Taskmaster NZ’s upcoming cast includes Dai Henwood and Melanie Bracewell

Comedy legends Dai Henwood and Melanie Bracewell are amongst the five Kiwi comedians announced to join the hilarious battle to be crowned Taskmaster NZ champion for 2023.

Also announced to join the hit comedy panel show for the upcoming fourth season are actor and comedians Sieni Leo’o Olo (aka Bubbah) and Karen O’Leary and comedian and writer Ray O’Leary.

As with previous seasons, the five comedians will compete in a variety of strange, sometimes mundane and often ridiculous challenges, vying for points from Taskmaster Jeremy Wells.

Also returning for the fourth season is adjudicator and assistant, comedian Paul Williams.

The premiere date for season four has not yet been announced, but viewers can expect to see contestants get married, blow out candles and leave New Zealand (with a Taskmaster twist, of course), in their battle to join previous champions Josh Thompson, Laura Daniel and New Zealand’s first winner Angella Dravid.

The cast

Sieni Leo’o Olo (AKA Bubbah)

Sieni Leo’o Olo, more commonly known as Bubbah, is a Samoan-New Zealand comedian and actress from Auckland’s Māngere who first appeared onscreen in the Comedy Central Polynesian show Sis.

She appeared in the 2023 Sione’s Wedding prequel Duckrockers and headlined the 2023 International Comedy Festival’s Comedy Mixtape, which was hosted by former Taskmaster comedian, Kura Forrester.

Dai Henwood

As the familiar host of Lego Masters NZ and former team captain of comedy series 7 Days, Auckland comedian Dai Henwood is no stranger to New Zealand screens.

His packed resumé of New Zealand television also includes stints hosting Family Feud and Dancing With the Stars.

In January 2023, Henwood revealed he was living with living with incurable stage 4 bowel cancer on Three’s The Project.

He told Stuff he had been undergoing treatment for during the first season of Lego Masters NZ but kept his condition quiet from most people.

“Ironically, I feel the happiest and healthiest I ever have in my life. Aside from a bit of the cancer, I’ve actually never looked after myself so well,” he said.

Karen O’Leary

Comedian Karen O’Leary is most well-known for her role as Officer O’Leary in Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s comedy creation Wellington Paranormal, which aired from 2018 until 2022.

In 2022 O’Leary appeared on Celebrity Treasure Island but chose to take herself out of the competition when Courtney Louise lost an elimination challenge. It was an attempt to salvage the chance of a woman taking out the competition, which was ultimately won by Jesse Tuke.

In November, 2022, O’Leary joined stars including Anika Moa and Tami Neilson in celebrating the Topp Twins in a tribute concert, and in 2023 she joined Wellington performers and comedians for a charity concert, United We Band, raising funds for cyclone-ravaged Hawke’s Bay.

O’Leary currently appears on Three’s newest current affairs comedy show Paddy Gower Has Issues.

Melanie Bracewell

She may live in Melbourne, but comedian Melanie Bracewell is a familiar fixture on a plethora of Kiwi comedy shows, with past writing credits on 7 Days and Wellington Paranormal.

Not only a big name behind the camera, she has appeared regularly on Have You Been Paying Attention? and the Project.

In 2022 the comedian was nominated for an Australian Logie award for most popular new talent. The hat-tip was for her work on the comedy panel show The Cheap Seats, which was also nominated for most popular comedy programme.

“I was just so excited to be invited. So when I found out later that I was nominated for an award, I was like ‘I didn’t realise I was eligible’. So it was just really special,” she told Stuff at the time.

Ray O’Leary

Known for his dark and observational comedy, and for possibly being New Zealand’s funniest person with Masters in Philosophy, Ray O’Leary has been a regular on-screen comedian on Have You Been Paying Attention? and 7 Days.

In Australia he has also appeared on Cheap Seats and Have You Been Paying Attention?

The hosts

This year’s contestants will once again be at the mercy of Taskmaster Jeremy Wells (Radio Hauraki and Seven Sharp) and his assistant comedian Paul Williams.

Both Wells and Williams have been running the show since the show first aired in 2020.

Of the very first episode, Stuff reviewer James Croot wrote that Williams was a “relaxed and underplayed comic who becomes one of the show’s MVPs before even 30 minutes of the first episode have passed”.

About Taskmaster

The Taskmaster format was created by British comedian Alex Horne during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2010, and was developed into a television show in 2015.

In 2020, New Zealand’s homegrown version of the programme debuted on TVNZ.

In it, five comedians undertake ridiculous, mundane, complicated, senseless or insane challenges. These are filmed, then played for laughs in front of a live studio audience. The comics are then judged, and often ridiculed, by Wells.

Previous Kiwi contestants include Madeline Sami, Leigh Hart, Guy Williams, Paul Ego and Kura Forrester.

Where can I watch it?

All three seasons can be streamed on TVNZ+. The fourth season will air on TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+ later in 2023.