I think the great thing about the show is there is a mixture of merit and arbitrariness. And you never know which one of those is coming. That’s what keeps you on your toes. So I think that sometimes you do actually do great, and you’re objectively getting the points. And then sometimes you arbitrarily receive them. But what’s great is, because there are so many tasks that appeal to all different personalities and personality types, anyone could excel at any one thing. It’s quite democratizing in that way.
AVC: There’s a moment in the season where you say something like, “Oh, it’s an art one,” with real concern in your voice. What’s your ranking of the flavors of Taskmaster tasks?
CP: Art one, bottom. I just hate doing art. I have no competency whatsoever for it. And I think even if I worked at it for 10 years, I would still come out shit at the other end. I just don’t have patience and artistic eye.
I think, at the top, for me, are probably the ones that are more like escape room-y, because my brain thinks more in that way. And also that’s what I find thrilling, like a puzzle. Musical ones, and sort of creative ones probably then after that for me, because I like kind of thinking about things.
AVC: What is your philosophy on the prize task? Those always seem like the most terrifying thing in the world to me, because you’re just bringing Greg a joke and asking him to rate it.
CP: That’s funny. I think you’re so correct to say “philosophy,” because I think there are different schools of thought. Some people are purists who I think genuinely think that it should be something that you have at your home already. Other people think that it should be sort of high-concept, and you should have put a lot of effort into them. I sort of went somewhere between, where I really wanted to show that I thought and cared, but I wanted it to sort of be realistic to what plausibly could be in my house and what reflected my character.
AVC: Do you have one from the season that you’re proudest of?
CP: I like the juice butt. And I think that I was unfairly scored on that. I can’t believe that my juice butt scored the same as Matt’s actual butt. All he did was bring in a picture of his butt.
I was struggling with a few of them. So I asked my mates Nicola Dempsey and Rosie Dempsey, the comedy double act Flo and Joan, “Oh, here’s some of my prize tasks that I don’t really know what to do.” And it was the droopiest object. And then Nicola immediately texts back saying, “pair of tights filled with wet sand.” And I laughed and laughed and laughed and was like, well, there we go. Messaged the producers saying, “I’d like to bring in a pair of tights filled with wet sand.” And they went, “You’re never going to believe this. But this is so close to what someone has just asked us to do.”
So then, for like the three months after that, I was like, who’s brought in a pair of tights filled with wet sand? Obviously, Isy Suttie brings in the oat-filled tights. And I was just like, yeah, what a woman, what a woman. Knew we would be friends after that.
AVC: On that note, I’m just going to name some people from the season. I’d love for you to describe them in a single word, starting with Matt Lucas.
CP: Granddad.
AVC: Isy Suttie.
CP: Whimsical.
AVC: Nina Conti.
CP: Coy.
AVC: Interesting! Greg Davies.
CP: Master.
AVC: Richard Ayoade.
CP: Impenetrable.
AVC: Alex Horne.
CP: [Long pause.] I’m trying to… I know the sense of the word, but I can’t think of the word. It’s like, “Yes, and,” in a word. He’s game. He’s always game.
AVC: It’s always interesting to hear people talk about Alex, both within the context of his role on-camera, and his role as the mind behind the show. A lot of people talk about that moment where they kind of switch into genuinely hating him while he’s doing these things to them. Did you have that moment?
CP: Never. Like, genuinely never. ‘Cause I never questioned why he was doing these things to me, because, again, I’m like that “head girl” kind of mindset. “You’ve set me my maths homework. I’m going to do it.”
So there was never any question in my mind of, like, “Why are you making me do this?” I was just like, “Okay, I’m doing this. And you’re the guy that set me this challenge.” And I just found him really funny, as well. He’s so quick and he knows his persona so well. And I also knew that he could help me if I asked. And I think it took the others, because maybe they knew the show slightly less, it took the others a little bit more time to realize that you could be like, “Alex, can you…?” And sometimes he’ll say “No, that’s not part of the task.” But other times you’re just like, “Do this for me.” And he’ll do it. So I saw him as an ally.
AVC: You’re longtime friends with Ed Gamble, who not only hosts the official Taskmaster podcast, but is often held up as one of the show’s more unashamedly competitive players. At what point did you perceive that you were kind of going to be the Ed Gamble of your season?
CP: I never perceived it. It was always said of me. It’s like, you don’t know stuff about yourself until people reflect it back. But I think it just makes our friendship make sense. With your mates, you’ll do the same mannerisms. You’ll have the same shared phrases. He and I have created this kind of comic language together. So we’re very similar in that way. And also just, yeah, we’re both competitive people. Maybe that’s why we’re friends. Um, maybe game sees game.
AVC: Because it’s funny to not respect the game, but it is also funny to respect the game. You have to have them both in the season, I think.
CP: Yeah. And I think when I realized that I was the only one that was respecting the game, I probably amped it up more because I was like, okay, that’s the narrative I’m pushing. I am, I suppose, the Ed Gamble.
AVC: Do you have a favorite moment from actually being in the studio?
CP: The final task, the final in-studio task.
AVC: The ventriloquism one, where the players were asked to “puppet” Horne like a ventriloquist dummy while trying to disguise their voices from Davies?
CP: Yeah. Because I feel like we all sat together and we got to consult with each other. And it felt like that final moment of like, oh, we’ve been through something together, and we now get to do something all together and kind of collaborate a little bit.
AVC: As a viewer, I’m always a little nervous about the in-studio tasks, because they’re out of control. What’s your emotional reaction to them in the moment?
CP: I’m always so nervous. Because, again, I’m really competitive, and I just want to win. I know what it feels like when I fail, because it’s not just “Oh, I lost.” It’s drawing on some deep stuff that’s formed within childhood. So I’m always really nervous, but then I get excited, particularly if it’s a really well-crafted task. But the thing about some of the studio tasks is because they are random and arbitrary and they haven’t been tested, some of them will be shit. But that’s also quite funny.
AVC: What do you view as your greatest moment of triumph from the season?
CP: Oh gosh. Maybe the onion beard. I loved doing that. And I loved “the whoopsie.” I loved having nothing and being worried that I wouldn’t be able to create something and then creating something that I found really funny.
AVC: And then on the opposite note, what is the moment that was most damaging to your dignity?
CP: Um, beans. [Petts was required, for complicated reasons, to eat exactly 408 beans to win a task. They wound up eating 409, and were disqualified—Ed.]
AVC: Yeah.
CP: 408 beans. I really thought I’d absolutely crushed that. And I genuinely had gone away and told my family “Look, I did this thing…”—because I played Taskmaster properly! Like, I knew I selected the 408 because I knew that there was going to be another task, and I knew I’d be able to select whether it was the bounce, the beans, or the balls. So I was like, “Yes, I’ve absolutely gamed this!” And then to fail at that last moment was just gutting.
AVC: I first encountered you, and became a fan of you, through Taskmaster, and I don’t imagine I’m the only one. Do you have a message to new fans from the show?
CP: Thank you so much. Welcome. Everyone’s been so kind to me, and I hope I did you proud, because I went on the show as a fan and I knew that not every fan gets the opportunity to go on. So I wanted to sort of do it for the fans and make sure that I was taking every moment really seriously and enjoying every moment. Because I knew how lucky I was and I knew that I was doing it for the real ones.
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