Sainsbury also thinks the new line-up of contestants is entertaining and clever, even if he does say so himself.
“Here I was thinking I was being so creative in my challenges and then you see how Hayley, Ben, Abby and Tofiga have approached them and I’m gobsmacked,” he reveals. “I attempted to give off an air of being laissez-faire during the series, but deep down I was very competitive.”
Hurley and Sproull were touring together last year. Sproull tells Spy that before one show they both confessed to each other how badly they wanted to do Taskmaster. “And here we bloody are,” says Sproull.
“I’m a huge fan of the show from the first ever season so this is a dream job situation.
“Now, will I manage to keep my competitive nature in check?”
Hurley says being on the show was the most paranoid he’s ever been. “I was suspicious of everyone and everything, I doubted everything about myself and it was a complete mind f*#% but I loved every single moment of it.”
Fepulea’i had so much fun and says it was so awesome he would love to be part of it again.
As for the man himself who sits on the throne, Wells says before the five newbies came on to the show, they should have been equal parts excited, afraid, nervous and turned on.
“Especially turned on, as they were working closely with Paul Williams, a man who drips sexual energy,” says Wells.
Over the five years, Wells says he’s been impressed by many of the comedian’s work but says coming on Taskmaster has tested them in ways they’d never dreamed.
Williams says it is a huge honour to have been on a show that’s been going for five seasons. “Both Frankie Valli and the Gregorian Calendar only have four seasons, so it feels good to get to five,” he says.
Taskmaster NZ will premiere on Tuesday 6 August, 7.30pm on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+ and continue on Wednesday.
Ricardo Simich is the New Zealand Herald’s Spy Editor. Based in Auckland he covers all roads that lead to popular culture.
