Taskmaster is back and with it five new celebs (Joanne McNally, Nick Mohammed, John Robins, Steve Pemberton and Sophie Willan) who will be fighting it out for the honour of being named champion. The puzzles and games filled TV show has been going strong since 2015 and series 17 promises even more brain-teasers designed to stump and surprise.
Who will be this year’s outside the box thinker and join the likes of Bob Mortimer and Lou Sanders in the hall of fame?
Let’s take a closer look at those in the running to take home Greg’s golden head.
Who is Joanne?
Joanne McNally is a comedian, writer, and actress from the Republic of Ireland. Formerly employed in PR and brand management, her career in stand-up began with the show Singlehood which was based around a break-up. It caught the attention of comic P J Gallagher who asked her to join him on tour and she’s been working in comedy ever since.
Her subsequent stand-up shows, including Bite Me, Wine Tamer and The Prosecco Express, have continued to draw inspiration from personal experiences; such as living with an eating disorder and being adopted as a child.
Where do we know her from?
Joanne has been a regular fixture on Irish television for some time. Her year standing in for Jennifer Zamparelli on RTÉ 2’s flagship comedy programme Republic Of Telly put her in the public eye and she has since appeared on The Blame Game, Women On The Verge, The Late Late Show and The Tommy Tiernan Chat Show.
She is perhaps more familiar to a UK audience through her podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me, which she hosts with Vogue Williams.
Another recent radio series, this time for the BBC, sees her take a look at the ‘Avril Lavigne Replacement Theory’ (Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates).
Our prediction
Joanne’s first interview with Little Alex Horne suggests she’s not fully up to speed with what the programme is all about, or is that all a ruse...? Regardless, her ability to irritate Alex will surely be appreciated by the Taskmaster.