Taskmaster series 18 contestants announced
Andy Zaltzman, Babatunde Aléshé, Emma Sidi, Jack Dee and Rosie Jones
The line-up for the 18th series of Taskmaster has been revealed.
After season 17 drew to a close on Channel 4 tonight, the next contestants were revealed to be Andy Zaltzman, Babatunde Aléshé, Emma Sidi, Jack Dee and Rosie Jones.
Avast! Five new shipmates are coming aboard HMS Taskmaster.
— Taskmaster (@taskmaster) May 30, 2024
Join Andy Zaltzman, Babatunde Aléshé, Emma Sidi, Jack Dee & Rosie Jones in Series 18... coming soon! pic.twitter.com/YJp2gTTtQs
Here’s a little more about them.
Andy Zaltzman
The 49-year-old comic who hosts Radio 4's The News Quiz and is the statistician for BBC Radio's Test Match Special cricket commentaries.
He broke into comedy in 1999, when he was a finalist in the So You Think You're Funny new act competition along with Josie Long, Russell Howard, and David O’Doherty.
He worked a lot with John Oliver until he moved to the US on projects such as the long-running podcast The Bugle, which Zaltzman still hosts.
Babatunde Aléshé
The 36-year-old comedian is known for appearing on Celebrity Gogglebox, and the 2002 series of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, where he came seventh.
He hosted the MOBO awards this year and has acting credits including EastEnders (playing Sam over four episodes in 2011) and Law & Order UK.
Emma Sidi
The character comedian, 33, got into comedy though the Footlights while she was a student at Cambridge, and made an acclaimed debut at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2015.
Her TV credits include Zoe in W1A, vlogger Millipede in Pls Like, Esme in Stath Lets Flats, and as Emily Maitlis is Channel 4’s Prince Andrew: The Musical.
She returns to Edinburgh this year with a new show called Emma Sidi Is Sue Gra, although it’s unclear whether that’s a reference to the former top civil servant who’s now Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.
Jack Dee
The veteran stand-up started comedy in 1986, while working on tables as a day job. He had little initial success – until on the verge of quitting he stopped caring about what the audience thought and stumbled unto his grumpy persona.
He hosts Radio 4 panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, had his own sitcoms, Lead Balloon and Bad Move, and hosted the first two series of: Live At the Apollo. He also won the first ever Celebrity Big Brother in 2001.
Other headlining TV shows include The Jack Dee Show, Jack Dee's Saturday Night and Jack Dee's Happy Hour.
Dee, 62, is also a director of Open Mike Productions, which he co-founded with his agent Addison Cresswell.
He has long been on Taskmaster creator Alex Horne's hitlist for the show. Last year he responded to an interview question about his dream contestant by saying: 'Jack Dee. I say this every time anyone asks me this question. I think it's the only way to persuade them to do it. So Jack Dee, if you're listening, please do the show'
Rosie Jones
Formerly working behind the scenes in TV, Jones burst on to the comedy scene in 2016 when reached the final of the Funny Women Awards.
The 33-year old describes herself as a ‘triple threat - gay, disabled and a prick’ and has become a panel-show favourite on shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Last Leg and Hypothetical – and earlier this year landed her first hosting job on Comedy Central’s Out Of Order.
Last year, she presented the Channel 4 documentary Rosie Jones: Am I a R*tard? about online hate directed against disabled people – although the use of the slur in the title caused a backlash. And earlier this month she finally quit Twitter/X after finding the torrent of abuse too much.
News of the new line-up comes in the week it was announced that the the Taskmaster live experience will launching in London in September.
It has also recently been revealed that the Taskmaster VR Game will be released on June 13.
Greg Davies will return as the Taskmaster and series creator Alex Horne as his assistant.
Executive producers: Alex Horne, Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett, James Taylor, Jon Thoday and Andy Devonshire
Series director: Andy Devonshire
Series producer: Andy Cartwright
Commissioned for Channel 4 by: Head of live events, Tom Beck and head of entertainment, Steve Handley.
Published: 30 May 2024
