TaskMaster.Info

Obsessively documenting the international Taskmaster franchise. Warning: This site is lousy with spoilers!

Hug your special friend

Task types:

Solo

Filmed

Mental

Physical

Objective

Single brief

Original

Locations:

Kennel Farm

Task brief

The task brief is laid on a TM-branded circular red marker spot, in the middle of a field at Kennel Farm. The brief for the task is as follows:

Hug your special friend. Every time you touch a letter, you must turn it over, and one minute will be added to your time.

Fastest wins.

Your time starts now.

Task notes

Next to the marker spot, there are 45 sheets of A4 card laid out in a 9 x 5 grid on the ground, each featuring a seemingly random capital letter.
Items are hidden under some of the cards, including biscuits wrapped in cling film; a large ball of string, which happens to be as long as the distance between the contestants’ starting position and their ‘special friends’; a compass; a written clue painted on a pebble, pointing them in the direction of 250 degrees west; and a walkie-talkie (identical to one held by their ‘special friend’).
As the contestants turn the cards over, a pattern is revealed in the form of a red triangle against a green background. Along the left and right edges of this triangle, the letters printed on the other side of the cards reappear, spelling out the word ‘MANNEQUIN’.
The triangle is pointing directly towards the location where the contestants’ ‘special friends’ are hidden, behind some trees across the field.
The ‘special friends’ are the mannequins which the contestants brought to life in episode 8 of the series. This re-use of the mannequins is very reminiscent of how the contestants’ ‘best friends’ kept making reappearances in tasks during season 3 of Taskmaster NZ (reappearance 1, reappearance 2, reappearance 3).