British series:
Series: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten | Eleven | Twelve | Thirteen | Fourteen | Fifteen | Sixteen
Specials: New Year Treat | New Year Treat II | New Year Treat III | New Year Treat IV
New Zealand series:
Seasons: One | Two | Three | Four
Australian Series:
Seasons: One
"When you look at Ray, Mel, Karen, Dai and I. We're not a group of friends you would see at an arcade or just hanging out. Its a very random group. Will our friendship last?
— Bubbah
Bubbah (Sieni Leo'o Olo)
"Don't be a calamari, you scallop!"
Paul: My dad actually went to the world champions for table tennis.
Ray: And my dad went to the world champions for peanut butter and jam sandwich making.
Bubbah: And my dad left
A Samoan-New Zealand comedian and actress who made her on screen debut in the Comedy Central Polynesian sketch show Sis and is known for appearing in Duckrockers.Ray: And my dad went to the world champions for peanut butter and jam sandwich making.
Bubbah: And my dad left
- Cassandra Truth: In the team task in the series finale, she is the only one from her team that points out that accusing Paul would be too obvious, only for Dai and Karen override her. She ends up completely vindicated.
- Crosses the Line Twice. In-Universe (or rather, In Studio) when part of her reasoning for one prize task is that her dad left her family when she was a child. This elicits sympathetic dismay from the audience and she quickly insists that she can joke about it because "I've healed."
- Failed a Spot Check: When tasked with finding a bowl of glitter, she wanders into the kitchen and somehow misses the heaping bowl sitting on the counter despite rummaging around the room and bending down so her face is less than a metre away.
- Genre Blind: Confesses that she knew nothing of Taskmaster before participating and was unfamiliar with most other members of the castnote .
- Only Known by Their Nickname: She's only ever referred to as "Bubbah" and her credit is listed as "Bubbah (Sieni Leo'o Olo)".
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: At time of filming, she was so new to the New Zealand comedy scene that she didn't know anything about her fellow panelists (except Dai, who's Season 4's most well-established name) or Paul or Jeremy. She expresses shock and surprise at learning about the others' careers and lives throughout taped tasks and in the studio.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: She says she started looking out for trickery in the tasks after the find-the-glitter task. While she's 100% correct to have been suspicious of tricks and twists, Paul points out that there was no trick to the glitter task.
- Screw Yourself: She gets married to herself in the wedding task. Taken up to the next level in the next episode when she cheats on herself with herself and gives birth to a smaller version of herself.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: In the "best gift for your twelve-year-old self" prize task, she brings in a decadent school lunch to make up for never having the money for lunch back then. She says that it was her second choice because the production wouldn't let her bring in a gun (to solve the problem of not having enough money for lunch).
Dai Henwood
"Boom time!"
A New Zealand comedian. He is best known for his hosting of several television shows found on Three, including Family Feud and Dancing with the Stars but also performs stand-up comedy.- Epic Fail: He gives up on the tape instruction task on the filming day. He's given the chance to complete it in the studio, giving him a final time exceeding 91 daysnote , far behind Ray, who'd completed the task in around 34 minutes.
- Eye Scream: When tasked with creating a short horror film with an object he pre-selected, he created a piece about a pair of binoculars that destroyed its users' eyes.
- Flawless Victory: He wins the table tennis task in two seconds because Paul flubs the return and hits the ball past the end of the table. Dai picks the ball up and tries to continue playing and is bemused when Paul makes no move to pick up the paddle and he walks off confused. In the studio he explains that he usually plays table tennis in a "highly inebriated state," so doing that well sober threw him for a loop.
- Ice-Cream Koan: His attempts to explain more unusual tactics often wind up as nonsensical faux-wisdom presented in a dreamy tone—such as the quote that titled the fourth episode, "everyone is just a teal dress."
- Incredibly Lame Fun: After exhausting his ability to "be cool" in front of Pearl the teenager by riding a skateboard and doing a cartwheel, Dai resorts to describing the progress he's made in Clash of Clans.
- Mellow Fellow: Dai maintains an almost serene calm through everything. When tasked with ruining an office party, he seems deeply uncomfortable with the idea of even pretending to be angry. He settles eventually for overturning the table... and then tidies back up after the whistle signals the end of the task.
- Nice Guy: He always greets Paul with a friendly handshake when beginning a task and never has anything unkind to say about his fellow contestants.
- The Smart Guy: When faced with a team task timed by a toaster, he immediately realizes how closely it will need to be watched. He uses his smartwatch to make sure a piece of toast is always down, keeps track of which teammate needs to activate the toaster, and eventually starts ripping pieces of bread in half to maximise their time. This nets his team the full five points while the other team gets flustered and run out of time on their first piece of toast.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Dai dresses up in women's clothes three times during the season. He wears a teal dress during the task to leave New Zealand, he wears a skirt while impersonating Mel and in the season finale he wears Mels netball outfit in the studio filming.
Karen O'Leary
♫ "I do love you. I do love you. Marrying today is what I will do" ♫
A New Zealand schoolteacher, comedian, podcaster and actress. She played Officer O'Leary in What We Do in the Shadows and Wellington Paranormal. Although they share the same last name, she is not related to Ray O'Leary.- Actor Allusion:
- In Season 4 episode "Everyone Is Just a Teal Dress", Paul surprises the contestants in the introduction to the second half of a task by dressing as a Bedsheet Ghost. Karen does not get startled at all and tells Paul off since she is an expert in these types of scenarios, a reference to her role as Officer O'Leary in What We Do in the Shadows and its spinoff Wellington Paranormal.
- She alludes to her "police experience" again in the finale during the team task to find a cookie thief. Unfortunately, with just as much aptitude, because she shouts "j'accuse" at Paul after 22 seconds and completely misses the complex series of clues to the actual thief.
- Armor-Piercing Response: When Jeremy asked why she and Paul were only eating the white marshmallows during the betting task while leaving the pink ones in the jar, Karen attempts to make a feminist point only for Jeremy to turn it around to make her look racist.Jeremy: What was all of the pink ones? Why does no one like the pink ones?
Karen: I didn't want to have gender stereotyped pink marshmallows because I identify as a female.
Jeremy: You'd rather go with the racially based one?
Karen: Yeah... - Biting-the-Hand Humor:
- After presenting a cardboard cutout of Jeremy for a prize task she mentions that she preferred him back during his Newsboy days.
- When Jeremy insults her effort on the magic task, she turns the insult back around on his scoring and declares that it's worth the 0 points she'll get.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Notes that she's homosexual but that she's willing to turn straight for two men: John Campbell and Jeremy Wells.
- Loophole Abuse: When tasked with rolling an egg into her locker downstairs while a) touching it as little as possible and b) not breaking it, Karen gets Paul to help her bring the locker block upstairs, flicks the egg into it, and convincingly argues that it was still intact when it actually crossed the threshold.
- Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: Karen has a history in Early Childhood Education, and it occasionally finds way into the show. Most notably in the magic task where she treats Paul like a four year old.
Melanie Bracewell
"Climate change is happening"
Paul: If you had to pick a contestant to impersonate, who would you pick.
Mel (while impersonating Dai): I would pick Melanie and I would get on stilts. She's massive. She's a giant freak.
A comedian, actress and scriptwriter who currently cohosts the Australian Comedy Show The Cheap Sheets. In 2020, she went viral on Tiktok for her impersonations of then New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden.Mel (while impersonating Dai): I would pick Melanie and I would get on stilts. She's massive. She's a giant freak.
- Black Comedy: Her task completions have included such things as accidentally killing Paul, gorily cutting off her own hand, and dressing up as a bird that flaps out a candle and then dies from climate change.
- Derailed for Details: She queries Pearl the teenager about her hobbies, one of which is taking the bus to the mall with her friends. Mel latches onto the "bus" part, digs into it for more detail, and sets up a mock-bus in the caravan to replicate a "cool" bus ride. Paul reports that Pearl thought it was weird for Mel to focus on the transportation part rather than the destination.
- The Gadfly: When presenting a telescope for a prize task, she explains how it can be used in a creepy manner and demonstrates by showing a photo she took of Ray through his window at night without his knowledge. Ray leaps out of his seat in shock at the sight.
- Loophole Abuse: In a task to launch all different items with the same letter from a slingshot, Mel chooses items beginning with 'B' and then "launches" herself—a Bracewell—as the final shot.
- Ludicrous Gibs: After marrying her hand, she's tasked with divorcing it, so she takes a hand saw to her wrist, resulting in copious amounts of red glitter, confetti, and paint being thrown and squirted around.
- Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration: For one task, she marries her own hand, saying that she's become disappointed with men as she's gotten older."My hand can do a better job."
- One Head Taller: Mel is 6'1" and towers above Karen and Dainote . In "More Licky Licky", she realizes she's standing next to Karen and Dai, who are significantly shorter than her, and poses with them as if she were a mother out with her children.
- Sdrawkcab Alias: She uses the name Lem when calling into Jeremy's radio show incognito.
- Take That!: Her execution of the task "be British" is to wander around the Taskmaster property, steal a bunch of artifacts to put in museums, and then claim various parts of it by slapping colony names on them.
- There's No Kill like Overkill: When playing Julius Caesar in a reenactment of his death, Ray and Paul keep coming out to "kill" her until the bit goes beyond being an Overly Long Gag.
- This Cannot Be!: When ruining her office leaving party, she and Paul get into a Food Fight before she grabs a knife. When he "dies" from being stabbed, she shouts at him to get up and then mutters desperately that it can't be real. She explains in the studio that an accidental killing ruins the party better than a planned murder, which would have left the killer (her) satisfied rather than upset.
Ray O'Leary
"And this is why you don't engage in extramarital affairs, kids!"
Jeremy: That's an impressive skill, Ray
Ray: Is it really?
A New Zealand comedian known for 7 Days. He also had a cameo appearance in Season 3 of Taskmaster NZ.Ray: Is it really?
Despite sharing the same last name, he is not at all related to Karen O'Leary.
- Bad "Bad Acting": He rivals even Paul when it comes to acting tasks, making no effort whatsoever to emote (even in scenarios he writes himself).
- Butt-Monkey: He's the go-to target for castmate pranks, with Melanie stalking him and Bubbah burgling him. Plus, his prize task submission for episode 3 was thrown away because nobody wanted itnote .
- Character Tic: He has a habit of burying his head in his hands when his task attempts go south.
- Early-Bird Cameo: He'd previously made a brief appearance in Season 3 as Josh Thomson's supposed double.
- Epic Fail: While Ray was a competitive contestant throughout the season, when he fails he tends to fail really bad.
- During the live task of "More Licky Licky" Ray pops so many of the wrong balloons that the production ran out of penalties to give him.
- For his attempt at the season's wedding task, the results were so abysmal, Jeremy and Paul were blunt in their assessments.Jeremy: I would be genuinely surprised if we see anything shitter than that, ever!
Paul: Can I just say, I was there on the day. And I'm actually impressed with how that turned out. - His attempts at Season 4's final live task are all so bad, Paul can't help but pass comment.Paul: I mean, he's really so bad at this.
- The Gadfly: He's given out Jeremy and Paul's genuine personal information on camera. Paul got genuinely annoyed by this while Jeremy was more willing to play into the bit.
- Limited Wardrobe: His in-studio outfit is his task outfit with the sleeves and legs sewn back onnote .
- Loophole Abuse: When asked to do something magical, Ray doesn't do any sleight-of-hand but instead leads Paul on a tour of "Raysneyland, the most magical place on Earth." (Unfortunately, as Mel points out in the studio, Disneyland's motto is the happiest place on Earth.)
- Nerdy Bully: Of the Season 4 cast, Ray is easily the meanest to Paul. He has blown glitter over Paul's white suit, read out the personal details from Paul's passport and forced Paul to push him around in an obstacle course in a wheelbarrow.
- Obvious Stunt Double: When Jeremy tells him to prove he can do a back flip, Ray walks off stage claiming that he needs a run up. A much smaller man in a bad wig then runs out and does a flip before running off so that Ray can reappearnote .
- Smoking Is Cool: In the task "make this teenager think you're cool," Ray invents a "Cool Ray" persona that wears sunglasses and smokes... a rolled up piece of A4 printer paper. When he asks afterwards if they need to do a legal disclaimer that smoking is not cool, Paul asks if Ray if he seriously thinks if that demonstration made smoking look cool.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: In More Licky Licky he swaps roles with Paul and forces Paul to complete an obstacle course.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Ray is so bad at blowing up balloons that Jeremy decides to let his attempt stand rather than disqualify him for a task that required balloons be blown up properly.
- Writing Around Trademarks: Ray is fond of using this in his task executions, such as "Sherry Mobbins" (or "Perry Moppins"), "Raysneyland", and "Rickey Rouse".
