Taskmaster viewers have been left stunned after the most recent episode of the comedy game show aired a moment which they didn’t think could be “legally broadcast on public television”.
The series, which began in 2015, is the brainchild of comedian and host Alex Horne and pits five comedians against each other in a series of often bizarre and seemingly impossible tasks set by the tyrannical taskmaster Greg Davies.
Challenges vary with some classics including pushing three exercise balls to the top of a hill single-handedly, making a music video for a nursery rhyme, and ordering a pizza without saying the word “pizza” or any of the ingredients.
The comedians currently taking part in the 19th season of the show are Fatiha El-Ghorri, Jason Mantzoukas, Mathew Baynton, Rosie Ramsey and Stevie Martin.
In the latest episode, dubbed “Glass Half Most”, which aired on 12 June on Channel 4 the comedians were told to eat yoghurt in the most or least ‘dignified’ way they could imagine.
It’s fair to say that Baynton, best known for starring in Horrible Histories and Ghosts, took the challenge to the extreme and produced a truly surreal and horrifying piece of TV.
The 44-year-old, who was already stripped down to his pants and was covered in the word “twit”, crawled towards the yogurt which had been smeared across the shoes of Horne.
“Please forgive me Daddy, I’ve got your shoes all mucky,” said Baynton as Horne approved of the action.
Although Baynton won all five points for the challege he did admit: “There aren’t enough points in the world that could have made that worthwhile for the cost it’s going to have.”
Indeed, reactions to the episode on social media would indicate that they were suitable shook by the moment.
“There was something on this latest episode of taskmaster that i didnt think you could legally broadcast on public television,” said one person.
A second viewer exclaimed: “I just watched the newest episode of Taskmaster. What Mat did for the yogurt task was the most unhinged thing I’ve seen on that show.”
“Really hoping interviewers stop asking Mat Baynton about his time on Horrible Histories and instead spend the next 15 years focusing on that time he liked yogurt off of Alex Horne’s shoes while calling him daddy on Taskmaster,” joked a third.
“It was horrifying, disturbing, just awful all around. 10/10, couldn’t stop laughing, Taskmaster genuinely is the show that keeps on giving,” praised another person.
“What kind of show is this lmao the ‘audience’ is laughing but it’s deeply unsettling??” asked a disturbed onlooker.
“Mat’s undignified yogurt task is crazy, absolutely foul,” noted an unimpressed fan.
Baynton previously told The Metro that working on Taskmaster is “bizarre” because “no one is telling you what to do.”
He added: “So I was the maker of my own misfortune in that sense… it’s like you just go into this strange mental space, and all you’re thinking about is the task, and you’re being forced to make decisions quite quickly, and you just do it and throw yourself into it. It’s only when you’re in the car on the way home that you think, ‘Oh s**t, that’s going on TV, that’s going to last forever’.’