‘Glorious insanity’ of Ten’s hit new reality show Hunted

Ten’s hit new cat-and-mouse reality series Hunted went to absurd new lengths last night, with one of the weirdest TV moments of the year.

Ten’s hit new reality cat-and-mouse game show Hunted took a surreal turn in Sunday night’s episode, as two contestants went to absurd lengths to avoid capture by the ‘Hunters’.

Victorian contestants Stathi and Matt were shown donning some pretty dodgy disguises so they could “fly under the radar” before boarding a regional bus.

Surely their disguises did the opposite, though, with Matt putting on an ill-fitting blonde wig and sunglasses and the red-bearded Stathi slipping into a floral op-shop frock and covering his head with some black netting to become “nonna”:

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Best to fly under the radar – now where’s my blonde party wig?

Doesn’t seem suss at all.

Hunted sees contestants released in pairs in the centre of Melbourne with one simple instruction: To avoid capture by the team of intelligence officers tasked with tracking their movements. Those who last 21 days without being captured will share in the $100,000 prize pool.

A week in, and most of the contestants who’ve already been caught have been detected because they lingered too long with personal contacts – friends and family – who were offering them help.

‘Better not look suspicious – let’s lurk in the bushes while you zip me into this frock.’

With that in mind, Stathi and Matt went to extreme lengths to go incognito during their brief meeting with friend Katherine, who’d organised them a Kombi van for transport.

Nobody's gonna know... #HuntedAUpic.twitter.com/LOdBYjzXjP

— HuntedAU (@HuntedAU) July 24, 2022

Their meeting was perhaps the most bizarre scene of the season so far, as Katherine lingered at a public payphone, while Stathi – dressed in full nonna drag – walked in wide circles around the phone, head down, instructing her not to look at him but telling her to meet them under a nearby bridge.

In his efforts to avoid detection, he provided a traffic-stopping spectacle – one that fellow Ten star Kate Langbroek dubbed “glorious insanity” on social media. Others agreed:

“We didn’t see Stathi but we did see a mythical gypsy woman place a curse on a couple by a payphone” #huntedau

— Hunter Smith (@MrHunterSmith) July 24, 2022

Katherine, when was the last time you saw Stathi?

Katherine:
It was yesterday at a phone box and he was dressed as a Nonna

#HuntedAU

— Ian Brown (@1anBrown) July 24, 2022

Never seen a nonna circle a pay phone before #huntedau

— Matthew Whiting OAM (@fi5haa) July 24, 2022

If the hunters were watching, the dress may have fooled them but 2 people in their late 20’s using a pay phone is dead giveaway somethings not right #HuntedAU

— Dave (@21keno) July 24, 2022

Hunted has been a ratings hit for Ten in its first week on air, debuting last Sunday with 619,000 viewers across the five metro capitals – then rising to 711,000 viewers for episode two.

But it’s not been without some confusion from viewers, who have been left puzzled by just how the Hunted team of investigators have access to, say, live CCTV footage from inside a remote country ATM.

Turns out, the camera operators discreetly trailing each of the fugitives help to replicate some CCTV footage and send it back to base.

“From that footage, we are able to access it, but only if we’re in the right place, at the right time, with the right time parameters and confirm there are cameras there. Only then will we get that information. So once again, it’s completely fair as to how they simulate it,” Hunted intelligence officer Ben Owen told TV Tonight in a recent interview.