Make and wear a popcorn necklace was a task featured on Series 12 of Taskmaster, as the second task in A couple of Ethels. The task was won by Guz Khan.
Setup[]
| Location | All Saints Pastoral Centre and Chapel |
|---|---|
| Equipment | Bell, popcorn, thread, needle |
| Measurement | Fastest wins |
Summary[]
The task was presented on a bell. The contestants had to make and wear a popcorn necklace with at least 5 pieces of popcorn. Then then had to do the opposite of the following statement: "You must under no circumstances not avoid not making the bell not ring", which meant they had to ring the bell. If they failed to ring the bell, doing the wrong thing, the contestant would lose 5 points.
Performance[]
Alan Davies: Alan struggled to thread the popcorn, ending up tying the popcorn to a piece of string, and he chose to ring the bell. He made a popcorn necklace and rang the bell in 11 minutes, receiving 4 points.
Desiree Burch: Desiree speedily threaded a popcorn necklace and decided to not ring the bell. She made a popcorn necklace in 5 minutes and 35 seconds, but as she did not ring the bell, she lost 5 points.
Guz Khan: Guz thought that there were ghosts of nuns called Ethel in the church. He put all 5 pieces of popcorn on the needle and tied the thread around his neck, then decided to ring the bell. He made a popcorn necklace and rang the bell in 5 minutes and 37 seconds, receiving 5 points.
Morgana Robinson: Morgana struggled to thread the popcorn, opting to take a pew to complete the task, then decided to ring the bell. She made a popcorn necklace and rang the bell in 16 minutes, receiving 3 points.
Victoria Coren Mitchell: Victoria immeditately worked out the statement was telling her to not ring the bell, ignoring the part of the task telling her to do the opposite of the statement, then struggled to thread the needle. She made a popcorn necklace in 7 minutes and 38 seconds, but as she did not ring the bell, she lost 5 points.
Trivia[]
Behind the Scenes[]
- Guz claimed that the church must have previously had "A couple of Ethels", the episode's name.
- After this task, Victoria's current total for the episode was -4, the first time a contestant had held a negative score in an episode.
- Desiree was the quickest to thread the necklace (2 seconds quicker than Guz), meaning her decision not to ring the bell lost her 10 points and gave an extra point to Morgana, Guz and Alan - an 11 point swing. Given that she finished 7 points behind Morgana at series' end, not ringing the bell effectively cost her the series.
Other Appearances[]
Bast i Test[]
A version of this task was featured on Season 4 of Bäst i Test, where the contestants just had to either ring the bell or not in the fastest time.
Taskmaster (Portugal)[]
A version of this task was featured on Season 3 of Taskmaster (Portugal), where those who did the right thing received 3 points, and those that did the wrong thing lost 3 points.
Le maître du jeu[]
This task was featured on Season 3 of Le maître du jeu.
Videos[]
