In a moment of blazing glory, Joanna Page 'mounted Greg Davies' golden head and rode around the stage' to celebrate her epic Taskmaster series 21 victory. The Gavin and Stacey star, 48, beat out fellow comedians Kumail Nanjiani, Joel Dommett, Armando Iannucci, and Amy Gledhill after a neck-and-neck race to the end involving chaos with lint rollers and near misses with paint balloons.
Surprise Victory and Secret Keeping
As she told Metro in a post-win interview, she was totally blindsided by the victory, which she had to keep a secret from her Taskmaster-obsessed daughter for a whole year. Despite the surprise, she is already prepping for her grand return. All Taskmaster winners are eligible to join Taskmaster: Champions of Champions, which is a nerdier version of Love Island All Stars.
Costume Planning for Champions
'I'm already planning my costume. I've been thinking in great detail about it. It's made me laugh so much that my costume has gone down really for this series as being a minion,' Page said. Final scores for Taskmaster series 21: Joanna Page – 149 points, Kumail Nanjiani – 145 points, Amy Gledhill – 143 points, Armando Iannucci – 141 points, Joel Dommett – 127 points.
'It was only when Ed Gamble brought it to my attention and said: "Do you realise that you dressed yourself as a minion?" that I was like: "Oh my god, I've not even thought about that" because with my costume I thought: "Right, wear something bright and sunny and cheery, and I like the colour yellow."' So watch out, Taskmaster fans, you're going to be treated to a Joanna Page who definitely does not look like a minion at all in her series of Champions of Champions.
Love for the Show
While talking, it's clear that the Welsh screen star has nothing but love for the show, generously dubbing it the 'best show [she's] ever done' and revelling in the chaotic glee of it all. After her finale performance left some fans shocked as she started lint-rolling Alex Horne's belly button to gather lint, she revealed that the shenanigans didn't end there.
Behind the Scenes Shenanigans
'My first thought when I picked up the sticky roller was: "Right, I'm wearing tights and just get onto your body and get as much lint as possible." I thought: "Thank God, I'm wearing a pair of woolly tights, because I was a bit cold that day. It's not going to be too exposing and too awful for the crew if I just drop my trousers." My second thought was, "Oh my god, just get to all of the crew, lift up their tops, and get into their belly buttons, and I did." You see me going into Alex's, but I did do every single crew member. I was behind the camera, I was with the sound fella, I went in everybody's belly buttons, and I was very shocked at how clean they all were. I don't think I got any lint out of anybody's belly button.'
Reaction to Bravery Task
Meanwhile, when it came to watching back her tasks, she admitted that even she hadn't realised the extent of her reaction to the 'bravery' task where she put worms and spiders in her hands. For those who haven't seen it, there was enough hooting and hollering to worry the golfers next door. 'I was so shocked when I actually saw the task where I'm trying to be brave, and I hold some worms in my hand because I had obviously been through all of that task, and it was only when I started watching myself that I realised how utterly hysterical I had got. But I remember in the moment I couldn't do anything apart from what I was doing,' she said.
Unseen Tasks
Of course, among the many stellar tasks aired to the nation, there are also many that never make the cut – a fact diehard Taskmaster fans will no doubt be aware of. As Joanna teased: 'You'll do about 11 tasks a day. I did a load of tasks which weren't even used, so they only ever use the best tasks. They could make another show of that, all of the unseen tasks. I did something with some baked beans, and I also did something with an onion, which was not very pleasant.'
Series 22 Line-Up
As is the circle of life, however, as one cast leaves, so another must step in. Channel 4 has already announced that series 22 will consist of: Chloe Petts, Isy Suttie, Nina Conti, Matt Lucas, and Richard Ayoade. After showering praise on the 'brilliant Isy', Joanna continued: 'Obviously, I can't wait to see what Richard is going to come out with, because he's going to do something so utterly unthought about. He's just going to be hilarious. Then also Matt, he's such a big name, but seeing him on it is just going to be brilliant.'
Predictions for Series 22
In the end, though, her 'money is on Richard' to sneak ahead and follow in her footsteps. As for her plans when she gets home, after spending the year hiding her golden Greg head in her wardrobe, the student has become the master. Now she plans to send her kids on an easter egg hunt to track him down. 'It should be: Find Greg's head, your time starts now,' she said with a satisfied laugh.
How to Watch
Taskmaster series 21 is available to stream on Channel 4 now. There is no release date for series 22.
