Alex Horne

Alexander James Jeffery Horne (born 10 September 1978) He is the host and bandleader of comedic band The Horne Section. Horne hosts the band's eponymous podcast and television series, and has appeared with them on BBC Radio 4, TV channel Dave, and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. was born in Chichester, West Sussex, England on 10 September 1978 to a father who worked as a general practitioner. The middle child of three boys, he was raised in Midhurst. and at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he studied classics and graduated in 2001. and he wrote for student newspaper Varsity as a sports journalist and satirist. Horne went on to complete a graduate degree in broadcast journalism at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Career

Early career Horne began his stand-up comedy career at open mic nights in Cambridge and London while he was still a student, and performed in the semi-final of So You Think You're Funny in 1999. Early in his career, Horne also worked as a journalist for local newspapers in Sussex,

Horne's 2003 Edinburgh show "Making Fish Laugh" was nominated for a Perrier Award for Best Newcomer. In 2004, he won a Chortle Award for Best Breakthrough Act. In 2004 and 2005, he performed "Every Body Talks" and "When in Rome", in which Tim Key played his personal assistant and he used Microsoft PowerPoint for presentation. In early 2006, Horne performed "When in Rome" on a tour exclusively visiting Roman towns in Britain.

As a solo performer, Horne wrote and performed "Birdwatching" at the 2007 Edinburgh Festival and "Wordwatching" at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival. He wrote a book entitled Birdwatchingwatching in 2009 as well as Wordwatching in early 2010.

On 18 January 2007, Horne became the first comedian to perform in Second Life for a feature on Sky News. Between 24 October 2006 and 24 October 2007, he worked alongside fellow comedian Owen Powell in an attempt to find a person from every nationality living in London. After a year's search, they finally managed to meet people from 189 of the UN's 192 countries, and hence suggested there is nobody in the city from Tuvalu, Palau, or the Marshall Islands.

The Horne Section Since 2010, Horne has been performing with his band The Horne Section as the compere of comedy variety shows. Alex Horne Presents The Horne Section (2012–14) ran for three series on BBC Radio 4, and The Horne Section Podcast launched in 2018. thumb The Horne Section performing in 2019In May 2018, Horne presented The Horne Section Television Programme, a one-off musical comedy stage show based on his BBC Radio 4 show, The Horne Section. The show was recorded for UKTV in front of a live audience at the London Palladium and aired on Dave on 24 May. The show featured his band, The Horne Section, as well as performances from comedians Sue Perkins, Sara Pascoe and Joe Wilkinson, drag act and opera singer Le Gateau Chocolat, and Girls Aloud singer Nadine Coyle.

A six-episode Channel 4 series, The Horne Section TV Show, was released on 3 November 2022. It is scripted and combines elements of musical comedy, talk show and sitcom. A second six-episode series was ordered and was scheduled for production in 2023. The second series aired on 8 May 2025 on Channel 4's streaming service.

On 11 December 2025, The Horne Section started a twenty-four hour concert in Battersea Power Station, dubbed the "How-Long-Athon", to raise money for Stand Up to Cancer; consisted of only one song, "How Long" by Ace, and featured other comedians joining Horne on stage, including Isy Suttie, Kerry Godliman, Asim Chaudhry, Bridget Christie, Flo and Joan, Phil Ellis, Sara Pascoe, Beverley Knight, Jamelia, Kojey Radical, Mr Blobby, and Dara Ó Briain. By September 2009, Horne had created a series of tasks, which he emailed to twenty comedians and asked them to complete over the course of a year; these included Tim Key, Mark Watson, Joe Wilkinson and Mike Wozniak, all of whom have since appeared on the British Taskmaster television series. Their attempts were filmed, and in August 2010, Horne presented their efforts at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Billed as "The Task Master", Wozniak was the overall winner.

A second Fringe show, this time billed as Taskmaster II, included ten contestants, nine of whom had been in the first, and was held at the following festival in 2011; Josie Long was crowned winner.

Channel 4 paid for a pilot episode, before the show was ultimately picked up by Dave. Since 2015, Horne has served as co-host alongside Greg Davies in the Taskmaster series. It was originally broadcast on Dave and transferred to Channel 4 in 2020.

In 2018, Horne co-hosted the American remake of the show, which carried a shorter but similar format to the British series. Versions of the programme have also been made in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, and New Zealand. The show was awarded a BAFTA. A running joke in the show is that Davies introduces Horne as "Little Alex Horne".

Horne has since branched Taskmaster out to other events outside of television. In 2025, he hosted a series of games in a retirement home in Adderbury, and that same year he partnered up with English Heritage to tour the UK to set out tasks for members of the public to perform. In 2026, he and Davies toured the United States in a Taskmaster live experience show.

Other work and appearances In 2011, Horne appeared on BBC One's Celebrity Mastermind; his specialist subject was the comedian Ken Dodd, and he finished in 2nd place with a score of 25. During Comic Relief 2011's 24 Hour Panel People marathon, Horne appeared on the Call My Bluff segment, on a team with Tim Key and Roisin Conaty. Horne also appeared in the TV show on BBC Three called Britain in Bed in 2011. He appeared as a guest on The Matt Lucas Awards on 16 April 2013 where he won "The Bravest Guest" Award.

He has appeared eight times on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, seven as a Dictionary Corner guest, and once as a replacement for Joe Wilkinson. In April 2018, Horne voiced a talking Button in the BBC One's game show The Button. He has appeared twice as a contestant on The Chase on ITV.

Horne, along with Tim Key and Mark Watson, created the YouTube series No More Jockeys during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown in the UK, itself based upon their earlier BBC web series No More Women. Horne also hosts the YouTube channel Bad Golf with John Robins.

In 2025, Horne worked as a producer on a documentary about Chesham United F.C., set to be released on YouTube in episodes in December 2025.

In 2026, Horne provided voice over for Earwigs, an episode of Game Changer, on Dropout.

Personal life

Horne married former BBC business journalist Rachel Horne on 1 January 2005, The couple have three sons.

Horne appeared as a contestant on Countdown in August 2008, winning three matches before being defeated.

He is a birdwatcher, which he describes as the perfect activity "for someone who likes sport but is getting too old to play, likes the outdoors and is slightly anal". He is a supporter of Liverpool F.C. and is a director of his local team Chesham United F.C.

In January 2024, Horne was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Warwick.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 2003 Brain Candy Self, performer 4 episodes: "Families", "Shopping", "Exercise", "Surreal" 2008 Countdown Self, contestant Series 59; 4 episodes 2009–2010 We Need Answers Self, presenter Series 1 & 2; 16 episodes. Also creator, writer No More Women Self, commentator, contestant 10 episodes 2010 The Games That Time Forgot Self, presenter Television documentary film. Also writer 2011 Celebrity Mastermind Self, contestant Series 9; episode 9 Call My Bluff Self, contestant (team captain) Comic Relief Special 2012 Never Mind the Buzzcocks Self, host Series 26; episode 9 2012–2013 Dara Ó Briain: School of Hard Sums Self, special guest Series 1 & 2; 4 episodes 2013–2020 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Self, guest (with The Horne Section) 11 episodes 2014 Celebrity Fifteen to One Self, contestant Christmas Special Live at the Electric The Oracle Series 3, episode 4 2015 Drunk History Self, drunk storyteller Series 1, episode 5 The Electrictionary: Introduction The Announcer Short film 2015–present Taskmaster Self, The Taskmaster's assistant Series 1–21, 204 episodes; producer, creator, writer 2016 Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled Self, panellist Series 4, episode 10: "Cream Cakes and Pernod" 2016, 2018 Celebrity Chase Self, contestant 2 episodes 2018 Taskmaster (US) Self, The Taskmaster's assistant U.S. adaptation of Taskmaster. 8 episodes. Also producer The Horne Section Television Programme Self (with The Horne Section) Television Special The Button Self, The Button (voice) 8 episodes. Also producer 2018–2025 The Last Leg Self (with The Horne Section) 11 episodes 2019 Richard Osman's House of Games Self, contestant Series 3; 5 episodes 2019, 2022 Pointless Celebrities Self, contestant 2 episodes 2019–2022 Bad Golf Self, presenter Web series 1–3; 55 episodes 2019–2025 Taskmastermind Self, presenter Web series 1–3; 12 episodes 2020 Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer Self, presenter 8 episodes Richard Osman's House of Games Night Self, contestant Christmas Special 2020–2024 No More Jockeys Self, contestant Web series 1–5, started in lockdown; 87 episodes 2021 Would I Lie to You? Self, panellist Series 14; episode 7 Crouchy's Year-Late Euros Self, presenter 10 episodes I Literally Just Told You Self, contestant Series 1; episode 3: "Celebrity" 2022 The Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2C Self, contestant Series 5; episode 1 Blankety Blank Self, panellist Series 20; episode 10: "Christmas Special" 2022, 2025 The Horne Section TV Show Self (with The Horne Section) Series 1 and 2; 12 episodes; also producer 2024 Have I Got News for You Self, guest presenter Series 67; episode 10 2024, 2026 Taskmaster Australia Self (cameos), Concetta Caristo's Heavenly Voice & Horse Race Commentator Season 3, episode 9: "A Bit of a Pickle"; Season 5, episode 8: "Australia's Occasional Sweetheart" 2025 Jazz Emu: Ego Death Qwæsian Short film Game Changer Self, cameo & Voiceover Season 7, episode 6: "One and Done"; Season 8, episode 7: "Earwigs" Burger Van Man Police Dispatcher (voice) Short film