diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 49b7925e54..2eabc6c356 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ Ansible Changes By Release
   (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/36721)
 * Protect from inventory plugins using verify incorrectly
   https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/36591
-
+* loop control templating
+  https://github.com/ansible/ansible/pull/36124
 
 <a id="2.4.3"></a>
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py b/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
index 4533bf4efd..75e2ee8bcb 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/executor/task_executor.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ from ansible import constants as C
 from ansible.errors import AnsibleError, AnsibleParserError, AnsibleUndefinedVariable, AnsibleConnectionFailure, AnsibleActionFail, AnsibleActionSkip
 from ansible.executor.task_result import TaskResult
 from ansible.module_utils.six import iteritems, string_types, binary_type
-from ansible.module_utils._text import to_text
+from ansible.module_utils._text import to_text, to_native
 from ansible.playbook.conditional import Conditional
 from ansible.playbook.task import Task
 from ansible.plugins.connection import ConnectionBase
@@ -277,11 +277,14 @@ class TaskExecutor:
         loop_var = 'item'
         label = None
         loop_pause = 0
+        templar = Templar(loader=self._loader, shared_loader_obj=self._shared_loader_obj, variables=self._job_vars)
         if self._task.loop_control:
-            # the value may be 'None', so we still need to default it back to 'item'
-            loop_var = self._task.loop_control.loop_var or 'item'
-            label = self._task.loop_control.label or ('{{' + loop_var + '}}')
-            loop_pause = self._task.loop_control.pause or 0
+            # FIXME: move this to the object itself to allow post_validate to take care of templating
+            loop_var = templar.template(self._task.loop_control.loop_var) or 'item'
+            loop_pause = templar.template(self._task.loop_control.pause)
+            # the these may be 'None', so we still need to default to something useful
+            # this is tempalted below after an item is assigned
+            label = (self._task.loop_control.label or ('{{' + loop_var + '}}'))
 
         if loop_var in task_vars:
             display.warning(u"The loop variable '%s' is already in use. "
@@ -295,7 +298,10 @@ class TaskExecutor:
 
             # pause between loop iterations
             if loop_pause and ran_once:
-                time.sleep(loop_pause)
+                try:
+                    time.sleep(float(loop_pause))
+                except ValueError as e:
+                    raise AnsibleError('Invalid pause value: %s, produced error: %s' % (loop_pause, to_native(e)))
             else:
                 ran_once = True
 
@@ -323,7 +329,6 @@ class TaskExecutor:
             res['_ansible_ignore_errors'] = task_fields.get('ignore_errors')
 
             if label is not None:
-                templar = Templar(loader=self._loader, shared_loader_obj=self._shared_loader_obj, variables=self._job_vars)
                 res['_ansible_item_label'] = templar.template(label)
 
             self._rslt_q.put(
@@ -399,7 +404,7 @@ class TaskExecutor:
                     # * lists can be squashed together
                     # * dicts could squash entries that match in all cases except the
                     #   name or pkg field.
-        except:
+        except Exception:
             # Squashing is an optimization.  If it fails for any reason,
             # simply use the unoptimized list of items.
 
diff --git a/lib/ansible/playbook/loop_control.py b/lib/ansible/playbook/loop_control.py
index b983ee88ed..266e826016 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/playbook/loop_control.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/playbook/loop_control.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from ansible.playbook.attribute import FieldAttribute
 from ansible.playbook.base import Base
 
 
+# FIXME: loopcontrol should not inherit attributes from base, just uses it for load
 class LoopControl(Base):
 
     _loop_var = FieldAttribute(isa='str')