Hunt or be hunted: channel 4's new reality show filmed in bulgaria

Forget your tepid beachside competitions – Channel 4’s The Hunt: Predator vs Prey promises a visceral battle for survival, launching tonight and riding the wave of post-Traitors suspense. A £100,000 prize awaits the last contestant standing, but securing it means embracing a ruthless game of cat and mouse within a vast, and surprisingly international, arena.

A balkan backdrop for high-stakes games

The premise reads like a twisted mashup of The Hunger Games, Dune, and even a dash of Star Wars, as Channel 4 commissioner Lee McMurray describes it, aiming for a “distinctive world.” But the true surprise lies in the location. Forget the expected remote British woodland; the series was filmed in Bulgaria, specifically a sprawling 100-acre forest just outside the small city of Gabrovo, nestled in the Balkan Mountains. This isn't just any woodland, either. Locals tell tales of coyotes and wild boars roaming the area, raising the stakes – and the potential for genuine peril – considerably for the unsuspecting contestants.

The contestants, pitted against each other in a series of Squid Game-inspired challenges, navigate this unforgiving terrain in what essentially amounts to an elaborate game of tag. After a day of relentless pursuit and evasion, they retreat to a luxurious house for a tense elimination ceremony dubbed “The Cull.” The show’s producers deliberately sought out a location that amplified the sense of isolation and danger, and the Bulgarian forest delivers in spades.

The series premieres tonight at 9pm on Channel 4, with the first three episodes airing Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday evenings. It's a gamble, blending elements of established survival formats with a distinctly theatrical edge. The question isn't just who will outwit their opponents, but whether anyone will truly escape the forest unscathed.