Taskmaster Champion of Champions 2024: release date and cast - why isn’t Mae Martin in Channel 4 special?

Taskmaster winners (and one runner-up) from five more series of the Channel 4 show will return to take part in the ultimate challenge as another special Champion of Champions episode airs this week.

Taskmaster’s New Year Treat may have only just aired, with Lenny Rush becoming the show’s latest winner, but another special is already on our radar. 

Champion of Champions 3 will see one contestant join Josh Widdicombe and Richard Herring in the Taskmaster hall of fame, becoming the third ever champion of champions.

Who is in the cast of Taskmaster Champion of Champions 2024?

• Sarah Kendall - series 11 winner (158 pts)
• Morgana Robinson - series 12 winner (168 pts)
• Sophie Duker - series 13 winner (173 pts)
• Dara Ó Briain - series 14 winner (184 pts)
• Kiell Smith-Bynoe - series 15 runner-up (158 pts)

Why isn’t Mae Martin in Champion of Champions 2024?

Despite winning season 15 of the show, Mae Martin will not be taking part in the special Champion of Champions episode, as they were working in the US when the special was filmed last year.

Mae said: “I am absolutely fuming at the fact that I am unable to participate in Taskmaster's Champion of Champions. I would love nothing more than to fight for the title of ultimate champion, and spend another week of my life being ridiculed by Greg. 

Ghosts star and series 15 runner up Kiell Smith-Bynoe will take Mae’s place in the special, and could become the first ever non-champion of champions. 

Mae added: “He is an agile and profoundly competitive young man, and also much much cooler and funnier than me, so we should have it in the bag.”

Although Kiell  didn’t win his series of the show, he still put on an impressive performance, banking 158 points, the same as series 11 winner Sarah Kendall, so don’t write him off just yet.

When is Taskmaster Champion of Champions 3 on TV?

The 60-minute special will air on Sunday January 14 at 9pm on Channel 4. The episode will be available to watch on Channel 4 online, where you can also find all of seasons 1-16 of the show, shortly after it is first broadcast. 

Taskmaster is going from strength to strength with another season due out this year, as well as a junior version of the show, and a VR game currently in the works.