MasterChef star Laura Sharrad has called out a message sent via Instagram, saying that it left her feeling "sick and violated".

She didn't share the contents of the message with her Instagram followers but explained she was "not okay" after reading it.

“Today I opened a really disturbing message sent to me on Instagram,” the 25-year-old wrote on her Instagram Stories.

“It was something no woman should ever have to read. I feel so sick. I feel violated. I feel unsafe. I feel disgusted. I feel a lot of things. All of them bad things. Simply, it’s not okay.

“I thought about posting this all afternoon as I rarely share things about how I’m actually feeling. This is meant to be a happy place. Today I am not okay.”

Sharrad appeared on MasterChef in Season 6 before returning in last year's Back To Win series, where viewers criticised her for her "bad attitude".

Other viewers suggested she received favourable treatment as she previously used to work with judge Jock Zonfrillo.

Her fellow contestants, Brendan Pang and Khanh Ong, defended her when claims came out.

“She’s a really close friend of mine and I was really surprised by how much backlash she got because I think it’s unfair," Ong said to Now To Love.

“Social media seems to jump on a beautiful woman and I think that’s what it is. They found her and instead of attacking her because they just don’t like that she’s on TV again, they’re attacking her for pasta. That’s not the reason that you’re angry, I honestly think that. It happened to Chloe (Carroll) in my year and I think it’s so unfair.”