New line-up revealed

The line-up for the 15th series of Taskmaster has been revealed tonight.

Those being set challenges by ‘Little’ Alex Horne and facing the judgment of Greg Davies over ten episodes nexy uearwill be:

• Frankie Boyle
• Ivo Graham
• Jenny Eclair
• Kiell Smith-Bynoe
• Mae Martin

Your Taskmaster Series 15 cast! @jennyeclair @IvoGraham@frankieboyle @kfRedhot @TheMaeMartin pic.twitter.com/kbtWppqdgG

— Taskmaster (@taskmaster) December 1, 2022

Boyle has previously said that he didn’t think he had the right temperament for Taskmaster, even though it was his family’s go-to viewing during lockdown

Speaking on his BBC Two show New World Order two years ago he said: ‘There was a point when I was thinking of doing Taskmaster because we were all watching it together.  And then my daughter went, "You're not jolly!"

And at last year’s Latitude Festival, he returned to the topic, joking that as a relatively well-known comic he has a small amount of power – but ‘not quite enough to get on Taskmaster’.

Perhaps as big a surprise as Boyle doing the show is the official photo programme-makers Avalon released to go with the announcement, showing him without his distinctive bushy beard.

Previously, Eclair has also joked about not being able to get on the show even though she’s managed by Avalon’s agency arm, prompting Champion of Champions Richard Herring to tell her she ‘would be awesome on this show’.

Smith-Bynoe will be on the Taskmaster about a year after his Ghosts co-star Charlotte Richie – but will be hoping to do better than her last-placed performance. Richie also co-starred with new contestant Mae Martin in their Channel 4 comedy Feel Good.

The line-up news was announced as the 15^th series of the Channel 4 show drew to an end, and just days after the contestants for the one-off New Year Treat  were named

Taking part in that are YouTube star Amelia Dimoldenberg, Countdown queen Carol Vorderman, presenter Greg James, Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah, and pop star Rebecca Lucy Taylor, who performs as Self Esteem.

Taskmaster’s New Year Treat is currently scheduled to air at 9pm on Friday January 6.

Published: 1 Dec 2022