I'm a Hunter on Channel 4's Hunted and this is what it's really like to chase down fugitives

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

Former soldier Jordan Wylie, 42, from Blackpool is a hunter on Channel 4’s Hunted and Celebrity Hunted, where people go on the run and try to evade capture by a team of intelligence experts. He’s also an ambassador for the Army Cadet Force and is embarking on an expedition to Antarctica in late November.

Here he tells us about his life pre-Hunted and what it's really like to chase down fugitives...

FROM THE SEA TO TV I joined the Army at 16 and was a frontline soldier for 10 years in The King’s Royal Hussars, doing multiple tours of Iraq and Northern Ireland. After I left, I went into maritime security, where I protected ships from pirates off the Somali coast.

I was later asked to become a consultant on the film Captain Phillips with Tom Hanks — advising on tactics, what the pirates wore, and their strategies. Out of nowhere, Channel 4 called me about Hunted, which I’ve now done for eight years. It’s one thing to know your stuff, but a lot of it is being OK on camera and entertaining the audience.

HOW TO HUNT You need surveillance skills, discipline and patience, and you have to be vigilant and alert for long periods of time. We’re in the car for 16–18 hours a day with the same people for six to seven weeks. I might be watching someone’s house for 24 hours. Before the show starts, we do a week’s worth of training where all the hunters discuss the latest technology — surveillance devices, bugging systems and cameras you can put on a lapel.

MISSING IN ACTION Hunted shows that it’s incredibly difficult to go missing in England. We’re under surveillance and being tracked in everything we do — spending money, making calls, posting on social media. People who go missing are probably only not found because the authorities haven’t allocated the resources.

THE BEST PLAN IS NO PLAN Our team quickly recognise a pattern, so the fugitives need to be difficult to predict. Most reach out to their friends and family, who we’re probably monitoring. I’d opt towards going into the rural environment, because there’s less CCTV. Avoid phones, vehicles and major cities. I don’t think people realise how intrusive the show is. If you’ve got a skeleton in your closet, we’re gonna find it.

IT’S 100% REAL When I’m chasing a fugitive, the adrenaline is always high and I am doing everything I can to catch that person. If they get away, it’s because they’ve outrun or outsmarted us. We’ve got police, pilots and interrogators… we would never let anyone get away for TV purposes. It’s our reputation!

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