Dom Parker interview for Celebrity Hunted

3 October 2017

Why do you want to do this?

We want to do this for several very good reasons. It’s the tenth anniversary of Steph’s mother passing, and she died of cancer. And my father died on 1st December last year, at the age of 86, of cancer. It’s a very good charity, it’s a very good cause. Cancer really touches everybody these days. It’s possible that if Steph’s mother had been diagnosed now, as opposed to ten years ago, she may well have lived a lot longer. Whilst I don’t think we should all live forever, I don’t think we should all be taken away too young by such a horrid disease. And it’s a great show, we’re big fans of Hunted, both here and the US version. It’s a great idea. We’re hoping to have really good fun and thoroughly enjoy being off the grid for two weeks.

 

What do you think your tactics will be?

Well, we sort of tried planning, and that all fell apart, so apart from our getaway, which is probably the easiest bit to plan, our tactic is really going to be relying on friends of friends and the general public to be kind and helpful, given that what we’re doing is for Stand Up to Cancer. So we’re hoping to tap in to the kindness of strangers’ hearts, as we move around the countryside not really knowing where we’re going. We have a very strong belief that if we don’t know where we are, then the hunters won’t know where we are.

 

How do you think you will both get on with roughing it?

I don’t think we’re going to get on with roughing it at all, and we’re going to do our utmost to ensure that we don’t have to rough it. That’s rule number one: No roughing. Also, no running. We’re not going on the run, we’re going on the walk.

 

When the chips are down and the pressure’s on, how do you think the two of you will get aliong with each other?

Absolutely fine – and I know I can speak for both of us. We’re aware this can get quite pressurised and quite stressful, but we have been through far worse in our lives together. This is, in comparison, a walk in the park.

 

What do you think you’ll miss the most from everyday life?

We will miss our creature comforts. I know Steph will miss her own bed. I think everybody misses their own bed, but that can’t be helped. I think we’ll miss long lunches. But I also think we’re going to thoroughly enjoy a slightly different way of life.

 

What do you think the hardest thing will be about being on the run?

Purely and simply not being able to buy what we want, when we want. I don’t mean in the sense of buying a new car, I mean that our budget is very limited. £100 doesn’t go very far these days.

 

Are you taking any luxury items with you?

Not really. I think Steph’s brought her Egyptian cotton pillow cases. I haven’t bought anything luxurious, apart from decent washbag luxuries. I would probably normally travel with a bottle of Worcestershire Sauce, but that’s been left at home on this occasion.

 

Lastly, is this just a bit of fun and a chance to raise some cash for SU2C, or are you deadly serious about wanting to beat the hunters?

It’s all of the above. We’re in it to win it, no doubt about that. We are not the fittest and healthiest in the teams, but we think we are in with a very good chance if we box clever. So yes, we are taking it very seriously, but whilst we’re out and about we also want to promote Stand Up to Cancer.I think, given the right tools and toys, one can evade the hunters very cleverly, but I think we’re also very much aware that we could be out by lunchtime on the first day. I think we’ve gone from being quite arrogant about it to, as the last week has gone on, the slow dawning realisation that there’s a very good chance that we might be out very quickly. Our getaway is very flamboyant, so we’re tempting fate straight off.

 

Celebrity Hunted starts Tuesday 10th October at 9:15pm on Channel 4