Celebrity Hunted put Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu’s friendship through its toughest test yet, with the Strictly Come Dancing stars revealing they were at odds while filming the new series.
The close pals, who have also appeared together away from the ballroom on Celebrity Gogglebox, are among the famous faces taking part in Channel 4’s latest Celebrity Hunted in aid of Stand Up to Cancer. And while they signed up for a cause they both care deeply about, life on the run proved much harder than either expected.
Speaking to Digital Spy ahead of the show’s return, Amy revealed she had wanted to take part for a long time because the charity means so much following her cancer journey. Carlos admitted he was more hesitant in the beginning.
Amy said she thought Carlos was “a bit wary to begin with”, before joking that he “wanted to kill me actually after day one”. Carlos replied: “I was like, ‘What’s she done to me’,” but said he knew how much Amy wanted to do the show and wanted to support her.
He also shared that members of his own family had died from cancer, making Stand Up to Cancer an important cause for him too.
Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu on Celebrity Hunted rows
Although the pair started the experience as close friends, they admitted the pressure of staying one step ahead of the hunters pushed their relationship to the limit.
Amy told Digital Spy: “We started off as very close friends… But we finished Hunted as family. It brought us so much closer together. We fight, we make each other cry – you know, we’ve shared so much together.”
Carlos agreed their friendship had been “really” tested throughout the show, although he was pleased they came through it together. Asked whether they clashed, he admitted there was no shortage of disagreements.
“All the time! Honestly. The amount of arguments we had doing the show is relentless,” he said.
The carrot cake argument
One of their biggest fallouts came over something as simple as carrot cake, a far cry from the drama fans are used to seeing in the Strictly ballroom.
Amy explained that the worst disagreement happened when Carlos wanted to stop at a shop to buy carrot cake, while she was worried they would be spotted and caught on CCTV.
She said the demands of the show meant every emotion was heightened. Running on little sleep, not enough food and plenty of stress left them feeling “hangry, tired, emotional”, which often led to them snapping at one another.
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Despite the rows, both stars said they would not change the experience. Amy pointed out that Celebrity Hunted is meant to be challenging because it raises money for Stand Up to Cancer, while Carlos admitted he only realised just how demanding the show would be once filming was underway.
Celebrity Hunted returns Monday August 3 at 9pm on Channel 4.
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