Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery: Aug 12

It’s the last episode of Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery, which has enjoyed its best season with audiences.

The final guest is Mandy McElhinney, seen here in Leeman, Western Australia jokingly calling herself “trailer trash.”

This is described as her first ‘extended interview.’

After an unforgettable portrayal as Kerry Packer’s downtrodden secretary, Rose, in Howzat, Mandy continued to garner glowing reviews for her performances in Magazine Wars, Love Child and House of Hancock where she played Gina Rinehart.

Mandy’s childhood was anything but conventional, and in a Home Delivery first, we travel to Western Australia, to the tiny fishing village of Leeman, where her Irish father and Aussie mother raised their young daughters in the town’s caravan park.

Mandy tells Julia about the delights of growing up barefoot and free in the salty air of a cray-fishing community. However, it wasn’t always idyllic, as her father struggled to balance his job in a local mine with a restless streak that saw him challenged by the demands of family life.

At Leeman Primary School they’re joined by Mandy’s sister and fellow actress, Hayley, who shares her memories of seeing Mandy perform for the first time.

Then it’s a drive north to Geraldton, to Stella Maris boarding school, where Mandy blossomed under the tutelage of an energetic young drama teacher who had her students performing the classics and Shakespeare.

Mandy talks about the difficult years after her parents separated and how her mother took on three different jobs to support them. She says she once felt embarrassed about growing up in a caravan park, but now looks upon it with a sense of gratitude and pride.

9pm Wednesday ABC.