Hunted is back for 2022: Meet the contestants taking part in the new series.
Eleven ordinary people from all over the UK have turned fugitive. If they can successfully outrun the elite team of hunters for 23 days they will win a share of £100,000.
For the first time on Hunted the fugitives must make their escape from an island, the Isle of Wight, under the ever-watchful eye of the hunter helicopter which is streaming live video direct to HQ. As the hunters circle the fugitives, they must work out how to get off the island without being caught.
Leading the investigation is Assistant Chief Constable of Cleveland Police, Lisa Theaker. Lisa has led many complex homicide investigations. Now she oversees a handpicked team of top police and military personnel, armed with the powers of the state, which includes live CCTV, ANPR, GPS positioning, drones, tracker dogs, mobile phone monitoring and publicity campaigns.
Hunted airs Sunday and Monday nights at 9PM on Channel 4 and All 4.
Hunted 2020 contestants
Sarah
35-year-old solo fugitive Sarah is a Police Officer from Norfolk.
Sarah says of signing up: “It was really because of my ten-year-old son encouraging me to take part. I’ve watched all the series and loved the programme always thought it would be amazing to do, but it was when my ten-year-old watched a couple of episodes and said to me, ‘Mum, you’d be great at this. You should apply…’ When I saw applications, right? And I thought, Yeah, why not? Let’s do it, let’s do it. And I did.
Sarah adds: “I just plan on moving very quickly, never getting too comfortable using the help of the lovely general public. Hopefully I’ll be approachable and friendly in nature like I normally am, and they’ll be willing to help me and then just use my knowledge within the place to try and not mess up to give anything away to the hunters.”
Amarinder and Shoba
34-year-old Dentist Amarinder and 59-year-old Admin Officer Shoba are a mother and son duo from Essex.
On signing up, Amarinder says: “One of the biggest reasons why I wanted to do it is because I wanted to go on an adventure with my mum. I wanted you to take part in Hunted because I find my life has been feeling a little bit boring with my career and stuff. I needed excitement in my life. I get bored really easily. But being the baby of four, I’m closest to my mum. She’s lived her life and I want to go on this crazy, amazing adventure with her.”
Shoba adds: “I’m taking part in this because again, I haven’t had an opportunity to do anything for myself. I’ve just been a mum doing things to fulfil my kids’ lives, and it’s about time I do something for myself, so I’m going to go for it. And obviously I’m going with my son – we’re quite close and we’re just going to enjoy those moments and experience adventure. And I’d love to show you can do something like this at any age. I feel maybe I might inspire people out there.”
Grace and Abi
24-year-old drama teacher Grace and 21-year-old Occupational Therapist Abi are sisters from Hampshire.
Grace says: “Abi applied on behalf of both of us and didn’t tell me about it until I got a phone call from someone who said your sister Abi has applied to go on the show, and I was like, ‘Oh, OK. That could be fun.’ Never thinking that we’d actually get here. And now here we are.”
Abi reveals: “I’ve always been a fan of Hunted. I loved the whole premise of the show really. Just how you can see humans really pushed to the extreme. You can see the kindness of human nature and the strangers that help people. You get what is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something that we never would do. I mean, I never anticipated I would be a fugitive on the run in my life, and I certainly don’t hope I will be again!”
James and Nathan
32-year-old Postman James and 28-year-old Graphic Designer Nathan are best friends from Castleford.
James was diagnosed deaf shortly after birth and Nathan lost his hearing aged 2 after contracting meningitis.
Nathan says: “There are loads of barriers for deaf people, and I want to prove that you can break down the barriers and overcome the challenges. I want to let hearing people who watch on national TV see how hard it is for deaf people living through daily life.”
James adds: “I’d like people within the deaf community to see me doing this on TV and feel confident enough to do what I’m doing. When they see me I hope that it will motivate them to think, “Well, I can do that. He can’t talk. He’s profoundly deaf. I could do that.”
Meurig and Elinor
30-year-old Mental Health Nurse Meurig and 22-year-old Waitress Elinor are a couple from Swansea.
Meurig says: “I felt like I wanted to challenge myself by taking on something quite adventurous like this. I’ve been a little stagnant over the last few years so wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone in order to sort of understand myself a little more.”
Elinor adds: “I also wanted to challenge myself and work on my own self-confidence, particularly in my own decision making. I want to make more choices, stand by them and be able to trust my gut more!”
Liam and Katie
36-year-old Plumber Liam and 34-year-old Art Tutor Katie are a couple from Sheffield.
Katie says of signing up: “We mainly love adventuring, exploring and doing cool things and I thought, well this will be cool! I applied, didn’t really give Liam much choice and just thought, why not? I genuinely didn’t think we’d get picked and now we’ve been given the opportunity to do something amazing that we’ll talk about forever and it’s an experience that both of us are just raring to do.”
Liam adds: “Katie said, ‘I’m going to apply for Hunted’ so I said ‘ok’… Then we got through an audition, and it all got more exciting. I think it’s just the excitement and thrill of taking part in something that’s going to be the biggest experience of my life. Being a self-employed plumber who’s on his knees for five, six days a week – the thought of not having to work for a month is absolute bliss.”
Hunted airs on Sunday and Monday nights at 9PM.
You can watch episodes online for free and catch up with past episodes and series via the All4 player here.