This contains spoilers if you're waiting for the official announcement tonight

The names of the contestants in the next series of Taskmaster have been leaked – including the name of the second US-based star to take part.

News of the next five comedians taking on Alex Horne’s eccentric challenges to impress Greg Davies will officially be announced after the second part of the New Year Treat airs on Channel 4 at 9pm tonight.

Journalists were sworn to secrecy about the names – but the Daily Star has broken the embargo and revealed the line-up in today's newspaper.

So if you want to wait for the official announcement, navigate away now.

Meanwhile, Horne and Davies will be staging a series live shows in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC and New York this month, as part of the producers’ bid to exploit its American popularity. 

Jason Mantzoukas’s participation in the 19th series last year  was seen as part of the drive to build the US audience further – and both Horne and Davies have said they’d like to see another American remake, after a 2018 version with Reggie Watts as the Taskmaster lasted only one series.

The inclusion of an Oscar-nominated star in the series 21 line-up is likely to build on that success – and the 176 million views the Taskmaster YouTube channel racked up from American viewers last year.

Broadcast dates for the next series have not yet been announced but the contestants taking part are: 

Amy Gledhill 

Winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2024 for her show Make Me Look Fit On The Poster, Amy Gledhill has appeared on various comedy panel shows including 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Roast Battle. Before pursuing stand-up full-time, she trained as an actress and performed in musical theatre. She played Leslie in the BBC Two comedy series Alma's Not Norma, created by Sophie Willan, a contestant in series 17 of Taskmaster. Gledhill performs solo and as half of The Delightful Sausage with Chris Cantrill. She will also be taking part in series two of Amazon’s Last One Laughing 

Armando Iannucci 

Best known as creator of the political satire series The Thick of It and its American adaptation Veep,  the 61-year-old’s film work includes In The Loop and The Death of Stalin. He began his career in radio comedy before moving to television, working on shows including The Day Today with Chris Morris. He was appointed CBE in 2017 and currently hosts the Radio 4 show and podcast Strong Message Here. He has spoken about how ‘Taskmaster always makes me laugh’ in interviews.

Joanna Page 

The 47-year-old Welsh actress is  best known for playing Stacey Shipman in Gavin & Stacey, but she has also appeared in films including Love Actually and television dramas such as Doctor Who. Page trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began her career in Welsh-language television

Joel Dommett 

The comedian and presenter, 39, has hosted The Masked Singer on ITV since 2020 and also presents I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Extra Camp – having got his big break when he finished second in the reality show in 2016, which significantly raised his profile. He has long spoken of his desire to take part in Taskmaster, and told Digital Spy in 2019: 'I really want to do it. I genuinely love the show. Alex Horne is one of my favourite people in the world, as is Greg Davies. I think that show is something that has completely changed the landscape of television in a weirdly silent way. Taskmaster is… so active and fun and fresh.’

Kumail Nanjiani 

The Pakistani-American comedian, actor, and writer was born in 1978 in Karachi. He co-wrote and starred in The Big Sick in 2017, which earned an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay. He played Dinesh Chugtai in the HBO series "Silicon Valley" from 2014 to 2019 and appeared in Eternals as Kingo in 2021. He began his career in stand-up comedy in Chicago and has hosted several podcasts.

A spokesperson said: ‘Each of these competitors will step forward with a healthy mix of respect, fear and a keen desire to lay claim to Greg’s golden head.’

Published: 3 Jan 2026