New reality TV series Hunted has delivered a ratings boom for Channel 10, but Twitter is divided after some “red flags” were raised regarding some of the questionable privacy violations on the show.

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According to TV Blackbox, Hunted‘s Australian premiere on Sunday was watched by a national audience of 884,000 viewers (619k metro) which brought it in just under the first of two nostalgic Hey Hey It’s Saturday – Red Faces specials.

Beauty and the Geek came in at number three on Sunday’s ratings, with 616,000 national viewers (476k metro).

Although fans seem to be enthralled by the new reality TV hit, which is based off a British program of the same name, a number of viewers took to Twitter to point out some privacy issues that could have devastating real-world implications.

Noting that a male “hunter” entered a tent without permission and asked members of the public for information on the location of two female contestants, fans have expressed concern for real-world victims of domestic violence and stalking.

“I know it’s a tv show but I freaked out about the receptionist giving up the girls! What if they’re DV victims,” one fan wrote.

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“This,” wrote another viewer in response to a ‘red flag’ tweet about giving information on women. “These creepy aggressive men asking around for the women really is not sitting right with me at all.”

“That’s disturbing that camping place gave away locations of 2 of their female customers to randos that just walked in and asked about them,” wrote another.

Another viewer posted the transcript of the scene in question.

“Imagine this was the real world – two players were DV survivors/two hunters were DV perpretrators [sic] seeking the location of the victim,” they wrote. “The manager pretty much confirmed they were there to randoms.”

“When was this filmed and has that caravan park employee found a new job yet after being fired for breaching their customers’ privacy?” questioned another.

Some viewers have pointed out the show appears scripted, while others disputed it.

“The key to enjoying #HuntedAU is to understand it’s all a recreation but not scripted,” one fan wrote. “Faked CCTV, phone and car tracking – there is a whole production crew just working for the runners mimicking the evidence for the hunters to use. The point is to role play how it happens IRL.”

“As a hunter my strategy would be to look for people being accompanied by a professional cameraman,” shared another.

https://twitter.com/stuartfaz/status/1548610642067988480

Twitter users have also noted that members of the general public may not have consented for their homes or locations to be shown on the new Aussie series.

While major Australian TV productions generally provide legal contracts for people to give their consent to be on camera, it is unclear whether people not directly featured on Hunted were given the opportunity to decline to be filmed.

“Found the hotel the ladies tried to check into in Geelong with a quick google,” posted one viewer. “I’d have found them by now.”

https://twitter.com/browne1_chris/status/1548619962096316416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1548619962096316416%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsodramaticonline.com%2F2022%2F07%2F19%2Fhunted-australia-twitter-privacy%2F

Another fan joked about the show’s “stalking” element: “So this expert research team get applauded for Facebook stalking yet when I do it, it’s considered ‘creepy’.”

Safety concerns have also been raised after multiple aggressive tweets were aimed at the campsite manager for being a “snitch”.

Some fans had constructive feedback for future contestants and the show’s producers.

“I’d definitely hide in an IKEA,” wrote one. “Meatballs for days and you’re never getting out of that maze.”

“Honestly this show would be more fun if the entire cast was made up of people over 50 with bad knees & no clue,” posted another. “Sure they’d all be caught within about twenty minutes but the amount to cups of tea had would be a sight to be seen.”

https://twitter.com/GrousestDad/status/1548623192260227072?s=20

Some also compared the show to OG Aussie reality show The Mole.

“The Mole had that ongoing psychological suspense of the audience being invested in trying to work out who the infiltrator was and the sabotages/signs,” one fan tweeted.

Generally, though, the signs seem to point to Hunted being around for a while.

https://twitter.com/nicwkelly/status/1548976475269120000?s=20

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