Hunted Australia 2023’s gamer duo, Ben and Callum, were captured after Hunter Kellie Andrew’s brother Matt coincidentally stumbled across them at a train station and invited them back to his house.

Despite believing that they’d built a friendship with the welcoming stranger, Ben and Callum were set up by Matt and it wasn’t long before the Hunters arrived to capture them.

Looking back at the disappointing situation, the Fugitives said there was never a point where it appeared as though Matt felt remorseful for single-handedly ruining their time on the run.

“He never showed any signs of feeling guilty. He had multiple opportunities to tell us and give us a headstart,” Ben told Chattr after their elimination.

“I think he took it from the lens that he’s helping his sister out because he definitely tried to make it as easy to capture us as humanly possible. I mean, you saw we got put to work for some drinks!”

The chances of stumbling across a Hunter’s sibling – and being invited back to their house – are extremely low, but the duo just believe it was a case of bad luck.

“It was disappointing. But there’s no way that you could ever plan for this one. We were actually blown away. I was laughing at how silly it was when I found out,” Callum said.

“Absolute credit to him, he took us completely by surprise. I think it’s one of those things where I will be maybe a little bit more sceptical about strangers,” Ben added.

Did anything about Matt raise Ben and Callum’s suspicions?

The IT pro and nurse duo said that looking back there were a few suspicious moves by Matt, but at the time they thought their chances of being handed into the Hunters were zero to none.

“When we think about it now, he did leave the room a few times. While we were cutting wood he left for a little bit. But that said, it was grabbing another barrel for us to fill with firewood,” Ben said.

“If we look at it from a suspicious lens, they were probably our signs, but I think the thing was always, ‘This guy can’t turn us in. There’s just no means of him doing that. So we’re safe. We’re good.’

“It was just one of those things we couldn’t account for it and could not have been prepared for.”

Would Ben and Callum return to Hunted next season?

There’s no debating that Ben and Callum entered Hunted prepared – even in the first episode they managed to get under the Hunter’s skin with their hacking skills. So, to be eliminated over something that was simply a coincidence begs the question of whether the men would want to return for round two.

“If we got given the opportunity I’d like another crack because we had a lot more to give,” Callum said.

Ben agreed, saying that he still wanted to get one up on the Hunters.

“I’m still team Fugitive. I think if the opportunity arises, I’ll do it again. Consider this the beta test, right?” he added.

10 fugitives remain on the run as Hunted continues Tuesday night at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play.

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