The Chase Australia star forced to apologise over ill-timed food poisoning gag

A star of The Chase Australia has had to issue an explanation for a badly timed joke about food poisoning, which aired in the wake of a tragic case that saw three people die of suspected mushroom poisoning.

Mara Lejins is one of the Chasers on the Australian version of the hit quiz show, where she is known as The Smiling Assassin.

But unfortunately, a recent episode included Lejins making a joke about severe food poisoning that happened to be shown on TV just a couple of weeks after the shocking case.

Erin Patterson hosted a lunch for her former in-laws at her home in the Australian state of Victoria on 29 July, but the beef wellington that she made appears to have poisoned her guests, killing her ex-partner's parents and his aunt, and leaving his uncle in hospital.

Patterson, whose ex was also invited to the lunch but couldn't make it, does not face any charges and has said she is "devastated", having had no idea the mushrooms could be poisonous.

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However, in The Chase episode when a contestant talked about being a keen cook, Lejins joked: "I'm also an amazing chef and when my boyfriend gets out of hospital he'll definitely back me up. I didn't do it."

Lejins was quick to try to smooth over the ill-timed comment, posting about it on her Instagram stories.

She shared a screenshot of a story about her poisoning joke and wrote: "I promise this episode was filmed before the Death Cap debacle."

Meanwhile, Patterson has made a statement about the deaths of her three in-laws, saying: "I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones.

"I really want to repeat that I had absolutely no reason to hurt these people whom I loved.

"I am now wanting to clear up the record because I have become extremely stressed and overwhelmed by the deaths of my loved ones. I am hoping this statement might help in some way. I believe if people understood the background more, they would not be so quick to rush to judgment."

She has told authorities that the mushrooms used in the wellington were a combination of button and dried mushrooms, bought from local supermarkets.

In 2012, a tragic mushroom poisoning case in the UK lead to Christina Hale's death from multiple organ failure.

The 57-year-old had picked mushrooms from her garden and added them to a tin of soup without realising that they were deadly death cap mushrooms.