Secrets and lies: Bendigo lawyer Jenny Fox set to come clean on national TV

The 61-year-old is one of several guests on SBS interview show Insight, which focused on June 18 on the theme 'Secrets and lies'.

In breaking the silence on a long-held secret, Ms Fox will share the limelight with former AFL coach and player Danielle Laidley - who, as Dean, hid his true gender identity from his girlfriend and the world.

Another guest describes the experience of being contacted out of the blue by an adult son she had never told anyone she had.

A third interviewee was consistently lied to by her adoptive parents, while a fourth guest admits to being a habitual liar.

Ms Fox, who now lives in Wedderburn, came to be on the show after responding to a call-out on social media.

"It popped up in my Facebook feed," she said.

"The ad just came up saying, 'Do you or anyone you know have a secret that you've never told anybody that you've kept for a very long time?

"And I responded publicly on the Facebook page. I think I gave a one-line answer."

After being contacted then interviewed by a producer she was flown up to Sydney for the show's two-hour filming.

"It was probably one of the best nights of my life," she said.

"You get treated like a queen - from the minute you walk in, people are feeding you sandwiches, making sure you're relaxing and have food and drinks, they're doing your hair, doing your makeup, and then they rush you into the studio.

"You don't have a minute to even be nervous, I ran to my chair and literally they were doing the clapper board countdown, so it was fabulous."

The best part, though, was "the privilege" of listening to "the extraordinary secrets other people have kept".

Ms Fox acknowledges her own secret - having cheated in two high school exams to improve her chances of getting into a law course - isn't in the same league as a hidden identity or secret child.

In fact, the shameful act didn't make much difference, she says, given she received a very high tertiary admission score, with the exams she cheated on contributing only a small part, and would have easily gained entry to the course.

The high expectations of her mother, who worked hard to put her through school, and of her favourite teachers were something Ms Fox had felt keenly, she said.

In cheating she had been wanting to show her mum it had all been worth it.

"She had to sacrifice a lot to put me through school and so it was just doing something extraordinary in that final semester."

Despite the water under the bridge, for Ms Fox the secret has been significant, both because of the high standards expected of her and because the cheating was indicative of a wider phenomenon.

The sexagenarian's decades-long career has included "high flying jobs all over the country", including as a judge's associate, a top-end lawyer, a political adviser in Canberra and a research fellow at Melbourne University.

Yet, throughout it she has suffered from feelings of guilt and shame.

"I came from a really working class suburb and a dysfunctional family with an alcoholic father and I didn't want anybody to know about it," she said.

"So there was a veneer - it wasn't really lies but I didn't tell people about the real me, I presented this image to the world, and that's created enormous problems for me.

"Imposter syndrome is the worst thing you can have."

Ms Fox suffers from fibromyalgia and other health issues she believes can be traced back to "carrying around a bundle of lies".

Coming clean on the program, which involved a defacto counselling session from the producer, has been "very therapeutic".

"I have clients who will be gob-smacked but I don't care anymore," the Wedderburn resident said.

"It has been so cathartic and ... since then there's been a great unravelling of all the lies I ever told."

"I thought I didn't have any secrets, that I was an open book but I was the opposite of an open book, I was walking around a very, very closed book."

She now realises that "performance anxiety" kept her moving between jobs.

"Everything had to be hidden. I couldn't say I was anxious, I couldn't say I was anything, I just had to be perfect.

"And that's very painful. Because nobody can be perfect."

The 'Secrets and Lies' episode of Insight screens on SBS tonight, Tuesday, June 18, 8.30-9.30pm or stream on SBS On Demand any time.