Alex Horne, meatballs in tomato sauce and a primitivo
Dish
How Did Taskmaster Start?
Alex recounts creating Taskmaster at Edinburgh Fringe, early challenges, and how the live concept evolved into TV.
Nick and Angela welcome a master of his craft to Dish.
Alex Horne is an English comedian, writer and creator of the award-winning and highly original game show Taskmaster, which he cohosts with Greg Davies.
Horne, born in Chichester, began his comedy career as a student doing routines at open mic nights in Cambridge before appearing at his first Edinburgh Fringe in 2000. It was at the Fringe that Taskmaster came to life, before making its debut on our TV screens in 2009 (first on Dave and now on Channel 4). The show, now in its 19th season, has been broadcast in over 120 countries and recently was turned into a live immersive experience in London.
Alex, who lives in Chesham with his wife and three sons, is also the lead singer of The Horne Section, a ‘six-headed musical comedy band’, who have extended their UK and Ireland tour across the duration of 2025. They can also be seen on TV in the aptly titled The Horne Section TV Show, which returns for its second series later this year.
Nick, Angela and Alex start the episode over a Guinness with a side of Pringles, before enjoying meatballs in tomato sauce, a recipe by the one and only... Angela Hartnett. The perfectly crafted meatballs are served alongside a glass of Primitivo di Manduria Riserva.
With so much going on in Alex’s life, this episode covers a lot of funny ground, including the origins of Taskmaster, The Horne Section and Alex’s skills in the kitchen, while Angela learns something new about Pringles…
We are doing a live episode in Sheffield! On Friday 4 July, Dish will be at The Crucible Theatre at Crossed Wires Festival. For our second ever live show, Nick and Angela will be joined by the newly announced and hilariously funny comedian, Lucy Beaumont. Tickets are available now at crossedwires.live.
You can watch full episodes of Dish on YouTube
All recipes from this podcast can be found at waitrose.com/dishrecipes
A transcript for this episode can be found at waitrose.com/dish
We can’t all have a Michelin star chef in the kitchen, but you can ask Angela for help.
Send your dilemmas to dish@waitrose.co.uk and she’ll try to answer them in a future episode.
Dish from Waitrose is made by Cold Glass Productions.
The AI-powered Podcast Player
