Hunted 2025 Unmasked: Inside Season 8’s Most Wanted Fugitives

The chase is on: an all-new cast hits the ground running as elite hunters close in — can they outsmart the pack before time runs out?

Hiding in 2025 is a tough ask. Cameras are everywhere, phones track everything, and people will happily post your face on the internet for clout. Which is exactly why Channel 4 keeps making Hunted: to see if anyone can still disappear. Fourteen contestants are about to try, while a team at Hunted HQ throws the kitchen sink at finding them — CCTV, ANPR number plate cameras, tracker dogs, even nationwide appeals to flush them out. If you make it to the end without getting nabbed, you split a £100,000 prize. No pressure.

This year’s fugitives

• Ste (47, project manager) and Chris (46, charity worker) — friends from Warrington

  Long-time fans of the show, these two actually prepped. A lot. They mapped out a countrywide web of friends-of-friends so they could call in favors anywhere. That network could be their secret weapon.

  Ste is registered blind and he is here to push back on how TV tends to frame disability. He wants to be seen — not as a stereotype, but as someone who can outfox a surveillance state like anyone else.

  'Being someone that is registered blind, you do not see people like me on TV. I wanted to break down that classic stereotype, because people like me are massively underestimated.'

  Between their separate social circles and a very practical plan, they might be the pair most likely to politely vanish.

• Andrew (51, farmer) and Robin (37, agricultural electrician) — friends

  Andrew is a sixth-generation farmer who has spent his life repeating the same seasonal rhythms since he was six. He and Robin signed up to shake that image off and prove they are more than the straw-in-the-teeth cartoon. Andrew wants to drop into a totally unfamiliar environment and not just survive — thrive. Expect grit, practical skills, and more fieldcraft than your average fugitive.

• Saffron (25, solicitor) and Dionne (55, payroll and compliance manager) — mother and daughter

  Bold move: they had never watched Hunted before applying, only checking it out after they were already cast. Prep consisted of joking around and treating themselves to sushi as a last meal. Once the chase started, the reality hit fast — no cash of their own, no phone, and begging for food and a shower. Saffron did not enjoy that part (understatement). This could either be chaotic fun or a teachable moment in why planning is a thing.

• Sean (47, sweep driver) and Marie (43, insurance team leader) — married, from Bristol

  Superfans who translated screen time into strategy. Marie leaned into full-time paranoia — in this game, that is not a bug, it is a feature — because the most suspicious players often last the longest. They lined up helpers in advance and even warned them: if the Hunters show up, do not let them roam your house. Cautious, disciplined, and already thinking two steps ahead.

• Jenni (34, prison officer) and Emma (38, business owner) — sisters

  Opposites, but in a complementary way. Emma is a die-hard Hunted fan and natural planner; Jenni had never seen an episode and signed on to back her sister. The dynamic is clear: Emma leads the logistics, Jenni keeps morale up and reads the room. They bicker like sisters but can clock each other’s mood at a glance, which is underrated when you are sleep-deprived and hiding in hedgerows.

• Cameron (27, decorator) and Simran (28, social media manager) — engaged

  They treated Hunted as a relationship stress test: trust, teamwork, endurance. Cameron found the whole thing paranoia-inducing; Simran called it exhilarating, challenging, and transformative. Preparation-wise, they did... almost none of it. Their philosophy was plan to have no plan. That spontaneity is either genius or reckless, especially since they also admitted they struggled with basic geography. Not knowing north from east on a national manhunt is, uh, suboptimal — but it might make great TV.

• Warren (35, builder) and Shaq (31, builder) — brothers-in-law

  Both describe themselves as analytical problem-solvers who were mentally ready before they even got the call. Warren prides himself on thinking around corners. Shaq did at least one very clever thing: he arranged a decoy to pretend to be him. Beyond that, they played it in the moment. If they can keep their cool, they could be very slippery.

How the game is stacked

The Hunters are not guessing. They have access to CCTV, ANPR tech that flags license plates, tracker dogs, and splashy public appeals to smoke contestants out. The fugitives who make it all the way to extraction get to split £100,000. Everyone else becomes a cautionary tale.

When and where

Hunted returns Sunday 12 October at 9pm on Channel 4.