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Bob and Alex Ayling of Dover among four winners in Channel 4 TV show Hunted

By: Sam Lennon slennon@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 11:00, 09 February 2018

A father and son from Dover are among four men who have won the action reality TV show Hunted.

Millions of people last night watched Bob and Alex Ayling succeed in evading capture by an elite team of hunters in the Channel 4 series.

They now share in a £100,000 prize with the other two.

On the run. Bob and Alex keep ahead of their pursuers. Picture courtesy of Channel 4

The last minutes of the final and sixth episode showed the four being chased by two hunter teams on the road.

They escaped by dinghy on a river to a yacht where the prize money was waiting for them.
The four hugged and cheered when they opened the suitcase containing the banknotes.

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Bob and Alex were the first two to get on the yacht and they sat together hugging and crying before the other two escapees, Dan Murphy and Joe Appleton, joined them.

Alex, the son, had spoken about how his Asperger's Syndrome affected his life leading to him being bullied at school and having few friends.

Moments after their triumph Bob turned to the other winners and said: "This is someone who I was told would never go to a mainstream school and would never hack it in life.
"There you go, look at the winner."

The original nine fugitives with Bob and Alex on the far left. Picture courtesy of Channel 4

The four winners were the last of an original nine who had to evade capture for 25 days and reach a set location. This was after they "escaped" in Manchester.

They were chased by 30 hunters consisting of some of the world's best investigators led by former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley.

The hunters were equipped with search dogs, drones, CCTV and helicopters.

They were allowed to pay large sums of money to friends and relatives willing to reveal where the fugitives were.

The elite pursuing team led by Peter Bleksley. Picture courtesy of Channel 4


At one stage Bob and Alex were almost caught in Cheshire after making a phone call that their pursuers traced.

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Alex, a postman, became particularly popular on social media particularly from people sympathetic with the bullying he had endured.

He had said he wanted to take part in the programme to boost his self-confidence.

Bob said that the pair lived off charity from strangers, slept anywhere they could and ate anything they could get, sometimes left with barely a couple of hundred calories a day.

The series is produced by Shine TV with executive producers Tim Whitwell, Matt Bennett and Jonathan Smith.

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