Hampshire’s own Kai Widdrington managed to evade the ‘hunters’ in the first episode of Channel 4’s new series of Celebrity Hunted.

Kai – who was born in Chandler’s Ford – paired up with fellow Strictly Come Dancing professional Giovanni Pernice to spend 14 days on the run in rural England.

The 29 year old started his journey on a train on the Mid-Norfolk Railway along with 11 other ‘fugitives.’

A helicopter soon appeared, and actress Denise Welch pulled the emergency stop cord to allow the six pairs to escape the train and evade the ‘hunters’ chasing them.

Kai and Giovanni ran two miles down the tracks to Yaxham station, asking to use a worker’s phone to call a friend called Dylan who had already arranged them to pick them up in an unmarked white van.

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They then arrived at a golf course in East Norfolk and switched vehicles to travel further with another friend.

“Right, the most important thing, do you have snacks,” Kai joked to associate Luke as the trio started to drive away.

To throw the hunters off track, Kai and Giovanni then travelled southbound on the M3 in a privately rented coach, dancing to ‘Believe’ by Cher, drinking prosecco and eating crisps on their way down.

While on their way, hunters managed to identify their friend Dylan who had picked them up in Yaxham, and bosses at the HQ sent a ground team down to interrogate him.

Dylan held strong, but hunters soon found a text on his phone that explained the plan to drop Kai and Giovanni to the golf course.

The chasers then used CCTV and ANPR monitoring to track the pair to Devon or Cornwall.

It was then revealed that Kai and Giovanni had made it to Falmouth in Cornwall.

But hunters back at their HQ found an Instagram account for Kai’s dog Snoopy, who had been posted staying at a dog hotel in Somerset.

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The trackers realised that the dog was staying not far from where Kai and Giovanni had been spotted in Cornwall and sent a team to scout out the hotel.

The next scene showed Kai saying that he wanted to see his dog Snoopy, but Giovanni said it was a bad idea considering that Kai followed the dog hotel on Instagram.

After eventually being reunited with Snoopy, hunters had already tracked dog hotel owner Rebecca’s phone and noticed an incoming call.

As Kai walked his beloved dog, hunters raced to the hotel, and Kai and Giovanni were left scrambling to grab their bags and escape out of the back entrance on foot.

The programme ended on a cliff-hanger and it is yet to be known whether the Strictly duo managed to escape the hunters.

The next episode of Celebrity Hunted will air January 12.