HIDE AND SNEAK
Furious contestant on C4’s Hunted accuses team of crack trackers of cheating
Siva and Jay of The Wanted on the celebrity version A CONTESTANT from the new series of Channel 4’s game show Hunted has accused the professional chasers of cheating.
Ex-policeman Jamie Clark, one of nine contestants, claimed trackers attempted to contact people who were off limits.
Clark, 37, said: “There’s an agreed list of people known to the fugitives whom the hunters are allowed to call but the hunters tried to talk to people whom they shouldn’t have been talking to.
“They gave my pregnant wife, Lez, a really hard time – the hunters put her through the mill and I was so angry.
“She’s a serving police officer but was treated like a criminal because she wouldn’t do what they wanted her to do.
“I’m disappointed when I stuck rigidly to the rules. It was roguish and The show’s team of hunters unprofessional on their part.” TV insiders said show makers are desperate to win after a series of defeats.
Four fugitives shared €100,000 in series one, while two people won last year before Jay Mcguiness and Siva Kaneswaran – of boy band The Wanted – won the celebrity version this year.
The money given to the fugitives has also been reduced, from £450 in the first series to £100 – half in cash, and half on a credit card. This means the fugitives will be forced to use an ATM earlier, thus revealing their whereabouts.
Channel 4 said: “The independent adjudicator for Hunted was satisfied there was no cheating. Jamie’s wife was on the agreed contact list and their investigation was conducted professionally according to her situation.”
■ Hunted returns to Channel 4 at 9pm on Thursday, with contestants needing to avoid capture for 25 days to win.