On release, the show was widely compared to Taskmaster, a Dave original programme in which comedians were set tasks to complete as individuals, which had moved to Channel 4 in 2020.
In the first series, which began in September 2021, the contestants were Toussaint Douglass, Ed Gamble, Kerry Godliman, Jessica Knappett, Jamali Maddix and Lou Sanders.
[1] Series 2 was shown from November to December 2022 with Maisie Adam, Fatiha El-Ghorri, Darren Harriott, Jessica Hynes, Phil Wang and Joe Wilkinson.
Series 3 of Outsiders began on 11 October 2023,[2] with contestants Roisin Conaty, Alan Davies, Guz Khan, Judi Love, Chris McCausland and Laura Smyth.
[6] Godliman positioned herself as a keen camper but her teammate, Douglass, felt he was doing most of the work; Gamble was competitive but his partner Sanders did not care about the results; and Knappett acted as "a sort of adoring pretend-wife" to Maddix, who had "a real survival streak".
[8] Bruce Dessau gave a positive review in Beyond the Joke, finding the show "a lot of fun to watch" and praising Mitchell as "a great host, playing up to his bumptious persona".