Former porn star Jenna Jameson has revealed the drama that led to boyfriend Tito Ortiz's arrest last week started as she tried to prevent the mixed martial arts star from leaving her.

In an emotional interview filmed for Us Weekly magazine's website, the retired adult actress reveals the couple went to bed following an argument "about something incredibly personal" and when she woke up, she realised that Ortiz was planning to leave her.

She recalls, "He came over near the bed and he whispered to me... 'I hope it feels good to be high... I found your pills.'

"I didn't even really know what to say, it caught me by surprise and then I noticed he was packing his things and then I started to panic. I got up out of bed and I said, 'I'm not on drugs, baby, I promise you. I swear to you on everything that I have,' and he didn't believe me."

Sobbing Jameson adds, "I said, 'Let's go to the store, I'll get a drug test and we'll do it... Please don't leave me.'

"He was like, 'It's done, it's over,' and, as he said that, he moved past me and grabbed my arm and pushed me aside, and, by doing that, I fell against the edge of the bathtub. It did a bit of damage - I just bruised pretty bad from it (sic).

"My father called 911... and then the cops took him and I didn't want the cops to take him and I was mad at them. They had seen this cut on my elbow that was bleeding bad and they decided to take him to jail."

Ortiz, who has since accused Jameson of harbouring a secret prescription drug addiction, was arrested on domestic violence charges at the couple's California home and briefly jailed. He's currently recovering from the drama in Costa Rica.

Jameson has withdrawn allegations against her boyfriend which led to his arrest, but admits she's still shocked by Ortiz's aggressive behaviour.

She adds, "I always told myself there's no way this person would hurt me (but) it can happen to anybody. The only time I had ever seen him do something like this was when someone had spiked his drink when we were at a club... He became extremely violent... But I know for a fact that was due to him being so out of it... He was gone, he didn't even know who I was.

"But he is not a wife beater... It's not in him. He's so loving and so, like, protective. That's why when it (pushed her aside) happened, I was so shocked. It's just so scary that it's had to come to this violent conclusion... I think he's still on a lot of medication."

And now she's putting the couple's twin 13-month-old sons first before she considers reconciling with Ortiz: "I have to make sure that my children are going to be protected. That's all that I care about. If it means that I lose Tito, then that's what happens."