Season two Taskmaster contestant Urzila Carlson has shed light on an accident during filming that left her with broken bones and a concussion.

Taskmaster NZ is responsible for some iconic moments in recent television history. Think David Correos’ terrifying diss track in which he threatened the death of his fellow contestants in gruesome fashion. Or the sabotage task where Laura Daniel covertly unravelled her team’s efforts to stuff a car full of balloons. Or the time when Chris Parker managed to successfully hide a body for months.

But there’s one segment, filmed for the second season of the TVNZ comedy series back in 2021, that was never able to air. 

It involves Urzila Carlson, a mountain bike, a concussion and a broken collarbone.

Rumours of this unbroadcastable moment have circulated ever since the second season aired. There have been hints and teases shared widely on the likes of Reddit and Twitter. Carlson herself has touched on the details in interviews, on her own social media and on her own podcast. 

But this week, speaking to the official Taskmaster podcast in the UK, she’s given a full account of her painful ordeal. 

Like any Taskmaster moment, Carlson says the moment in question started with a task. This time, the contestants had been asked to come up with a dumb idea. Bonus points were on the line for any contestant willing and able to execute that dumb idea. “I’m quite compulsive and really bad at risk assessment,” Carlson told Ed Gamble, the host of the Taskmaster Podcast. “I could have… eaten gluten, I could have phoned my ex and said ‘let’s try again’. That would have been a dumb idea!”

Instead, Carlson opted for something a little more dangerous. “I took my 46-year-old ass out on a mountain bike,” she said. “I built a ramp in the driveway of the property… I knew right off the bat it probably wasn’t going to be great, but weirdly it didn’t stop me from doing it. Thinking about it and having worked through it with my therapist – I ignore red flags.”

In a statement, the producers of Taskmaster NZ, Kevin&Co, told The Spinoff that the incident was “regrettable” and explained the process leading up to the task. “Before the jump, Urzila was briefed on safety and the bike and jump were checked by our art department team.”

Carlson said the stunt was made more dangerous because the bike was in need of repair. The day before she rode it, Carlson says her fellow Taskmaster contestant Matt Heath had rode it into a lake, causing a wheel to come off. “We were just tightening it with our hands, we had no tools,” she said.

“I took that bike and I rode it over a ramp. Down the steep driveway, [I] hit the ramp, the wheel fell off and I crashed. I cracked the helmet, got a massive concussion and broke my clavicle in three places. Then the ambulance came, took me to hospital and I had to have surgery. I now have a plate with, I think, about 13 screws in my shoulder.”

Kevin&Co acknowledged the accident and noted the nature of the show was “unpredictable”.

“Ultimately we always try our best to accommodate their requests as safely as possible, and unfortunately in this occurrence Urzila was injured.”

Carlson’s recovery meant the production schedule for Taskmaster, including the studio recordings, had to be pushed out by six weeks.

Carlson claimed the reason for not airing the dangerous task isn’t because of her: “They didn’t not show it because of health and safety. They didn’t show it because [fellow contestant] Guy Montgomery put his penis in a toaster. That’s why they couldn’t show it.

“Me in a hospital? That’s nothing,” Carlson laughed.

Two years on from the accident, Carlson, who finished last on her season of Taskmaster, seems more upset by the fact she never got any bonus points for her reckless stunt. “I really shouldn’t have done the task – but they should have just slid in five points for anything else,” she jokes. “I feel I was robbed.”

Another season of Taskmaster NZ is being filmed now and will be broadcast sometime this year.