Taskmaster Australia star spills on 'bullying' allegations: 'F**king hate him'

Taskmaster Australia officially returned for its third season on Tuesday night with more wild tasks, hilarious jokes and relentless bullying towards the ‘Taskmaster’s Assistant’, Tom Cashman. In case you’re not across the comedy panel game show, the series centres around five celebrities attempting to complete a series of bizarre challenges judged by the ‘Taskmaster’, Tom Gleeson.

While it’s certainly not a requirement for the participants to ‘bully’ Tom’s assistant, often referred to as ‘Lesser Tom’, more often than not they choose to poke fun at him and put him down in any way possible. This season is certainly no different, with Rhys Nicholson admitting to Yahoo Lifestyle that they and their co-star Mel Buttle were the biggest Tom-haters during filming.

“Mel and I seem to be the only two that just f**king hate Tom Cashman so much,” they joke. “We are so mean to him from the get-go. I don't even remember making the decision to do it, I just instinctively started being awful to him.”

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The hilarious way the show’s contestants and host interact with Tom Cashman has become such a big part of Taskmaster Australia that some viewers have taken to social media to share the hashtag ‘#stoptomcashmanabuse’. The comedian has racked up plenty of supporters online, with one person commenting on Instagram: “Tom Cashman is a treasure that must be protected at all costs.”

“I would personally like to say I will forever be defending Tom #bullyingnoway,” another added, while a third said, “With that attitude and enthusiasm, I’d follow Cashman into battle, where the magic happens”.

Who's on Taskmaster Australia season three?

Season three of Taskmaster Australia stars Aaron Chen, Concetta Caristo, Mel Buttle, Peter Helliar and Rhys Nicholson as they hope to follow in the footsteps of previous winners Danielle Walker and Lloyd Langford and take home a trophy of Tom Gleeson’s head.

Rhys shares that the cast knew each other quite well before filming, which helped them in group tasks and established a fun dynamic on-set.

“I think it was pretty clever casting this season where we all have very defined types of comedy,” they remark. “Aaron and Pete are never going to be veering into each other's punchline territory, and I think all of us are the same.”

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The Drag Race Down Under judge adds that filming days were “incredibly long”, but it was one of the best projects they’ve ever been a part of.

“I'm a very big fan of Taskmaster, I can’t believe I got to be on my dream show,” they gush. “It’s perfect for a comedian. It’s one of those rare things that can only get created by a comedian that's just like, ‘Hey, turn up and be unprepared and we'll just film you doing things’. That is the dream.

“I don't have to do any homework, I don't have to know what's going on in the news, I can just turn up and try and stuff something into something else. I genuinely didn't have any hesitancy at all when I said ‘yes’.”

Taskmaster Australia airs Tuesdays at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10 Play

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