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What’s your most controversial pop culture opinion?

I don’t know if this is controversial but I don’t like Gogglebox. I will say this publicly: I think the idea of a television show where you watch people interrupt a television show makes no sense. If I want people to interrupt me while I am watching TV, I will sit on my own couch with my family. I have tried to watch it but I cannot. It makes no sense to me. I know it’s a popular show! I know that it has even won awards. People have won awards for being filmed while they interrupt television shows. Think about that for a second.

Does anyone in your life still call you by your birth name (John)?

My mum sometimes calls me Johnny, which I don’t mind. John, I don’t like. I find John very boring. John Live would have been a very dull TV show. Rove is a nickname that I got from my sister when I was younger. When I started performing, I didn’t want anyone from high school coming to see me because I’d only just left, so I adopted it as a stage name. It stuck, which is fine because it’s what I preferred.

What has been your most memorable interaction with a fan?

Someone came to me at a cafe and handed me their baby, while I was paying for my coffee, and asked me to sign their baby. I put it to you, Sian – if I said, “Sign my baby”, where would you sign the baby? That’s what threw me for a loop. Firstly, I wouldn’t think it’s OK to sign a child. But if it was put to you, with the parent’s consent, the question then becomes: where is it OK to sign said child?

Um. A limb?

I panicked and signed it on the top of its beautifully bald little head. A blank canvas. At that point, we are now graffitiing a human child. I have no idea where that baby is now. They would be close to being an adult by now. If you’re reading this, I’m sorry that I scribbled on your head.

Did you adopt a training regimen in the lead-up to Taskmaster Australia?

All I did, like I’m sure many have done before me, is call as many former contestants as I could. I spoke to Wil Anderson and Peter Helliar and they were very, very helpful.

I went in with the idea that I had to commit to it 100% and enjoy it. If you get too caught up in trying to win, that’s where you can sometimes come unstuck. Joel Creasey does struggle in this season – but it results in some of the most entertaining moments.

If animals could talk, who would be the nicest?

Elephants would be really cool. Elephants are a matriarchy, so that means there’s a no dickhead policy. I want to have a good chat with an elephant. I think they’d have a lot of wisdom.

How often does someone shout “Say hi to your mum for me” at you on the street?

I brought that one on myself. It does make me chuckle if there are people around who don’t understand it is a catchphrase. It came about because I once genuinely meant it. I was on a phone call with a friend and I said, sincerely: “Say hi to your mum for me” because he was off to visit his parents. Another friend who was in the room with me and could only hear my side of the conversation, said: “Out of context, that was a really weird way to end a conversation.” I began using it as my strange end to standup sets. Obviously it stuck. Even last night, I closed my act by saying it.

Do you have a nemesis?

I don’t think so. Obviously, over the years, I’ve had people who have been put to me as nemeses. But it’s not a feud if it’s one-sided. That is just a person saying nasty things in your direction. I’ve never had a counter-strike.

Although – we used to have a dog who lived three doors up who barked at me every time I walked past. His name was Hercules. He’s sadly no longer with us. He was a tiny little thing. He had big dog energy. And every time I would walk past, I would say to him: “Hercules, you know me! I’m here every day!” Can you have a dog as a nemesis? I had no ill will towards Hercules. I certainly started to get very frustrated with him because I was trying to make amends and he just wouldn’t have it. Hercules was probably a big Gogglebox fan.

What are you secretly really good at?

Drawing. Everything I can do in various degrees of aptitude and skill, I have learned it somehow. Performing, telling jokes, being on live TV – all of that, I have learned somehow. The one thing I could always do naturally is draw. I did a fine arts degree, I majored in painting and minored in sculpture. But I didn’t like painting, I liked drawing cartoons.

So that’s been my true passion and natural ability all my life. I’ve released five children’s books and, as much as people talk about me being an author, it is more important to me that I do all of the drawings.

Which movie scarred you for life as a kid?

Watership Down. My parents took me and my two older sisters to see what we all thought was just an animated film about rabbits. If you haven’t seen it, all of those rabbits are mercilessly torn to shreds by a pack of dogs at the end. It is so confronting and so distressing. I have the slightest glimmer of a memory of all of us in the cinema afterwards looking at each other, completely gobsmacked. Any parents who might be reading this: yes, there is an animated rabbit on the poster but it should be rated M.

Did Kevin Rudd ever tell you what he thought of the Rove long-running spoof, Kevin Rudd, PM?

He loved it. You know he loved it! This was the man who rose to fame off young people wearing “Kevin 07” T-shirts. He loved that we made it seem like he was an international secret agent. He was a fan to the point that, I don’t know if he requested it, but certainly he was on the show once and we put together every episode on a DVD box set and gave it him. I got him to sign a copy for me too. I’m pretty sure I still have it somewhere.

What has been your most cringeworthy run-in with a celebrity?

This one might seem like an odd one, but I’m a massive professional wrestling fan. There is a professional wrestler called Brock Lesnar, who is a huge name in the WWE and UFC as well. I was in a lift and he was there with his offsider, another very famous wrestling personality called Paul Heyman. We were all on our way up to do radio interviews and a person introduced me to them. I said: “Oh, I’m a big fan.” Just before they got out of the lift, I asked for a photo. They were in a rush but they said yes.

So I rummaged through my bag to get out my digital camera – this was pre-cameraphones – and I turned it on and realised the battery was flat. So I looked up at them, and I went: “I’m so sorry, but it turns out my battery’s flat. Never mind.” So they walked off but then Paul Heyman turned around and said: “Maybe next time get your battery charged.”

I felt so tiny. In the journey from ground floor to first, I went from “please meet television identity Rose McManus” to tiny sad fan. I wish I had not asked for a photo. It was a crushing defeat. Much like those experienced by the people who fought Brock Lesnar.

  • Rove McManus is a contestant on the latest season of Taskmaster Australia, available to watch on Channel 10 on Thursdays at 7.30pm or stream on 10 Play