How Brian Conley tried to evade capture on Celebrity Hunted by roping in some VERY famous celeb pals revealed

VARIETY veteran Brian Conley was aided by his impressive circle of celeb pals while on the run on Channel 4’s Celebrity Hunted. Joe Pasquale, Gloria Hunniford, Jason Manford and Gok Wan helped the ex-EastEnders star and his daughter Lucy evade the hunters for the show in aid of Stand Up To Cancer. Brian Conley was aided by his impressive circle of celeb pals while on the run on Channel 4’s Celebrity Hunted Credit: Colin Hutton / Channel 4 / Shine Brian and his daughter Lucy Credit: Shine TV But their Hollywood-style dash around the country wasn’t all glamour. “We hid in so many toilets!” Brian said with a laugh. Sign up for the TV newsletter Thank you! Using disguises, the pair made a dash for Stansted airport, where funnyman Joe was waiting for them. But while they were in the airport they sensed danger and had to flee – without telling Joe, who was outside waiting in a car. Brian said: “You are only allowed to park for half an hour. Joe was like, ‘I kept having to pay another £7.50 because I kept go­ing round and round waiting for you’. They also had to make a swift exit while visiting Loose Women panelist Gloria’s house — despite her telling them Cliff Richard was going to ring to wish them luck, and protesting, “But I’ve got your dinner!” With the hunters closing in, they dressed up as Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke’s Kevin and Perry to hop on stage with fashion guru Gok at a rave in Cambridge. Comedy favourite Jason let them take his tour van to escape, too. Most read in TV Also on the run for two weeks are Strictly pros Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu, Love Island’s Chris Taylor and Toby Aromolaran, presenters JJ Chalmers and Sphie Morgan, TV property experts Scarlette and Stuart Douglas and comics Jen Brister and Laura Smyth. The show starts on August 3 at 9pm. Toby Aromolaran (left) and Chris Taylor looking terrified on the show Credit: Colin Hutton / Channel 4 / Shine The duo approached Celebrity Hunted like they did Love Island – by flirting with everyone Credit: Colin Hutton / Channel 4 / Shine HUNKY reality duo Chris and Toby approached Celebrity Hunted like they did Love Island – by flirting with everyone. “It was a pure charm offensive, basically,” said Chris, smiling. “Just asking people and charming them a little bit. “A bit of charisma went a long way.” The plan worked and the boys weren’t pied off. Toby explained: “Love Island actually helped quite a bit because the way we draw them in, we’re like a Venus Flytrap. “We would draw them in with, like, ‘Are you guys from Love Island?’ “And then, boom, before they know it, they’re in a car taking us to Exeter!” TEAMING up to take on the hunters, brother and sister property experts Scarlette and Stuart said to expect bust-ups. “There’s definitely going to be bickering,” said Scarlette. “We bicker all the time. Whenever we’re on location, we’re always bickering, for sure.” Stuart added: “If the general public saw the outtakes on our shows, they would see that I often get told off by Scarlette. Now they’ll see it first time, real time, what we’re like.” A TIPPLE WHAMMY COMEDIANS Jen and Laura had a little too much fun while on the run. They got so drunk they received a ticking off from bosses. But Laura argues their antics could make a risque late-night version: “At one point we said we want a spin-off called Celebrity C**ted. We just go around drinking rosé.” Jen added: “Our producer went, ‘Just for variation, maybe we should get some footage of you not drinking rosé?’ We felt like we were on a girls’ holiday.” KING Gary star Tom Davis pops up to help Jen and Laura – and the pair said they would love him to try his luck in the next series. Jen joked: “Tom and Romesh Ranganathan together would be funny because you can spot Tom a mile off and Romesh would be f***ing useless! He would be caught within two or three hours. But it would be funny.” CARLOS’ JAZZY LOOK THE name of the game in Celebrity Hunted is to keep a low profile, but I’m not sure Strictly star Carlos got that memo. Unwilling to tone down his flamboyant and fabulous fashion, partner Amy said all eyes were on him. “Well, Carlos is fast,” she explained. “I’m a very fast runner. But then Carlos is so flamboyant. He’s got so many outfits in his bag. “It’s hard not to, in a good way, take a double look at Carlos.” But Carlos justified it, saying: “If I ever got caught, I want to get caught in style!” HOLIDAY HELL FOR TV FAVES JAMIE LAING and Sophie Habboo might have millions in the bank but that doesn’t mean their holidays are all five-star. The Made in Chelsea duo turned Radio 1 stars once had to switch hotels as the one they picked was so run down. Jamie said: “We had a disastrous trip to Mykonos in 2024 which resulted in a hotel change minutes after arriving at the one Sophie hadn’t even checked a photo of. “So now I’m the holiday hero and get very excited picking the destinations, researching the hotels and experiences.” The couple, who had son Ziggy in December, checked out a pastry cooking class with a French gran while in Paris with travel platform GetYourGuide this month. Comment now