Yes, kids have cried on this show. But Tom Gleeson says it’s not his fault

4 days ago 3

By Nicole Elphick

October 3, 2025 — 8.30am

Tom Gleeson is quick to share there have been a couple of tears on the set of Hard Quiz Kids, the spin-off for contestants aged 10 to 12. But not for the reason you might think.

The Hard Quiz franchise has become a success in large part thanks to the dynamic between Gleeson and the contestants, where he roasts them and they give back as good as they get. But on Hard Quiz Kids it’s not any teasing from Gleeson that causes sobs, but simply good old-fashioned competitiveness.

Tom Gleeson returns in the second season of Hard Quiz Kids.

“Sometimes I’d boot a kid out and I could see the tears starting as they had to go backstage,” says Gleeson. “But invariably, they’re upset that they’d lost. They’re not really worried about what I say at all. I’m just a boring old man to them.

“It was [like] seeing a kid at an athletics carnival, who probably spent two months thinking they’re going to win, suddenly realising that they’re actually the seventh-fastest kid in their class.”

For 12-year-old Naomi, who appears on one of the first episodes of the show’s second season, competing with her expert topic of pop star Harry Styles, she is pleased that a junior take on the show exists.

“There have been so many seasons of the adult version,” she says. “It’s about time that the kids get to have a chance.”

While it’s the first time Naomi will appear on television, she was unruffled at the prospect of going head-to-head with Gleeson’s quick wit.

“He was actually really nice. We got to meet him beforehand, so we didn’t feel intimidated. He wasn’t much of a Harry Styles fan though, which was a bit of a downside.”

Naomi is a contestant on the first episode of Hard Quiz Kids season two, with her specialist subject Harry Styles.

With Hard Quiz a consistent ratings winner for the ABC, it was something of a no-brainer to launch this new version. Although Gleeson admits he had not anticipated the original would become so beloved by the younger set.

“We never expected it to be family entertainment,” says Gleeson. “We designed it to be an evil quiz show that adults would enjoy because it was so acerbic, but somehow whole families have been drawn into its dark humour.”

Both Hard Quiz and Hard Quiz Kids have more applicants than could possibly be featured as contestants, with Gleeson describing the shows as “spoilt for choice”. However, two people will never be given the chance to appear: the host’s own kids, aged 10 and 13.

“My children both expressed interest in going on the show,” he says. “I said that [they] can’t due to ABC guidelines. Plus it would just be a little bit weird. But they do enjoy watching the show, so it’s only natural that they’d want to play it.

“They’re kind of annoyed because they don’t get to. [But] I think they’d find it quite horrifying having to be on national TV and me wiping the floor with them in front of a live audience.”

I think [my kids would] find it quite horrifying … me wiping the floor with them in front of a live audience.”

Tom Gleeson

Though Gleeson was a recipient of the coveted Gold Logie in 2019 (he says the best thing about that was the “free publicity”) and currently hosts three successful TV shows, Hard Quiz, Hard Quiz Kids and Taskmaster Australia, he says small-screen stardom was never a driving ambition for him.

“It was a little bit of an accident,” says Gleeson. “I’ve always been a comedian, that’s the main thing. When Hard Quiz started [in 2016], I had already spent about 10 years doing pilots for hosting shows and was always missing out to other people. I was thinking: I’m bald, I’m middle-aged, that window may have passed and that’s probably not going to happen for me. But also, I hate to say it, it wasn’t really an aspiration. So when [Hard Quiz] was a hit, it was a big surprise.