The woman at the heart of Rolling Stone's retracted rape article has been ordered to appear in court.

Known only as 'Jackie', the then-18-year-old has remained anonymous since telling the magazine she was brutally gang-raped at UVa for a 9,000-word feature - then admitted she had made it up.

However, as the magazine now battles numerous defamation lawsuits over the retracted November 2014 article, a judge has ordered 'Jackie' to take to the stand for a one-day hearing in April.

'The court believes that a one-day, seven-hour deposition will be sufficient,' Judge Glen Conrad wrote in a court order on Friday, according to Newsweek.

She is scheduled to appear on April 5.

A judge has ordered 'Jackie' - the subject of Rolling Stone's retracted rape article - to take the stand for a one-day hearing in April as the magazine battles numerous defamation lawsuits over the November 2014 piece

The debunked Rolling Stone article 'A Rape on Campus' stemmed from the alleged victim's crush on a boy. 'Jackie' (left) faked a love interest and cried gang rape so Ryan Duffin (right) would come to her rescue

It comes after lawyers for UVa hit out at Jackie, claiming texts show she made up the story and her fictitious rapist in order to impress a love interest.

According to legal papers filed by the university's attorneys, Jackie claimed that a junior named Haven Monahan, who was later found to be made up, forced her to perform oral sex on five men at a university fraternity house in 2012.

Two years later, she became the main subject of a Rolling Stone expose about on-campus rape cases.

The magazine later retracted the story after the police determined Monahan was made up and the gang rape never happened.

'All available evidence demonstrates that 'Haven Monahan' was a fake suitor created by Jackie in a strange bid to earn the affections of a student named Ryan Duffin that Jackie was romantically interested in,' lawyers of the university's associate dean wrote in court papers filed last month.

It all began when Duffin sparked up a friendship with Jackie, according to the papers. But when Duffin rejected her advances for a more romantic relationship, she goaded him into texting a boy from her chemistry class named Haven Monahan.

On September 28, 2012, Jackie told Duffin that her date with Monahan had gone horribly wrong and he forced her to perform oral sex on five other men.

Duffin and some friends immediately rushed to see her, and later described her to be in a hysterical state, the Washington Post reported. He said she refused to report the crime to the police.

Two years later, Rolling Stone magazine wrote a 9,000 word story about the alleged attack in a campus fraternity house.

But an investigation by Charlottesville Police later determined that no one named Haven Monahan had attended the university.

The Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house where 'Jackie' claimed she was gang raped. The fraternity is now suing Rolling Stone for $25 million over the discredited article

The photos Jackie sent to Duffin, claiming they showed Monahan, were actually of a boy she went to high school with in Northern Virginia.

Eventually, the police said no gang rape had occurred that night and Rolling Stone retracted its story.

With hindsight, Duffin wondered how he did not see through Jackie's lies. He told the Washington Post he found Monahan's infatuation with Jackie odd.

He told of how he received a text from Monahan saying: 'Get this she said she likes some other 1st year guy who dosnt like her and turned her down but she wont date me cause she likes him [sic].'

The texts sent by Monahan alluded to Jackie's romantic feelings for Duffin, the lawyers of associate dean Nicole Eramo wrote in court documents.

Duffin said Monahan once texted him to tell him Jackie was dying from a terminal illness, which she confirmed to him.

Duffin became suspicious of Monahan after Jackie told him she had seen him in person and forgave him for the alleged attack.

The account of the gang rape in Rolling Stone are said to have differed greatly from the facts given to Duffin in 2012.

She told the magazine the attack involved nine men - not five - and she identified Haven Monahan by a different first name.

The next time they spoke was after the Rolling Stone story was published and he confronted her over discrepancies in her account.