'Nobody Can Know': How Aunty Donna Landed Their Netflix Show... And Couldn't Tell Anyone

If it seemed like Aunty Donna announcing their own Netflix series last month came out of nowhere... well, there's a reason for that. 

The Melbourne comedy trio's Ed Helms-produced sketch show, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House Of Fun, premiered on the streaming service earlier this month and has been a huge hit at home in Australia, as well as the UK and US (Neil Patrick Harris is apparently a big fan).

Appearing on a new episode of The Green Room with Neil Griffiths podcast, Aunty Donna members Broden Kelly and Mark Samual Bonanno revealed just how long the show has been in the works.

"The first time we were able to say we have a Netflix show was like, what, a month ago? We found out that we had got a Netflix show in September of 2018," Kelly told host Neil Griffiths.

"Pretty much it was, 'Do not talk about this at all until it's all signed.' Because Hollywood is very much like, things can look like they're going ahead and then completely fall apart at the last minute and it never happens. 

"There was a year of contracts and negotiations... it's just been two years where all of us have just been walking around going, 'We have a Netflix show. It's gonna go out to 190 countries. We worked really hard on it, we're really proud of it. And nobody can know.'"

Kelly and Bonanno admitted that keeping the giant news a secret was tough, particularly for their fans.

"That has been pretty full on and it's screwed me up a bit because we have a core awesome fanbase who love what we do and if we put a YouTube video up they'll engage with it... and for a year it just seemed like we went dark for no reason," Kelly explained.

"Everyone's like, 'Why don't you make content anymore?'... we're like, 'We just made 60 new sketches and they're high budget and they're funny, so just shut up!' And you can't say it!"

Listen to the full The Green Room episode with Aunty Donna on Spotify, Apple Podcasts (below) or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.

Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House Of Fun is streaming on Netflix now.