THE Bollywood actress Tania Zaetta has received an undisclosed sum and a formal apology from the Chief of Defence after his department leaked false allegations she had sex with troops in Afghanistan during a concert tour.

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston met Ms Zaetta yesterday to personally apologise for any distress suffered by the former Who Dares Wins host.

“Ms Zaetta gave her time and her talent to entertain our forces serving in Afghanistan and she deserves our praise and our thanks,” Air Chief Marshal Houston said.

He also invited the former Baywatch actress to entertain the troops again. “She is welcome to again join a Forces Entertainment Tour in the near future,” he said.

The Defence Department reached a compensation agreement late last year for an “unacceptable breach of privacy” after rumours surfaced about Ms Zaetta’s conduct during an entertainment tour in April 2008.

Ms Zaetta was named in a confidential briefing paper to the Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, as having slept with soldiers at a military base in Tarin Kowt, the capital of Oruzgan province.

The document said the allegations had been made by the singer Angry Anderson, a claim the rocker has denied.

Yesterday Ms Zaetta thanked her family and friends for standing by her through a difficult time. She also thanked the “thousands of beautiful people from all over the world” who emailed her website.

“I read every single email, many of them with tears in my eyes,” the host of a series of fitness and boxing videos said.

As for the invitation to go back for round two, the actress was considering it.

“I’m very pleased this is all over now and I look forward to the next opportunity to visit our Australian troops overseas,” she said. “My trip to the Middle East with the Australian Defence Force touched my heart in many ways and will stay with me forever.”

The actress is now working on a feature film to be shot in Geelong and starting a charity, Peace for the Children, for children in conflict zones.tania-zaetta