Antonia Pugh-Thomas has three children, two dogs, two cats, two pigs, Montgomery the snake, her own business and a ‘long-suffering husband’.
Aged 49, she recently had a hysterectomy, which she says concentrates the mind on what it means to be a middle-aged woman with too much on her plate.
‘I mean, I have the most lovely life. I’m quite blessed. But sometimes I think: “God, I just want you all to bugger off,” because I’m sick of shouting at people to find their shoes. Find your own bloody shoes,’ she says.
What is such a woman to do when life threatens to overwhelm? Most slog on. Some book a spa. Antonia — Toni to her friends — did something more left field: she ran away.
Actually, she signed up for the Channel 4 show Hunted, which involves contestants literally walking out on their lives, ditching phones, money and responsibilities, and going AWOL. The aim of the game? To stay awol.
Antonia Pugh-Thomas shared her experience of taking part in Channel 4’s Hunted for the chance of winning £100,000, pictured: Antonia with her husband Richard Snow, daughter Resa and their many pets
The show, now in its fifth series, is part survival quest, part reality show. It features ten contestants, who are dropped in an unknown location. They are charged with evading capture for 25 days, while an elite team of former military and intelligence operatives hunt them down.
They are free to travel anywhere in mainland Britain, but have no cash or any immediate way of communicating.
Hunters can track their prey using CCTV footage, helicopters and drones, and interrogate family and friends. Response teams dash to various locations as intelligence comes in. The ‘fugitives’ have to outwit them.
Who on earth would put themselves forward for such a challenge? Well, 53,000 people applied for this series, which kicked off last week.
But how many were working mothers? Toni wagers not many. ‘Well, it’s a logistical nightmare walking out of your life for 25 days, isn’t it? I can’t imagine many women would — even though I reckon many may want to.’
Her husband Richard Snow, a finance director at a law firm, was duly placed in charge of all domestic matters before Toni fled.
Why do it, though? The £100,000 prize money was part of the attraction — although Toni can’t say whether she won or not. She is a dress designer by trade, with a couture shop in London’s Fulham, and clients that include members of the Royal Family. But she has audacious plans to open a city farm in London, and reckons she could buy llamas with the winnings.
There was another reason for applying to Hunted. Much as she loves her family — including children Emily, 21; Sam, 16; and Resa, ten — she likes to escape from them, too.
Antonia (pictured in Hunted) said she took part in the series to see if she could use being a middle-aged woman to her advantage
‘It’s every woman’s fantasy to disappear, isn’t it? I mean, temporarily, just to get away from all the pasta-making and ironing, and pairing bloody socks. If nothing else, it reminds your family of what you actually do for them.’
Plus, she liked the idea of a rest. ‘I’d watch previous series and everyone was always saying how difficult it was and how stressful. I thought, “I bet it’s a darn sight less stressful than my daily life.” ’
She was confident her skills as a working mother would be wholly transferable. In short, she thought she could win. ‘Middle-aged women like me are often invisible in society. I wanted to see if I could turn that to my advantage,’ she says.
So she swapped her pearls for an anorak and trainers — a sensible choice, given one particularly hairy episode, which saw her hunkering down behind some bins.
The contest began with the ten terrified contestants being bundled into a van and driven to, unbeknown to them, Bristol.
Did she have a strategy? ‘My plan was to aim for Scotland. I was going to do it by contacting friends of friends, creating a network who could help me,’ she says.
First, though, she had to convince complete strangers she was a woman in need of assistance (as opposed to a dangerous loon). As the fugitives were dropped off, Toni spied a garden centre.
The 49-year-old took buses and ‘walked for miles’ while trying to avoid the elite hunters who had access to surveillance systems
‘In the car park, I thought, “I’ll find someone who is just like me,” and spotted a woman putting compost in her car. I said, “Hello, I’m Toni Pugh-Thomas and I’m a fugitive. I wonder if I could join that compost in your car?”
‘She was a bit startled, but I was in the car, with the compost, before she could object. That turned out to be quite typical, actually. People were delighted to help: reassuringly so. It was one of the best things about doing it, realising there are a lot of lovely people out there.’
After the initial compulsory ‘I’m a fugitive’ exchanges, contestants were allowed to tell their helpers they were actually taking part in a TV show. Thus, Toni was one of the first to get out of Bristol.
Then she went to ground. Or rather, she contacted friends, and friends of friends, and asked for help to get north. It’s less easy than it sounds, because the hunters have access to surveillance systems, meaning they can infiltrate phone lines and even the loosest of connections.
Along the way there were disguises — ‘I found a very fetching black wig, but the son in one house was rather freaked out when I whipped it off’ — and lots of new experiences.
She took many buses and ‘walked for miles’. Food was grabbed where she could. A highlight (or lowlight) was when she gave up her lofty foodie principles and ventured into a McDonald’s. ‘I was starving and it was the only place I could find or afford.’
Antonia (pictured) predicts lots of people will judge her for taking part in the series, however other women will be saying they could also do it
She says she came home feeling more zen-like than if she had gone to a spa. ‘It was liberating. For that time, I wasn’t having to provide food, answers, solutions, lifts. I wasn’t finding lost homework.
‘One of the most freeing parts was being without a phone and not being contactable at all times. I also loved the freedom that came with being in control of where I went, and how I got there. It was all up to me.
‘In an ideal world I would have not done it while recuperating from a hysterectomy, though, because it was quite exhausting.’
There are genuinely terrifying aspects to this show. The speed with which contestants are hunted down is remarkable. Eye-opening, too, is the realisation that we are never far from a CCTV camera.
‘It’s actually incredibly difficult to go under the radar,’ says Toni. ‘Eyes are everywhere. The implications of that are quite serious.’
Doubtless, there are questions of national security here — but back to domestic matters. Was she missed at home? ‘I was!’ she says, delighted. ‘But the place did not fall apart. Actually, husband is rather marvellous.’
What will viewers make of her quest, though? She thinks the audience will be divided.
‘I’m sure there will be a lot of people judging me, saying, “She should be at home with her children”. But I’m sure there will be other women, at home doing the ironing, saying, “God, I could do that”, and shouting “Go, go, go” at the TV.’
Hunted is on Channel 4 on Thursdays at 9pm.