Although no official details of the incident were given,  Halifax Live has learned that  Ms. Anderson, while dining at Da Maurizio with former F1 race car driver Eddy Irvine, experienced what one fellow patron labelled as a “sudden leakage”.

According to witnesses who did not want to be identified,  Ms. Anderson started to shriek while clutching her right breast and yelling that “something had popped.”

One witness described the incident as follows: “at fist I thought that she was having a heart attack. But then something started to ooze right into her soup. I’m not sure what it was, but it was pretty gross.”

He added that “the whole thing was kind of absurd . There was a big commotion and the two of them shuffled to the exit, with [Mr. Irvine] still holding the glass while [Ms. Anderson] kept yelling at him to just forget about it” .

Management at the restaurant would not comment on the incident, except to state that “the restaurant is equipped for most if not all forms of emergencies.”

In 1999, Ms Anderson had a widely publicised breast reduction surgery in which her silicon implants were removed . Although the actress claimed that she had once again returned to her “natural shape”, many observers in the Hollywood community had expressed doubts about the veracity of that statement, claiming instead, that Ms. Anderson had simply switched to a smaller sized implant.

None of the plastic surgeons contacted by Halifax Live wanted to comment on the situation,  although one stated off the record that local atmospheric conditions have caused saline implant ruptures in the past.

So far, organisers of the Juno Awards  have kept silent on the issue . With Ms. Anderson’s last minute withdrawal, a scramble to find a replacement is already under way. Ironically, Ms. Rita MacNeil – often referred to as the ‘Pamela Anderson of Cape Breton’ - is seen as her likely successor.