On Tuesday night we saw the Hunters close in on aunt and niece team Megan and Gracie, as they attempted to use a series of contacts to evade capture. Sprung during a transfer, Gracie took off on foot trying to literally outrun the Ground Hunters, while her aunt bolted in the other direction.
As Gracie was captured, we were left hanging as to the whereabouts of her aunt, but on Wednesday night we saw Megan realising that not only was she alone in the game, but Gracie had all of their resources on her when she was caught.
Alone, with teams of Hunters circling the area, Megan took refuge in a large bush.
“That was probably one of the most intense experiences of my life,” she told 10 Play, “just sitting there knowing there was a drone in the air… two Hunter cars pulled up behind the bush and that’s how I heard they got Gracie.
“I didn’t know they had her at that point, I heard them talking, who captured her and having a bit of a laugh, and I was like holy sh*t.”
Revealing she was hiding out for over an hour and a half, Megan overheard the Hunters’ plans to continue to search for her using a drone, so she decided to make a dash for it. Sadly, it wasn’t long until the Hunters caught up with her too, ending their time on the run.
“It feels real, at the time your whole body is absolutely shaking and that paranoia is full-on,” Megan said, adding that there were a mix of emotions after that initial rush of trying to outrun the Hunters.
“For me, it was a relief that we didn’t have to stay in that feral caravan park, there were some creepers in there — I feel like that’s where real fugitives go to hide,” she said, laughing. “We gave up a good fight… I had them panicking about where I was and Gracie gave up a good run.
“[But we were] sad it was over because we had so much more to give. We had burner phones, money, contacts, we were sorted!”
While the pair had felt pretty secure in the early stages of their run, Megan said they knew the Hunters were closing in on them thanks to a clever social media strategy.
“If a Hunter had been to your house to check up on us, we asked that person to change their profile picture to them and their animal so we could check-in with someone along the way, borrow a phone and have a look at their profile picture. If it now had a dog in it we were like, holy sh*t they’re onto us!”
Ahead of the series, Megan and Gracie had some pretty hardcore planning sessions, including watching every season of the UK and US versions of the show, and listening to podcasts to pick up any tips or tricks along the way.
“Not being from Victoria was really challenging,” Megan added, “and also not being from a big city… thinking on your feet is the factor that comes into this. You really have no clue as to where the Hunters are going to pop up or when.
“You’re not able to switch off or relax, it’s full-on in terms of having to really go okay, let’s just go with it! When you’re stressed it’s really hard to think clearly,” she continued.
“There were some points where the only thing I could hear or think about was my breath. I was trying to calm my mind to go, okay, what can I do next?”
Since the show, Megan said there was a settling in period where she was still looking over her shoulder and feeling on-edge.
“But it’s also really hard to transition from such a high, all the adrenaline, and then the next day you’re sitting back at work,” she said.
“Managing those feelings was a bit hard, you’re like… I want to go and rob a bank or something,” she laughed. “We were talking about what we were going to do next, join a circus or something to get our rush!
“Day-to-day is boring after you do something like that.”
Hunted continues Sunday - Tuesday at 7.30 on 10 and 10 Play
