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Hunted's 'Chief' David Craig responds to claims the show is 'scripted'
EXCLUSIVE: Dr David Craig reveals the truth behind the reality show.
Hunted Australia’s Chief Investigator Dr David Craig has responded to claims that the popular Channel 10 series is ‘scripted’ and ‘fake’.
The reality show, which is set to return for a second season on Monday, July 17, follows pairs of everyday Australians acting as ‘Fugitives’ on the run from highly-skilled Hunters attempting to locate and capture them.
Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle about the new season, David Craig slammed speculation that the show is heavily produced.
“A lot of people say it's scripted or whatever, it’s simply not,” he says. “I wouldn't have anything to do with that. There are no scripts, there’s nothing to follow. It's dynamic, and you never know what's going to happen.”
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David added that he believes the reason why people find the show so entertaining to watch is because it’s “authentic” and “as real as it possibly could be”.
“No one knows what we're going to do as Hunters,” he details. “No one tells me where to send the ground Hunters or what they can do. I'll decide that and I will send them where I want them and that will be based on the intelligence that the Hunters gather.
“And the Fugitives, they can go anywhere they want within certain parameters that I have not been told what they are, but they have certain things they can't do. But apart from those things, they have free will to do whatever the hell they like.
“I've done a whole range of different training scenarios at the highest level that law enforcement can deliver, and this is the most realistic training exercise you can get.”
What can fans expect from season two?
Following last year’s inaugural season, David shares that the season two contestants learned from the mistakes of the season one cast and made things much more difficult for the Hunters.
“In season one everything was a little bit fresh and a little bit new, and by the time season two had come around I think the fugitives had researched what had happened in other series in other countries,” he says. “They picked up some pretty good techniques and some skills that we didn't expect.
“I like to do some training with the Hunters as a group before the season starts so that we’re on the money with what we're doing and we're working efficiently and effectively because it's a competition. We all want to win, and particularly as Chief my reputation’s on the line, so I want us to perform as high as we can.
“We worked out what we could do in certain strategies and certain circumstances, and then to our surprise, most of the fugitives didn't do any of those. But anyway, we were well prepared.”
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David added that although he knows the end result, he’s looking forward to watching the new season on TV to see what the Hunters missed.
“That was always appealing for me watching season one when the ground Hunters go storming into a place because we don't know if fugitives are actually there and we missed them or they turned up after us or that they'd already left,” he says.
“I don't know until I actually see the show, so I really enjoy watching it myself.”
Hunted starts 7:30pm Monday, July 17 on 10 and 10 Play
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