'We don't regret football match' - Hunted pals speak out about their Channel 4 cash win

Nathan Falcon and James Sorohan took part in the popular Channel 4 programme, Hunted - a game show in which contestants must avoid being detected by the authorities for 23 days.

The pair, who are both deaf, made it to the final contestants, and despite James being caught hours before the finale after badly injuring his foot as he fled the hunters while attending a football match.

Nathan was able to make it to the extraction point in a nail-biting ending which was screened last week.

A second contestant also made it, meaning the pair split the £100,000 fund, but Nathan and James had already agreed beforehand that they would split whatever winnings they garnered, pocketing them a respectable £25,000 each.

Now in its sixth series, the show sees several teams-of-two being tasked to survive on their own in Britain and with limited money, while being hunted down by teams of experts.

The hunters use CCTV, ANPR cameras, social media, call tracing and psychology experts to track the contestants down.

Having all been dropped off on the Isle of Wight, Nathan and James were able to escape and head north, narrowly avoiding the hunters in Chesterfield first, and then at a country pub near Wakefield.

James, a 32-year-old postman, said: “Well, I knew it would be difficult before going on the run, but it’s a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.

“There’s so much pressure and so much stress especially as you don’t know what’s going on and where we were when we launched on the Isle of Wight.

“We had to make quick decisions all the time to avoid being captured.

“As a deaf person, it was a huge challenge, and I had to rely on Nathan to do the talking and he had to rely on me lip reading.”

Nathan, a 28-year-old graphic designer added: “You have no time to rest and find a place to sleep. It is challenging. “You have no technology and interpreter to rely on in a silent world.”

While the pair managed to avoid capture, they were nearly caught when relying on public transport.

Being deaf, they struggled to communicate with strangers to ask for lifts, leaving them with little choice but to catch trains and buses fitted with CCTV.

The footage was then seen by the hunters who were able to pinpoint their exact location at Loch Ness in Scotland, but again the pair managed to evade capture.

However, their riskiest move was their decision to attend a match at Carlisle United hours before the extraction.

The hunters caught up with them outside the football ground and gave chase, leading to James taking a tumble and badly injuring himself. He required surgery on his foot and has spent six months recovering.

Nathan was able to flee and hid nearby, before making his way back up to Scotland to the extraction point where he was able to board a helicopter with hunters in hot pursuit.

Asked if they regretted the move, James said: “To be honest, its 50/50 because we wanted to be ourselves while being on the run, but unfortunately I broke my foot.

“Looking back, I don’t care because Nathan had won for both of us which I’m so grateful for him to split the money with me.”

“I was so worried and terrified to get caught on the very first day.

“But I managed to get to day 22, a day before extraction point, which I’m very proud of, and I am even more proud of Nathan to reach to the end.

Nathan added: “I have no regret about anything on the run whatsoever, even though going to a football match is pretty stupid.

“But looking back, it’s something we can laugh about.”