Celebrity Hunted: JJ Chalmers and Sophie Morgan hide in Portsmouth dockyard on HMS Victory in Channel 4 show

Excited celebrities visited Portsmouth Historic Dockyard while being chased by trained professionals during a TV show.

Dynamic duo JJ Chalmers, former Royal Marine, and presenter Sophie Morgan, made a dramatic escape from their adversaries during a recent episode of Celebrity Hunted. Portsmouth Historic Quarter (PHQ) and HMS Victory provided the backdrop for the daring chase, where contestants have to evade former detectives and intelligence professionals in M15.

During the Channel 4 programme, the pair originally stayed with Steve McCulley, a former Royal Marine who met JJ in hospital after being injured by an IED in Afghanistan. The pair were then picked up by Paul Bennett, head of maritime operations PHQ, who took them for a ride aboard Landing Craft F8.

They sailed from Gosport to the Historic Dockyard. The celebrities were then given a tour of HMS Victory and had to escape from Lord Nelson’s flagship once the hunters came on board. While on the run, they headed to the Cascades Shopping Centre car park where they were picked up by former Olympic sprinter Iwan Thomas.

Mr Bennett said appearing in the show was great fun but nerve-racking at the same time. “We originally planned to pick up JJ and Sophie from the beach at Alverstoke as it was more remote,” he added.

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“But on the day the weather was too bad to get F8 our Falklands landing craft safely on the beach. We switched to Hornet at the last minute which JJ thought might to be at our advantage.

“The hunters always felt really close and rapidly changing plans kept them at a distance. We loved being involved, it was also a chance to showcase our amazing team of volunteers and conservationists who work hard maintaining the unique fleet and buildings at the Historic Dockyard.”

Promultis Touchscreen Technology, based in Lee-in-the-Solent, make the interactive screens seen on in the Celebrity Hunted. Managing director Chris Poulson: “We have done normal Hunted for them as well as Celebrity Hunted.

“We supply a massive LED wall, the one in the front of the office that you see on TV, as well as interactive screens and an interactive table. When they bring up people's pictures or Google Maps or whatever, they use that.

“We have done all the software, it's quite a big complicated setup, pretty high tech. It's made to look like a real control room. We have done stuff for Netflix too, for The Man who Fell to Earth and other things.”

Celebrity Hunted airs on Monday and Tuesday evenings on Channel 4 at 9pm. More details can be found here.