JULIA Gillard says she never tried to white-ant Kevin Rudd and was loyal to him right until the day she challenged for the leadership in June 2010.

The former prime minister, who was ousted by her political foe last month, said her behaviour was in contrast to Mr Rudd's camp in the lead up to the latest challenge.

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In a wideranging interview with The Monthly before her toppling as leader last month, Ms Gillard spoke on a number of issues including her relationship with Tim Mathieson and her famous misogyny speech.

On the behaviour of Mr Rudd and his camp she said: "His people leak and they background and all the rest of it. I never did any of that."

Ms Gillard, who was forced during her time as PM to respond to questions from Perth radio host Howard Sattler as to whether Mathieson was gay, defended her partner and said she enjoyed his company.

"I get the benefit of company that's about me as a person," she said.

Ms Gillard - who in her concession speech said her being the first female PM had something, but not everything to do with her leadership - said she believed she would have been treated differently had she been black.

She said some of the derogatory remarks made about her would have been the downfall of her opponents had she been indigenous.

"I think some of the stuff about me, because it is about gender, gets glossed over more easily. If I was the first indigenous prime minister, and (Tony) Abbott had gone out and stood next to a sign that said, 'Ditch the black bastard', I reckon that would be the end of a political career," Ms Gillard said.

The former PM, who will resign from politics at the election, was still staunchly of the belief that she was the right person to lead the party to election victory right up until her knifing.

"I wouldn't continue if I didn't have the sense that I've got the better capacity, the better ability to do it," she said just days before her knifing.

Ms Gillard said she was trying her best to get the government back on track right up until the day she decided to challenge.

She said it was a news article that spurred her into action after it revealed Mr Rudd had sent out his numbers men because he did not believe Ms Gillard was loyal.

"I did react very emotionally (to the article), because I felt like I was doing everything in my power to try and get the show back on the rails without anything as spectacular as a leadership change, and I did read that story as not only those efforts (not) being acknowledged, but indeed me being accused of undermining," Ms Gillard said.

"It wasn't that piece that was the motivator for what happened - the internal circumstances were the motivator - but I did feel that piece as a blow."

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Originally published as I was always loyal to Rudd - Gillard