If you ever wondered what had happened to Rhonda after her Balinese love affair with Ketut, we might soon get the answer. Fresh out of love, Rhonda could soon be cooking up a deadly beef wellington.
That’s right! Mandy McElhinney, who made the Rhonda character famous in those iconic AAMI Insurance ads, is being eyed off to play Erin Patterson, the convicted mushroom killer, in a Netflix project that will dramatise the whole affair.
The news comes just days after Patterson was found guilty of murdering her mother and father-in-law, Gail and Don Patterson, along with Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson and attempting to kill Heather’s husband Ian. The murder weapon? Four individual servings of beef wellington laced with death cap mushrooms.
The story of the “Mushroom Killer” has dominated public discourse for the past two years, since that fateful day in 2023. The country, and in fact the world, became obsessed with the story of a woman who seemingly went to extreme lengths to murder her entire family with no apparent motive or record of past violence.
In typical Netflix fashion, the streaming giant is reportedly jumping on the hype in the shape of a telemovie with McElhinney in talks to take out the leading role.
An insider, who spoke to Are Media’s Woman’s Day said that the actress would be a “perfect fit for the role of Erin Patterson”.
“She’s very talented and experienced with dramatic roles,” the insider said. “Who could ever forget her breakout role as Rhonda the safe driver?”
Alongside the iconic role, McElhinney has also featured in a number of Aussie TV series, including Love Child, Paper Giants and House of Hancock.
Netflix isn’t the only network to be jumping on the hype. Stan is reportedly in the post-production stage of a three-part drama documentary series titled Death Cap and ABC News is producing a drama series called Toxic.
Allen & Unwin is also set to publish The Mushroom Murders, a book authored by Greg Haddrick, in November 2025.
Just four months after she was charged with the murders, the ABC made headlines with the launch of Mushroom Case Daily, a podcast that closely followed the case ad the trial that followed. Kristian Silva and producer Stephen Stockwell were on the ground every day, bringing audiences constant updates as the matter unfolded in the courts.
The success of the podcasts proves just how topical the affair was. Australians turned to the daily podcast in droves, pushing it up a staggering 136 places to land at #5 overall in the May Australian Podcast Ranker.
With 625,029 monthly listeners and more than 3.3 million downloads, the show became the ABC’s most successful podcast in a decade.
B&T contacted Netflix for comment on the matter but did not receive a response prior to publication.
