In 2018, Bonnet revealed that she confessed the incident to her now-husband, Romain Bonnet, who was extremely supportive. 

"Then when I've had issues, because with sex, I just subconsciously and involuntarily kind of jump and stuff if I'm touched and I am not expecting it, he's been very supportive and in that way where he tries not to take it personally and understands it's just a trigger," she says of her ongoing struggle when it comes to intimacy.

Speaking about the difficulty of sharing such an awful experience with the world, Bonnet encouraged others to discuss a topic that "no one wants to talk about."

"It's a terrifying thing to go through," she says. "Me talking about it was not going to be any worse than living it. If I can make it through that, I can make it through talking about it."

Watch Mary Bonnet on the new season of Selling Sunset.

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

Mamamia is a charity partner of RizeUp Australia, a national organisation that helps women, children and families move on after the devastation of domestic and family violence. Their mission is to deliver life-changing and practical support to these families when they need it most. If you would like to support their mission you can donate here.

Feature image: Getty.