Hunted Australia star explains why Channel 10’s version is bigger and better than its international counterparts
It has been a big hit for the starving Channel 10.
And now one of the stars of Hunted Australia says the local show is the best version of the international franchise.
The real-life adventure series revolves around a team of surveillance experts who ‘hunt’ 20 contestants to evade arrest for 21 days, with the eventual winner raking in a $100,000 cash prize.
Ben Owen, a British intelligence expert who has starred in the British version of the franchise, says the series Down Under produced is bigger and better than its international rivals.
“I’m not just saying it because I’m talking to an Australian journalist,” Owen said of his claims in the Announce sun on Monday.
Pictured: British intelligence expert Bill Owen says Aussie version of reality franchise Hunted is better than US and British series
Owen told the Herald Sun on Monday that the series produced Down Under – pictured – is bigger, better and more exciting than its international rivals
Hunted has been a huge hit for Channel 10, which was starved of ratings
“For me it’s the most exciting thing I’ve done,” he continued.
“(The local version) It has double the number of fugitives and we have less time to catch them. Tactically, we really struggle to get so many people into such a vast area in such a short time.’
Elsewhere in the chat, Owen, who was involved with the US version of the show, said the surveillance team views the events of the show as “real life.”
Channel 10 was quick to commission a second season for 2023 after the show’s debut series averaged 1.09 million viewers nationwide across its nine episodes.
Hunter Australia was also Channel 10’s most successful relaunch since the first season of The Masked Singer in 2019.
Hunted was also a winner for streaming platform 10Play, scoring the biggest catch-up audience since The Bachelor in 2020.
Hunted Australia’s latest series, which is scheduled to end on August 6, isn’t quite the spectacular success of its first season.
Pictured: A scene from Season 2 of Hunted Australia
The series, which premiered on July 18, with 10 teams of 2 people, scored 524,000 subway viewers.
Monday’s episode fared poorly against the FIFA World Cup, landing just 362,000 fans in the subway ratings.
Last year’s season started with 18 contestants on the run from the hunters, but only two made it through the full 21 days to collect the $100,000 prize pool.
Rob Harneiss and Stathi Vamvoulidis were crowned champions at the blood-curdling season finale last August.
Owen says the Australian series Hunted is better because the locals have more contestants to capture in a wider area. Pictured: The cast of Hunted US