Taskmaster Contestants 2026: Here are the five comedy stars appearing in season 21 - including Scotland's Armando Iannucci
The cast features two Oscar nominees.
Presented by Greg Davies and Alex Horne (who also created the programme, originally as a show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), the first series of Taskmaster was broadcast in 2014 on comedy channel Dave, before expanding its audience after being poached by Channel 4 in 2020.
While there have only been 20 series proper, there have also been special one-off Champion of Champion and New Year Treat programmes, comprising one or two episodes, as well as a Junior Taskmaster hosted by former contenstants Rose Matafeo and Mike Wozniak.
The show sees (mainly) comedians take part in a range of challenges which are then marked by Davies, usually (but not always) winning a maximum of five points per task.
Last season saw Maisie Adam triumph after an unprecidented three-way tie-break with Ania Magliano and Phil Ellis.
December saw Ghosts star Matthew Baynton win the latest Champion of Champions challenge, while Eastenders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis triumphed in the two-part traditional New Year’s Treat earlier this week.
Shortly after that programme bosses confirmed who will be appearing in the next series. Here’s what we know.
Who is appearing on Taskmaster Season 21?
Here’s who will be taking on the tasks in the next season of the hit show:
Amy Gledhill
Amy Gledhill won the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2024 for her show Make Me Look Fit on the Poster, having previously been nominated as one half of the sketch duo The Delightful Sausage.
She plays DC Ruby Todd in Netflix series Run Away, hosts dating podcast Single Ladies In Your Area with fellow comedian Harriet Kemsley and will be appearing in the next series ofLOL: Last One Laughing UK , hosted by Jimmy Carr.
Armando Iannucci
Glaswegian satirist Armando Iannucci started his comedy career on BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, before making a breakthrough as one of the team behind The Day Today - spawning the character Alan Patridge who would go on to be portrayed by Steve Coogan in numerous television and radio shows, as well as a feature film.
He went on to create the Armistice review shows and The Armando Iannucci Show for Channel 4, before returning to the BBC to create Time Trumpet and political comedy The Thick of It, which was turned into feature film In The Loop which earned him an Academy Award nomination for writing.
He then went to America to create HBO political satire Veep, winning two Emmy Awards, and has continued to make critically-acclaimed films with The Death of Stalin and The Personal History of David Copperfield.
Joanna Page
Welsh actress, presenter and comedian Joanna Page is best known for playing Stacey Shipman in the BAFTA-winning television series Gavin & Stacey, which won a huge audience of 19.11 million people for its final Christmas episode in 2024.
She’s also starred in the 1999 adaptation of David Copperfield, festive favourite Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger, and much-loved Richard Curtis romcom Love Actually.
As a presenter she has helmed BBC consumer series Shop Well for Less with Melanie Sykes and is a regular panellist on Loose Women.
Joel Dommett
Actor, presenter and standup comedian Joel Dommett is probably best known as the host of celeb talent shows The Masked Dancer and The Masked Singer, and has also appeared on I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! as both contestant and presenter.
Other reality television outings include Live in Chelsea, Impractical Jokers UK and Survivor, while he has acted in the likes of Casualty and Skins and regularly appears on a host of panel shows.
Kumail Nanjiani
Familiar to millions thanks to his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series Silicon Valley, Kumail Nanjiani is a comedian, actor and screenwriter who has been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.
He has been shortlisted for two acting Emmy Awards for roles inThe Twilight Zone and Welcome to Chippendales, while he’s also Oscar nominated for co-writing comedy film The Big Sick.
As if that’s not enough, he’s also part of both the Star Wars universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) thanks to roles in, respectively, Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Eternals.
How many episodes of Taskmaster will be in Season 20?
While early series had between five and eight episodes but since season six there have been 10 episodes per series - so expect 10 episodes again.
When will the new series of Taskmaster be broadcast?
New series of Taskmaster have been released twice a year since arriving on Channel 4. While no official announcement has been made, the first series of the year tends to drop in early May, so there’s a wee wait still.
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