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Taskmaster confirms The Grand Tour and This Morning favourites for New Year special line-up

Francis Bourgeois and Alison Hammond lead a star-studded festive challenge.

Alison Hammond, Chesney Hawkes, Francis Bourgeois, Maryam Moshiri and Rob Rinder in separate frames, all smiling ahead.

Avalon

Published: Thursday, 5 November 2026 at 10:05 pm

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Taskmaster has unveiled the famous faces lining up for its next New Year Treat, assembling a group of icons from across television, music, journalism and the law to take on the festive special's trademark challenges.

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Greg Davies and his assistant Alex Horne will once more pose some typically ludicrous challenges in the one-off festive special, which returns to Channel 4 over the Christmas season as a double-helping. Exact transmission details will be revealed in due course.

This season features BAFTA-nominated TV presenter Alison Hammond, chart-topping musician Chesney Hawkes, railway enthusiast and new co-host of The Grand Tour Francis Bourgeois, BBC chief news presenter Maryam Moshiri and barrister, broadcaster and author Rob Rinder.

Greg Davies and Alex Horne sat next to each other in large red and golden thrones, laughing and smiling.

Greg Davies and Alex Horne. Channel 4

Taskmaster was originally created by Alex Horne and sees Davies play the all-powerful Taskmaster, testing the wiles, wit and wisdom of five contestants through a series of strange and surreal challenges.

The series continues to be met with huge popularity across the globe as Taskmaster Live On Stage, a live reimagining of the format, sold out two nights at the Hollywood Bowl in the US, while a date at Manchester's AO Arena sold out shortly after going on sale. The live shows are set to take place in June 2027.

Taskmaster is one of Channel 4’s most popular programmes in recent years, having already been watched by a broad multi-generational audience and is in Channel 4’s top three series of audience share of young viewers (16-34) in the coveted 9pm slot, with Gogglebox and Derry Girls.

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Taskmaster's New Year Treat is coming soon to Channel 4.

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Authors

Black and white cut-out portrait headshot of Katelyn Mensah, smiling against a lime green background.

Katelyn MensahSenior Entertainment Writer

Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.

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