Celebrity Hunted for Stand Up To Cancer
Channel 4's hit factual thriller Celebrity Hunted for Stand Up to Cancer returns for a second series as 8 famous faces attempt to evade capture for 14 days. Hoping to outrun the Hunters are funnyman Dom Joly and TV star Vicky Pattison, Olympian Louis Smith joining Strictly Come Dancing pro AJ Pritchard, Sky News anchor Kay Burley alongside politician and former Royal Marine Commando Johnny Mercer MP, and Love Island finallists Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinay.
Which of the celebrity fugitives will evade capture for the full 14 days, and who will find themselves Hunted?
Celebrity Hunted for Stand Up To Cancer starts Tuesday 16th October at 9:15pm on Channel 4
AJ Pritchard & Louis Smith
Why did you two want to go on the run and be Hunted?
Louis: It's a challenge.
AJ: It sure is. Obviously it's for a fantastic cause, but the main reason, other than that, is that it's like being big kids, it's like a giant game of hide-and-seek around the whole country with no rules. Who wouldn't want to do that?
Why did you two decide to partner up for it?
AJ: Obviously we know each other. We thought that competitive mentality, that need to win we both have is what really did it for me. That's going to help us so much.
Louis: There are a lot of people you know you wouldn't want to be stuck with in a situation like this but me and AJ have the same kind of work ethic, same background...
AJ: The same crazy brains. We think outside the box!
Talk us through your strategy...
AJ: Our main strategy for day one is not to get caught! The main things is to get out of London as quick as possible.
Louis: We don't want to be the first ones to get caught for sure.
AJ: Sprint as fast as possible to a nice car, get a car to an airfield and get out of the area. That's pretty much day one sorted in our heads. Louis doesn't like flying he told me this, so I made sure we get in a plane!
Louis: I don't like getting on the big planes let alone, little propeller planes. I'm still waiting for them to find out if they got me a parachute.
AJ: We're all laughing at him but he's been deadly serious. He's like, 'I want to have a parachute on when we get in the plane!"
Louis: I won't wear it but you feel ten times better knowing that there is a parachute on board. If your plane is going down you whack it on. You pull the string somewhere, the shoot blows out and you save your life!
Once you're out of the city are you going to rough it?
AJ: Yeah, get out of CCTV in London, get out as soon as possible and then just literally go off grid. We'll use people we don't know. We're ready to camp even though I did say to Louis, I've got the tent it's great and then he told me he's never camped before in his life!
Louis: I've never slept outside. I almost slept in a tent once then I went inside the house. The closest I've ever been to sleeping outside is that I slept in my car once. I had an argument with my first ever girlfriend. That was as closest I ever got to sleeping outside. Our plan is to use people's houses but there is the tent as a last resource. AJ was like, "We need to just be upping the stakes. Just walking through the forest staying away from people, and cameras, and stuff like that". I'm totally up for it. I've just never put myself in this situation before.
Kay Burley and Johnny Mercer MP
Why did you two want to do this show?
Johnny: I wanted to do this show because every year I do something for charity. I use my incredibly privileged position as a member of parliament to raise money for charity. Last year I did something for Helping Heroes, Justice of Women, cycling around Europe, and this year I'm going on the run with the brilliant Kay Burley to raise money for Stand Up To Cancer.
Kay: I'm doing it because I have a very strong connection with several cancer charities, and I always try and raise their profile if I possibly can. I think it's not just about raising money, I think it's about raising the profile of the charity as well. So when I was approached to do Hunted I was delighted. I approached Johnny and said, "Please will you come with me?" He's brilliant, he's talented, he was a former commando so I know he's going to look after me and hopefully we'll have a lot of fun along the way as well.
You’ve spoken in the past about your own cancer scare so it must be an issue close to your heart?
Kay: Since I was first approached to do this show three of my very closest girlfriends have all died from brain tumours, it's a bloody wretched disease. My girlfriends were in their fifties and sixties and each one of them has suddenly died of a brain tumour, either as a result of breast cancer or secondary cancer. Actually, one of them died very quickly, so I'll be thinking about them a lot as we walk towards the finish line.
What would they think of you doing this?
Kay: I can hear them all saying to me, you know, “you’re a daft bat, but thank you!”
Obviously, given your background, your military background, this must be a walk in the park?
Johnny: Well, this is a bit of a mess because my skill in the military was coordinating aircraft to drop bombs and, fortunately no-one lets you do that in London anymore, so I'm not sure what skills I bring, but I will certainly try and keep Kay's spirits up and, look you know, she's a great woman and I think we'll keep each other going and we will hopefully be successful and raise as much money as we can for Stand Up To Cancer.
You both must be so well connected, so what is the strategy?
Kay: Well our strategy is to go on the run, to have some fun, to try and evade the Hunters and to use our network as best we can. We've got quite a strong network between us, and we may use some of them, we may use all of them, we may use none of them, but we're safe in the knowledge that they're there if we need them.
Johnny: There's an element of planning in there, but I think also we're just going to use Kay's brilliant capability to speak to people randomly in the street and ask for stuff! I think that's going to come in really, really handy actually, and so I'm looking forward to hanging on her coat tails on occasion. I'm slightly more shy in that regard, although now I have to talk to people about weird stuff like politics, so maybe I should be better at it, but I'm hoping that she'll lead the way.
Kay: He's hiding his light under a bushel. It's not true at all. You know, we spent quite a lot of time together over the last few weeks, getting to know each other a little bit better ahead of going on the run and sleeping in a tent. So you know, he's very personable, he's very easy going and he's quite easy on the eye, so I think he'll be all right.
Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinay
Why did you go and do this?
Chris: I think, for me, this is a fantastic opportunity to help raise money for such a great charity and for our competitive nature, it’s something right up our street. To put your competitive nature into something like this, which you'll never be able to do again, is exciting. It's something I've always wanted to do. I used to watch Mantracker, which is like a foreign version, a similar kind of thing where you reach an end goal. So I love all this kind of stuff.
Kem: I think it's the same for me. Me and Chris love doing this stuff together, we’re just grateful to be given this opportunity. Of course, it’s for an amazing cause as well so that we just feel like we want to be part of it and use what we've done over the last year to help towards something that's amazing. We saw how much it benefited last year. So when they asked us if we would be on the show, it was a no-brainer. I'm more scared than him though!
Why are you scared?
Kem: I'll be honest. I think I’m going to have mental breakdown when I'm on the run. Obviously, I’ve spoken about that I suffered anxiety before and I think going on the run will make it probably worse.
How will you control that?
Kem: To be fair, I know how to control it. My anxiety is a lot better now, but I've never been in this type of situation. I'm expecting to be a bit shocked and a bit overwhelmed with probably feeling anxious while I'm on the run because I've never done it before. I got Chris to talk to. At the end of the day, it’s not real life, but I know I will get anxious, but it’s something I will handle. I took that on when I knew I was going to do the show anyway.
Chris: I think there’ll be anxiety and a bit of paranoia because it is an environment that you aren't ever going to find yourself in unless you’ve done something wrong in real life.
Kem: I'll be honest, I think there’s definitely going to be a couple of emotional moments when we are on our own. Everyone is used to us being happy and messing around but this show us in a different light. We are very sensitive souls!
Fans are going to see the stripped back version of you both…
Kem: That's what we wanted to show as well. People are going to see a completely a different side to us. Obviously, we've never done anything for Channel 4 before and people might not even know us because not everyone might be a fan of Love Island. I think it'll give people a chance to see what me and Chris are like. We're both very family-oriented boys, very traditional people. I think people will see that. We’re just normal geezers. Do you know what I mean?
How competitive are you both going into this?
Chris: We want to win. We wouldn't sign up if we were satisfied with surviving a week, we want to win, we’re very competitive!
Kem: He used to be in the clubs so he’s good at all this outdoorsy stuff!
What’s your strategy?
Kem: Our strategy is that we don't have a strategy so then they don't know what we could do because we don't know what we’ll be doing from one minute to the next!
Chris: Yeah, we've got an escape plan and that leads us north and then we go from there taking things day-by-day. But we've got an escape plan from up North back down South too, so we’ll see what happens.
Kem: We're hoping to use our charm to get us places! We think, not in the arrogant way, that when we are together we are quite strong because we have a lot of fans who will hopefully help us. The problem is that everyone wants a picture with us all the time and we’re rubbish at saying no. We’re just going to ask people if they wouldn’t mind posting it but say they saw us in all these random places to try and throw the Hunters off.
Dom Joly and Vicky Pattison
How did this pairing come about?
Dom: I had to pick a girl and I really wanted a winner! I've done a couple of shows where I thought I was going to do quite well and I didn't. I mean, I only came fourth in the jungle and she won it! I'd watch Geordie Shore. I knew she was about the only person to have been to university, she’s the intellectual of Geordie Shore! Then she bloody won the jungle. She's funny and mischievous. I just thought when I watch Hunted, what makes me laugh is when they tease each other and take the piss. I thought it would be quite interesting because we’re chalk and cheese really.
What did you think when you got the call?
Vicky: To be honest with you, I was absolutely buzzing. It's really funny, we've just been talking about this in the car. There's been a talk of us doing it with so many different partners and it just never quite panned out. When I got the call about Dom, I just said…
Dom: She said, ”He’s an idiot but it might work!” We're both fans of the show. The one thing I think we know, this is what I love about Vicky, she's analysed it as much as I have. Having said this, we'll probably get caught on the first day. But what we’ve learnt from watching the show before is that you really need to be as unpredictable as possible and you need to keep away from patterns. I'm 50. She's 30. She's a Geordie. I'm from the Cotswolds. We couldn't be more different. We have no idea where either of us are going to go. I think that's going to confuse things slightly! So we make a good team!
Why did you both want to do a show?
Vicky: To start off, we’re both major fan girls for Hunted.
Dom: Fanboy!
Vicky: Fangirl, fanboy. I am a huge…I don't think it's adrenaline junkie?
Dom: Drinker?
Vicky: Yes, drinker, that's fair! But I am an adrenaline junkie, if there's anything I can do where I'm going to test myself or there's potential for growth or even just…
Dom: Growth? Come on!
Vicky: I tell you honestly, Dom. I'm such a cliché.
Dom: She really is! She was giving me quotes on how to improve myself. She's brilliant at getting people's names right. I always forget people's name. I'm terrible. She does that thing where she repeats someone's name four times when she meets you. She got that from Simon Cowell's book. She’s been reading books about people like him to help her to grow!
So if Vicky’s doing it to ‘grow’, why are you doing it Dom?
Dom: I like shows which even if you're Richard Branson, you wouldn't be able to get that experience unless you robbed a bank. It's possible Richard Branson might get bankrupt, go on the run and get chased, but I doubt it! I love the idea that we're doing something you'd never have the chance of ever doing. My kids watch this show. It's the only show we watch together. They said, "If you get asked to do that, you've got to do it." We watched it with Spencer and Jamie last year. We were like, "Oh, I've got to do that!”
So what is your strategy?
Dom: There is no strategy. That's our strategy! That's what's cool, everyone else seems to have a plan. They've all thought about what they're going to do. Now, we're not sure if it's because we're lazy, but we have no plan.
I don't know about anyone else but I am incredibly excited for this series it's going to provide some TV gold moments and potentially funny moments that has us in barrels of laugh all of course for such a great cause.
You can make a donation by phone by calling 0300 123 4444. All donations go to Cancer Research UK in support of the Stand Up To Cancer campaign.
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