The Circle

[LutherRalph1]

New reality show on C4

Users are in individual apartments and can only communicate via messaging

Giving it a go as it's followed GBBO 😂 anybody watching?

Has anyone ever watched American Big Brother? It’s very different to ours, as they’re allowed to discuss voting - it means the whole game is snakey and tactical and throwing people under the bus. The circle could easily be played differently by forming stronger alliances and the bigger clique deciding who to vote lowest for. I don’t think any of this lot really though tactically until the end.

Delighted to hear that Alex was dancing about - he played the game so well and am really happy for him. Poor old Dan, but I think it was valuable life lesson in not trusting an online persona. Might have saved him losing his life savings to an online scammer a few years down the line #projectfear.
He might have to pay a visit to the tattoo fixers ...

Having slept on it, I'm still in two minds about Alex double-winning - he definitely came across better in the after show, and it really was just a game, but it does still have that slightly snakey aftertaste that if everyone had voted tactically it might have been Sian or Dan. But then they all had the ability to vote any way they want, and all mentioned tactical voting, before deciding whether to go for it, so it's on them.

I think a second series will still be interesting as the contestants will be more suspicious, and more likely to question people, and I have a feeling the shocks will be reversed - they'll be convinced everyone is a catfish and be surprised when they're 'real'.

I think it seems odd him winning because we know he was a catfish. They could have all been catfish though and Kate didn't know Dan was real, he could have been a woman in her 20s. I think the final vote was flawed and a silly way to choose a winner. It wasn't a "who is the most genuine person" competition. I liked Dan but you can have integrity and loyalty and still have an inquiring critical mind. I think being loyal to someone you've never met is the sort of move that leads to gullible people giving their life savings to conmen who say they fancy them but need money to get flights overseas

Agree that Sian and Freddie only did well due to them voting others low all the way through

SpanishFly yes that's a really good point about Sian and Freddie's previous low votings. Freddie would definitely have not made the final otherwise.

Wow what a final! I am so pleased for Alex even though he looked like he felt extremely guilty for winning both prizes! I didn’t know where to look when Alex and Dan met face to face. I really thought Dan would have handled it better. I think Dan was embarrassed because he clearly thought he was going to run off into the sunset with Kate and she turned out to be a bloke. I actually think when he reviews the series, he’ll see that Alex was very respectful towards him the whole time and friend zoned any guys that tried it on with him. Sian and Freddie seemed accepting of Alex because both of them had figured out he wasn’t who he said he was, but they found him to be a nice person anyway. Everyone also accepted Freddie even though he was continuously deceptive and told a million lies. Alex was basically just himself bar a picture. I am annoyed that we didn’t see how the players voted. I thought they would have employed a different rule on the final vote but it doesn’t look like they did! Let’s hope Dan doesn’t run off with Millie as he now knows she’s a real person

Millie didn't look like the Kate pictures. I think they should have allowed more profile pics per person. Each time they survived a blocking another photo should have been added to everyone

I think it would perhaps have been fairer to adopt a ranking vote instead or rating in the final - so they would be forced to give someone 5, 3, 1 and 0. If it really was a "popularity" contest - then this would have led to a better reflection of who was actually popular. Instead, it does feel a bit unfair that Sian who was consistently the highest ranked player left with nothing. I think not showing the viewers the actual ratings was a bit strange.

I am glad Alex won - i liked him from the start. He didn't cheat as the rules clearly state you could be anyone you want to be. He stayed in the competition by playing the same game as everyone else in the final - making a strong alliance with another player and consistently ranking them high.

I do find it interesting that lying about your sex seems (to Dan anyway) to be worse than lying about your sexuality, your dead pet, your age, your imaginary girlfriend. I went off him A LOT in the final. His attitude was pretty poor. The way the others handled it was how I thought he might - saying fair enough, we liked you anyway, i'm just going to keep calling you Kate! I think Dan't biggest issue came from the fact that he lost himself the game by scoring Kate high.

Will be intrigued to see if there will be a series 2 and if there will be format changes. Now that contestants know their was a viewer's favourite prize, it would have a major impact on how they behave in the circle.

And don't get me started on Precious........bit worried about her to be honest.

Sian was ranked highly but she stopped other people being ranked highly by giving low marks herself. I think having to rank people in order sounds much better and would show who was really popular not just who is a meanie with generous mates.
I think being a different sex but portraying the same personality is lying less than same sex different personality on line, unless it's about dating. I was disappointed with the sexual stereotyping in the Circle with male packages and female ones etc. I think they need more older people as those in their 20s voted out the odd older one and there weren't enough older ones in there at once to hold their own. The older women were less make up obsessed although disappointing 2 of the older women pretended to be younger.

I think my opinion of Sian was reduced by her preferring Freddie over Kate or Dan, but it may be because they are a similar age. Freddie's OTT lad stuff was just cringy. He could be entertaining but came across by what he typed as not very pleasant.

They could give each player 10 stars that they must use for the final points allocation to stop 1 starring next time. I think the next series will be interesting. There’s still lots of catfish possibilities they haven’t explored - race, size, disability etc. I think Dan had mentally prepared himself for an uglier woman not a man.

Totally agree that Sian scored well by scoring others low! Really enjoyed it though-would def watch another series.

I don't see any catfish pretending to be of a different race, especially a white person pretending to be black, that would get loads of negative comments re cultural appropriation etc.
Class might be interested. My husband reckoned we both liked Alex because he's middle class and he may have a point. I can see a disabled person pretending not to have a disability but I can't see someone pretending to have one, lead balloons again.
If you want to win you're going to go for attractive because studies show attractive gets more votes for being likeable, trustworthy, someone you'd hire etc. The girl who thought being an old man would make her popular hadn't done her research

I don’t have any problem with tactical voting (or lack off) at the end. They all considered it, and had free choice to vote how they wished. After all, it’s was a game, which they were all aware of, plus they knew that the other contestants may not be who they pretended to be.

I can see a disabled person pretending not to have a disability but I can't see someone pretending to have one

My sister told me that her friend applied to go on the show and apparently the program makers asked him to do exactly that. Obviously he didn't end up on the show but I don't know if that was his choice or theirs. It does make me wonder though how many others were talked into catfishing.

I think talking people in to catfishing is silly as they will be less convincing. They would be better with a range of people of different ages and class and let them portray themselves how they like. They should all start together though to give everyone an equal chance. I wouldn't spend 3 weeks in a little room just to be on the show for 4 days knowing bonds are already formed. You still won't get many people with normal jobs applying which is a problem for most reality shows

I can see they need to plant the cat fishing idea to make sure they have some! That also might explain why some of the catfishing was so poor!

Why did they have the real Christopher sat with the blocked players and then not interact with him at all? Weird!

Ranking rather than star ratings would have made much more sense!

I think the first woman kicked off sounded like she wanted to be a catfish but an oncologist was a poor choice. With the current staffing problem in the NHS you wouldn't take 3 weeks annual leave to be in a game and stuck in a small room. A doctor is also unlikely to talk about dancing in her pants on TV. I'm a GP and don't want my patients visualising me in my knickers

2rebecca did not watch Love Island 😂

Had anyone seen Celebs Go Dating?

@MiddleClassProblem I thought the same 😂😂😂

I really hope Millie and Dan become friends. She seems really sweet and she said she loves Dan so...

Was there a doc dancing in her pants on that? No can't usually be bothered with reality shows but really enjoyed this

Make nhs doctor (junior Doctor I think) for 2 months... dancing in his pants 😂