Alex Casey uncovers the shocking truth about a famous item of furniture. 

One of the many things to celebrate about Taskmaster is the instantly recognisable set design. Jeremy Wells said himself that the best TV shows should be able to be enjoyed with the sound down and there’s no denying that, even on mute, Taskmaster New Zealand speaks volumes. With it’s rich ruby reds and gleaming gold accents, the pièce de résistance of the look book is the Taskmaster’s ornate throne – purposefully towering over assistant Paul Williams and the five comedians on stage. 

And while one may presume that this regal set-up is lifted straight from Wells’ lounge whenever it’s time for filming, he also revealed that the “very comfortable” chair lives many different lives, and has cradled many more notable buttocks. “It’s the same chair that they use when Santa comes to New Zealand,” he said. “I feel very proud that I’ve sat on the same chair as Santa.” 

Better known to those in showbiz as Santa Throne #1, the Taskmaster New Zealand (and Taskmaster Australia) chair can be hired from First Scene in Auckland for $193.70 a day. Jo Pilkington, the director of First Scene, says the “fantasy royale” style chair was imported to Aotearoa well over 30 years ago. “It’s been here since I’ve been here, and I’ve been here since the beginning of time,” she laughs. Since 2019, the Santa Throne #1 has been hired out 80 times, with an estimated “hundreds” of hires prior. 

So, if the Taskmaster shoots are only five days of every year, where else is Santa Throne #1 popping up around the wider Auckland region? As Wells alluded, Santa has been a power user of the throne in the past, although Pilkington says changing times have seen slightly less demand. “If you look at the malls these days, i’s not super cool to sit on Santa’s knee anymore,” she says. “What happens now is Santa most likely has a big couch or bench where you sit next to him.” 

While she still gets the “occasional” Santa booking, Pilkington says the throne is a bit of a media darling. In 2012, it appeared on the cover of Sunday Star Times ‘Focus’ magazine, illustrating a story about single-child families. Five years later, hip-hop collective SWIDT used it on the cover of their debut album STONEYHUNGA. “Its artwork fittingly features the group sitting on gaudy gold thrones placed around local landmarks, casting them as the suburb’s unofficial kings,” music journalist Chris Schulz wrote at the time. 

But it’s not all rappers and Saint Nicholas – us regular plebs give it a good crack too. Pilkington says the majority share of chair hires are now for private celebrations, including a large number of Indian weddings. “Often you’ll see the bride and groom sitting in these chairs, because gold and red are synonymous with wealth and happiness and all those other emotions,” she explains. It’s also a popular choice for 50th and 60th birthday parties, as well King’s Birthday “King for a Day” in-store promotions.

I didn’t have to look very far to find someone who had enjoyed the chair at a social event. The Spinoff’s Ātea editor Liam Rātana recalls encountering the chair at an end of year function for the Māori Students Association at the University of Auckland in 2013. “I think was a little bit apprehensive initially to sit in the chair because it’s got a very colonial presence to it, and naturally I’m a bit icky when it comes to that stuff,” he says. “But then I remember thinking to myself, ‘how many opportunities am I going to get to sit in a chair like this’.” 

After formalities, which included special guest Temuera Morrison doing a few songs, Rātana says he decided to seize the opportunity – although not without some pose panic. “I wasn’t really sure how to sit in the chair,” he recalls. “It definitely felt like the sort of chair where you should sit up straight with your feet firmly placed on the floor, but my short legs weren’t able to impose such a authoritative stance, so I crossed one leg over the other.” 

While the rest of his memory from the night is hazy, and he couldn’t be drawn on whether or not Temuera Morrison himself sat on the chair during the event, Rātana distinctly remembers how the chair felt. “I had a false sense of power bestowed upon me, purely from sitting on the chair,” he says. “Although it’s just a seemingly ornate object, with the amount of people who have taken photos on there, I would say it definitely has its own mana.”

The chair is kept in good nick with regular cleaning, and the cushion is recovered every couple of years. “She gets touched up pretty regularly,” says Pilkington. “Every few months she will get a little bit of a gold spray touch up.” Perhaps this is why both Wells and Rātana independently reported a gentle gilding of their hands after spending time with the chair. “They’ve sorted out the paint now, but I used to get these gold hands by the end of a night shooting,” explained Wells. 

And just like those flecks of gold paint, there’s no denying that the chair leaves a lasting impression on all those who encounter it. “People recognise it all the time now,” says Pilkington. “They will walk around the building looking for something else, and you hear them say ‘oh, that’s the Taskmaster chair!’ which is actually really lovely for us to hear.” For Rātana, it means a legacy he can pass down to future generations when the time is right. 

“One day in the future we’ll be sitting watching Taskmaster together, and I can say to him ‘you know son, your dad sat in that chair once’.” 

Have you sat in the Taskmaster NZ chair before? Please send your photos and memories to alex@thespinoff.co.nz.