Why Is Rose Matafeo on Taskmaster NZ? Her Taskmaster UK and Junior Taskmaster History Explained

Rose Matafeo arriving on Taskmaster NZ Season 7 comes with something none of the other contestants can claim. She already knows the format from both sides of the desk. Matafeo competed under Greg Davies and Alex Horne on the British series, then moved into the big chair herself as the host of Junior Taskmaster. Now she is back opening envelopes and trying to impress Jeremy Wells in the New Zealand version of the show.

That unusual history is precisely why her casting attracted so much attention when the Season 7 lineup was announced. Bringing back a former contestant in another country’s edition is not something Taskmaster normally does, and Matafeo herself was unsure whether it was even acceptable. Her return ultimately came from a combination of timing, a desire to work in New Zealand again and a very relaxed blessing from series creator Alex Horne.

Related: Taskmaster NZ Season 7 Episode 2 Recap: Morgana O’Reilly Wins a Chaotic Night

Rose Matafeo First Competed on Taskmaster UK

Matafeo’s first encounter with the format came in 2019, when she joined Taskmaster Series 9 alongside Ed Gamble, Jo Brand, Katy Wix and David Baddiel. At the time, she was already established in New Zealand comedy but was still considerably less familiar to British television audiences than several of her competitors.

She quickly became one of the season’s strongest players. Matafeo won two episodes and finished the series in second place with an official total of 159 points, eight behind champion Ed Gamble. Her run produced several moments that remain familiar to longtime fans, while also introducing a wider British audience to her distinctly New Zealand delivery and sense of humor.

What matters for Season 7 is that Matafeo did not simply appear on Taskmaster years ago and move on. Her connection with the format continued, eventually putting her in an even more unusual position.

She Later Became the Junior Taskmaster

In 2023, Channel 4 announced Matafeo as the Taskmaster for the children’s spinoff Junior Taskmaster, with former Taskmaster contestant Mike Wozniak serving as her assistant. The series premiered in 2024 and placed Matafeo in the role normally associated with Greg Davies rather than asking her to complete the tasks herself.

The change meant that Matafeo had experienced the franchise from opposite perspectives. As a contestant, she had to interpret deliberately awkward instructions while knowing that every mistake could later be dissected in the studio. As Junior Taskmaster, she became the person handing out points and judging other people’s attempts.

Matafeo and Wozniak also shared an appropriate piece of Taskmaster history. Both had finished second during their respective appearances on the main British series, something they joked made them a pair of runners-up presiding over the younger contestants.

By that point, another standard Taskmaster appearance seemed unlikely. Matafeo had already been contestant and Taskmaster, leaving very little unexplored territory within the format.

Why Did Rose Matafeo Join Taskmaster NZ?

The possibility emerged after Matafeo returned to New Zealand to work on New Zealand Spy with her friend Paul Williams, the assistant on Taskmaster NZ. Spending more time working at home appealed to her, and the opportunity eventually arose for her to join Season 7 alongside Dave Fane, Hoani Hotene, Morgana O’Reilly and Rhys Mathewson.

There was still one obvious question. Could somebody who had already competed on the original Taskmaster simply enter another version of the competition?

Matafeo did not assume the answer was yes. She contacted Alex Horne before agreeing to the New Zealand series because moving from one country’s version to another was so unusual. Horne had no problem with the idea and effectively gave her permission to go ahead. Matafeo later recalled that his response was extremely casual, while noting that Horne himself has previously expressed interest in appearing on Taskmaster NZ if his schedule ever allowed it.

That makes Matafeo’s Season 7 appearance less of a traditional return and more of a franchise first. The Spinoff noted that she becomes the only person to have appeared across three different versions of the Taskmaster format: the original UK show, Junior Taskmaster and now Taskmaster NZ.

Does Rose Have an Unfair Advantage?

On paper, Matafeo should understand Taskmaster better than almost anyone entering the house. She has completed a full British season, watched contestants from the judge’s chair on Junior Taskmaster and spent years around people connected to the franchise.

The first episodes of Season 7 are already demonstrating why that knowledge does not necessarily translate into easy points. Taskmaster is designed to punish contestants who overthink what should be simple and to embarrass those who become too confident about recognizing a trick. Knowing that a loophole might exist is very different from finding it while Paul Williams silently watches the clock.

Matafeo has also argued that her experience can work against her because expectations are higher. Rather than entering as an unknown quantity, she arrives with viewers already measuring her Season 7 decisions against everything she did in Series 9. She jokingly described herself as the villain of the lineup, comparing the role to becoming a wrestling heel rather than the obvious favorite.

Episode 2 offers a good example. For the bouquet challenge, Matafeo does not settle for a straightforward catch. She constructs a catapult and tries to receive the bouquet while riding a skateboard, transforming a simple instruction into the kind of complicated spectacle that can either produce five points or collapse completely. Her previous experience has not made her more cautious.

Taskmaster NZ Is Also a Homecoming for Rose

There is another reason Matafeo’s Season 7 appearance feels different from her British run. When she filmed Series 9 in the UK, she was relatively unknown to much of the audience. Filming the New Zealand studio shows meant performing in front of people who knew her work and, in some cases, knew her personally.

Matafeo told The Spinoff that she was actually more nervous about the West Auckland studio recordings than she had been filming in Britain. The production also brought her back into a familiar comedy community. She has known Rhys Mathewson since she was 15, after the pair met through the Class Comedians programme, while some members of the Season 7 production team are longtime friends and collaborators.

That local connection also explains why joining Taskmaster NZ offered something her previous appearances could not. Matafeo was no longer simply returning to a television format she enjoyed. She was getting to compete in its New Zealand incarnation alongside performers from the comedy scene where her own career began.

Will Rose Matafeo Return to Taskmaster Again?

Season 7 may finally complete Matafeo’s unusual journey through the franchise. She has competed in Britain, judged the junior edition and returned home to face Jeremy Wells and Paul Williams. There are not many conventional Taskmaster roles left for her to try.

Matafeo has joked about an eventual Taskmaster Elderly, but for now she views the New Zealand season as a fitting final chapter. What makes the appearance interesting is not that producers simply recycled a popular former contestant. It is that Matafeo has become one of the few people able to test whether years of accumulated Taskmaster knowledge actually help once a fresh task is placed on the table.

So far, the answer appears reassuringly familiar. Experience can teach Rose Matafeo how Taskmaster works, but it cannot stop Taskmaster from making Rose Matafeo look ridiculous.