The woman, who was also an actor on the hit 1980s TV series, was the first person to go public with allegations of indecent and sexual assault on the set of the show.

Her agent, Steven Moriarty, told the Downing Centre District Court on Monday that the story "snowballed" like no one expected, leading to other alleged victims coming forward and Hughes being arrested in 2012.

He is on trial on 11 charges including sexual assault and indecent assault on girls aged six to 15 during the 1980s. He has pleaded not guilty.

The magazine interview in 2010 was initially going to be a "fluffy" piece about her life since starring on Hey Dad! but she revealed in it that she had been molested on the set by an unnamed member of the cast and crew, Mr Moriarty told the court.

Mr Moriarty said that it "wasn't a money thing" for the woman and she wanted to highlight child protection issues in the industry.

However, emails between the woman and Mr Moriarty revealed that she said the proposed $10,000 fee was "just not worth it" for the controversy that would follow.

Instead, she demanded $20,000 and said she didn't want to be portrayed as a "hopeless victim" – as opposed to a "survivor" – because it was "not the look I'm going for while trying to establish myself as an executive producer" in America.

Hughes' lawyer accused Mr Moriarty, who was previously aware of rumours about Hughes' behaviour on set, of trying to sensationalise the story to make it more sellable.

Mr Moriarty described his client in emails as "good talent" who would make for a "good story".

He told the court he was always "50/50" about publishing her allegations and they decided to keep it "generic" but it then snowballed and led to what he described as a media frenzy.

"I was concerned that the story could snowball and get out of hand because I was aware these rumours were widespread throughout our industry," he said.

He used this as a reason to negotiate higher fees, he said.

The woman then did two interviews with A Current Affair and other magazine stories, netting her more than $89,000 and her agent about $10,900, the court heard.

Hughes is accused of exposing himself to the woman backstage on the show on one occasion and groping her in his dressing room on another.

Last week, the woman admitted to lying while giving evidence and previously running a "media campaign" against Hughes.

She told the trial she had not gone on to a social networking site under a fake name during the police investigation and made allegations against Hughes but later returned to the witness box in tears and admitted this part of her evidence was a lie.

Hughes' lawyer, Greg Walsh accused her of "running a media campaign" against Hughes.

"At this point, yes, I really did want him arrested for what he did to me," she said.

The trial continues.