Alex Horne reveals new Taskmaster wish list

Big name comics he's still holding out for

comedy Alex Horne has revealed a new wish list of comedians he’d like to be on Taskmaster.

Speaking on Radio X this morning, the show’s creator said there are ‘plenty of people’ he still wants to join him and Greg Davies on the show.

And that includes Stephen Merchant, Richard Ayoade, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders – all of whom he’s come close to signing.

He said: ‘Stephen Merchant, we’ve talked for a long time. I’d really like Stephen Merchant to do it. Partly, the height with Greg would be nice, but he's just a very, very funny man.

‘I just want people who I don't know what they're going to do when they read the task. Richard Ayoade, we’ve come close. French and Saunders, we’ve come close. And so, there's plenty of people out there who I still want to do it.’

Merchant – who stands 6ft 7in to Davies’s 6ft 8in – has previously said he was keen to take part in Taskmaster, saying he ‘loved’ the show and would ‘happily’ do it.

Speaking to the Always Be Comedy podcast earlier this year, he said: ‘Of all those sorts of shows, that's the one that looks both fun and incredibly frustrating.

‘I’d to think of myself as someone who can kind of think laterally, but I definitely can’t. If you stick me in an escape room... I mean, I was in an escape room once and, if it wasn't for my friend, I'd still be in there. I could not figure any of it out… So I don't know how I'd cope on Taskmaster, but I think I'd hopefully I'd be quite entertaining through my idiocy.’

Last month Horne revealed on the same podcast that Bill Bailey was top of his wish list, and that producers had come close to signing him.

‘There's an open invitation to Bill,’ he said. 'I watched him when I was a student at Cambridge University in the Corn Exchange. I was 20, so that's 26 years ago. And to me, then, he was at the height of his powers and he's sort of stayed at that level or gone up ever since.

‘He's just been a constant in my life. I still get that real thrill of having a hero of mine on the show. So yes, we're hoping. He's also local to the house. So that's hopefully in our favour. I definitely haven't given up hope.

‘If he's listening: Bill, we would love you to do the show. It's painless and you can flex any muscle you want, but also obviously him on Strictly was really inspiring.’

Today Horne said they only wanted ‘nice people’ on the show hinted to Moyles that there was one former contestant that might not have fitted that bill.

He was asked: ‘Are there people who have been on Taskmaster that, if it were up to you, will never, ever, ever be invited back again?’

To which Horne replied: ‘ Not people. Maybe person

‘You know what, we have a real rule on the show is, well, just all nice people. Because it's quite a long process, and it's a team show, so we can have someone whose ego is out of control. So in general, we've got that right. In general.’