As all other fugitives have been hunted, only two teams remain and are set to race to the extraction point in Hunted Australia’s 2024 grand finale.
Hunted’s 2024 Grand Finale premieres on 8 September on 10 and 10 Play.
Seven of the nine teams have been eliminated so far throughout the season and going into the grand finale, only Andy and Deb and Romanee and Chelsea remain.
Director of content at Endemol Shine Australia Marty Benson and head of creative production and entertainment at Paramount ANZ Tamara Simoneau told Mediaweek the hook for this season was to make the contestants “real” fugitives on the run.
This season opened with a (staged) bank robbery and saw the fugitive teams initially split in half: a team of nine “robbers” and a team of nine “planners”.
The robbers together plotted the grand bank heist and creeped out into the night to steal from a bank in Ballarat in the early hours of the morning. Meanwhile the “planners” planned the all-important getaway.
The Ballarat Bank held $1 million, with the entire loot up for grabs. Whatever the Fugitives could steal, they divided amongst themselves. If they make it to the extraction point, that will be their prize money. While there can be multiple Hunted winners, whoever makes it to the finish line will win $103,000 between their team.
“The inspiration for the new twist came from our UK counterparts, a show called The Heist, which is shot in a similar way but the format is a bit different,” Benson said.
“That show starts with a staged bank robbery, and we thought it would be a great way to add another dimension to Hunted and actually make our contestants be actual fugitives and on the run.”
“Before they were just on the run for the game, now they’re on the run because they break the law,” Simoneau said.
The Hunted Grand Finale premieres on 8 September on 10 and 10 Play.