"I contracted [it] when I was in Western Australia," she said. "I didn't know it was an internal virus. It was actually really scary. I don't remember much at all. I was in and out of consciousness."
Suong, right, cooking with her MKR partner Kim at Newport's Heart of Hall cafe earlier this month.
Photo: Joe Armao
The 38-year-old mother said she was put on a drip all night but is now healthy. However, she did hint that the intense filming schedule may have contributed to her immune system being low.
"Thank you so much everyone who looked after me," she said. "It's been overwhelming. Everyone was sick and not well."
Contestants on this season of My Kitchen Rules sometimes endured 12-hour days and slept as little as three hours a night in between the strict filming schedule, travel and practising their culinary skills.
However, some viewers were not happy that weeks of promos about an ambulance rushing to the MKR set ended in stomach cramps.
"They made out [that] it was some big emergency," one fan wrote on Facebook. "I thought someone had a heart attack or a bad cut (glad it wasn't). Just a ratings ploy."
"This is BS," wrote another. "Obviously she is OK as she is in the promo for the next show."
Twitter pundits were similarily unimpressed, with some speculating that the "whole thing was a stunt".
