Featured Image Credit: Channel 4
Topics: Channel 4, Film and TV, Parenting, Social Media
Ella Scott
British reality TV fans have been left scratching their heads after a contestant admitted he was a grandfather at just 33.
The UK undeniably has some of the best entertainment shows around, with American comedians clambering to be part of the Taskmaster crew, The Great British Baking Show delighting year after year, and who could forget The Traitors?
But there’s a new kid on the block: Channel 4’s The Hunt: Prey vs Predator.
The programme is dubbed Britain’s ‘real life Hunger Games’ and sees contestants - including a Bolton resident who is already a grandfather despite being in his 30s - going head-to-head to win a jaw-dropping £100,000 ($134,020) cash prize.
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The brutal new series forces the red team, known as ‘Predators’, to utilize advanced tracking technology to hunt down the blue team, known as the ‘Prey’.
The latter is also tasked with completing challenges in exchange for money.
If any of the Prey are caught, then they automatically join the Predators and risk being voted out at the end of each episode.
Contestant Nathan, a 33-year-old dentist, has got tongues wagging after he revealed via his Channel 4 profile that he was a father of six and a ‘grandfather of one’.
“Me and my wife run a casting agency and two private drama schools. Life's busy. I'm a normal lad from the north and I’m just up for a bit of a laugh,” the ex-military man added.
The Hunt: Prey vs Predator star also admitted his family prefer to call him ‘Papa’ as ‘the word grandad [is] really uncool’, Metro reported.
Naturally, TV fanatics are up in arms at the idea of Nathan being old enough to have a child with offspring of their own, and have taken to social media to have their say.
"He’s 33 and he’s a grandad!?,” one X user commented.
“Surprised no one had follow up questions for Nathan being a grandad at 33!? Maybe he’s with an older person with children already,” another reasoned.
A third reported: “Nathan. A grandad, at 33?!!!”
The participant said that he joined the cast of The Hunt: Prey vs Predator because he wanted to ‘prove’ to himself that he could complete it despite being diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND).
FND is a neurological condition caused by changes in how brain networks work, explained the Mayo Clinic.
It’s believed that an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Americans currently live with the disorder.
Nathan said he experienced seizures and weakness in his left-hand side due to FND, remarking that the TV show would be a ‘personal challenge to see whether [he] can still get up and run around a forest.”
You can watch new episodes of The Hunt: Prey vs Predator on Channel 4 every Sunday in the UK.