Appearing at the Birdcage at the Derby Day race in Melbourne on Saturday in her role as Myer ambassador, the former Miss Universe said Trump had respected her after she won the beauty pageant, which he owned at the time.

"Sure, I've seen what's been going on in the news, but really what is there for me to say other than that he respected me during that time in my life and I have a lot of respect for him because of that... that's really all I have to say about it," she said.

Hawkins made the comment after the video of the Republican presidential nominee was widely reported on in Australia and the United States. 

It shows Trump making lewd comments about the supermodel, and then leaning in for what looks to be a non-consensual kiss, in front of thousands of guests at a corporate event in Sydney five years ago.

The video clip begins with Trump telling the audience he believes in exacting revenge.

"I believe, get even with people, if they screw you, screw them back, 10 times harder," he said. "And I'll give you an example, Jennifer Hawkins."

Trump went on to tell guests he was furious with the 2004 Miss Universe because she had refused to introduce him at the National Achievers Congress at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on September 21, 2011.

"I thought she dissed me," he said.

He called out for Hawkins to join him on stage, where she defended herself by explaining she was only informed of the event that same morning.

"There was a miscommunication, of course I wanted to come here," she said. "I found out this morning. It was a miscommunication with my management, so I'm sorry," she says on stage.

"I felt really bad." 

Trump then tells guests he was going to lie about her intellect. 

"I was actually going to get up and tell you that Jennifer is a beautiful girl on the outside, but she's not very bright," he said. "But that wouldn't have been true, but I would have said it anyway."

She then became the subject of sexual innuendo.

"She came tonight, she came, came, she came, she came," Trump told a laughing audience. "See, so they have the same filthy minds in Australia."

"As you," Hawkins replies.

Hawkins apologises again, before Trump leans in in an apparent attempt to kiss her on the lips.

She turns her face and the kiss lands on her cheek, before she hastily asks whether she can return to her seat.  

Reports on the video by The Huffington Post in the United States have added to Trump's battle to convince women to vote for him.

Hawkins said her only response to the story was to reflect on how Trump had treated her during the course of their association.

"I've said it before, he has treated me with respect, and so has his family. Beyond that, what else am I going to comment on," she said.

She said she didn't want to get involved in making a political comment.

"That's not saying I agree with everything that's been happening ... but I am not going to sit here and throw negative comments out there, it's just not who I am. I don't like drama in my life so I try to stay away from that," she said.

Hawkins on Saturday also denied reports that she had been cancelling interviews in recent weeks to avoid commenting on Trump's increasingly controversial campaign amid allegations of sexual impropriety from the presidential candidate.

"It's not that I've been avoiding the subject. It's just that I've been busy selling my house and focusing on my work," she said.

First appeared in SMH