The makers of C4’s hit fugitive show are looking for female volunteers.
Hunted wants more women to apply to the hit series, where contestants give up all of their personal information to a group of crack investigators then effectively disappear for a month.
Any contact with home, family or friends and the fugitives are likely to be caught.
The challenge starts when the contestants are taken to an agreed public area and asked to give up their phones. They’re handed a rucksack and some essential, including £250, accessed through a bank account. Then they’re allowed to go, and given a head start of just half an hour.
When 30 minutes is up, a team of former police and intelligence officers, known as the Hunters, is allowed to start their search. The Hunters are only given the volunteers’ names, ages, addresses and picture of their faces, as well as aerial footage of their escape.
It’s entirely up to each fugitive to decide whether they carry disguises, food or shelter with them, or whether they find those things as they go through their 28-day ordeal.
They are not allowed to leave this country and will have an embedded camera operator with them at all times to capture their every moment.
They must avoid being seen on the drones, helicopters and CCTV footage that the Hunters are allowed to access. The detectives have also been given permission to interrogate family members or friends, track the contestant’s phone if necessary, and watch their bank transactions.
After their month is over, and if they haven’t already been found, the volunteer must agree to be at a certain location and they will be crowned a winner. And the fewer people who succeed, the bigger the jackpot for those who do managed to complete the task.
Seems impossible? Since the series begin 2015, as many as 10 canny hopefuls have managed to outsmart the Hunters and win themselves big cash prizes. Now the show wants to encourage more women to take part.
It’s thought that not enough women are applying to be on the show for several reasons. It could be that the traditional image of a spy is a macho role, or because the task is physically demanding. It’s also much more dangerous for a woman to travel alone in this country than for a man. Some women may not be able to easily give up their commitments to caring for elderly relatives or children.
The contestants must be aged over 18 and produce a short audition video to complete their application. More information is available here.
Channel 4 explained: "We're looking for ordinary people to go on the run and try to disappear in one of the most watched nations on Earth.
"If you had to disappear tomorrow, for whatever reason - with some of the world's best investigators looking for you, and some of the most cutting edge technology tracking you, could you just vanish?"
