The first series of The Circle began on 18 September 2018 on Channel 4,[1] and concluded after 21 days with a live final on 8 October 2018.[2] This series was hosted by Alice Levine and Maya Jama on both the launch and the final, and was narrated by Sophie Willan. Ahead of the series it was announced that players would be competing against each other to become the most popular, but would never actually meet. Instead they would communicate through a specially designed app and be able to portray themselves in any way they choose.[3] The series launched with a total of 1,607,000 including +1 catch-up services.[4] It concluded with 1,125,000.
| The Circle | |
|---|---|
| Series 1 | |
| Presented by | |
| No. of days | 21 |
| No. of contestants | 15 |
| Winner |
|
| Runner-up |
|
| Other finalists |
|
| No. of episodes | 18 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release | 18 September – 8 October 2018 |
| Series chronology | |
On 8 October 2018, the series was won by Alex Hobern, who had played the game claiming to be a 25-year-old woman called Kate, using photos of his real-life girlfriend Millie. Alex also won the "viewers champion" for an additional £25,000, claiming £75,000 in total. Freddie Bentley was the series runner-up.[5]
Following this series, it was announced that Alice and Maya would not be returning for the second, with Emma Willis taking over the role as presenter instead.
Players edit
The contestants taking part in the series were revealed on 18 September 2018.[6] However throughout the series more players joined The Circle.
| Name | Age | Hometown | Playing as | Entered | Exited | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jennifer Freeman | 40 | Newcastle | Herself, but a doctor and younger (34) | Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Blocked |
| Mitchell Palmer | 22 | Norfolk | Himself | Episode 1 | Episode 4 | Blocked |
| Sinead Edwards | 22 | South Wales | "Christopher", a 65-year-old retired antiques dealer | Episode 3 | Episode 6 | Blocked |
| Aiden Bradbury | 19 | Wakefield | Herself | Episode 1 | Episode 6 | Blocked |
| Genelle Perkins | 31 | London | Herself, but not revealing that she's a mother with her daughter | Episode 1 | Episode 10 | Walked |
| Hannah Rosie Steadman | 27 | London | Herself | Episode 7 | Episode 10 | Blocked |
| Ryan Gooding | 28 | Ipswich | Himself | Episode 5 | Episode 12 | Blocked |
| Mairead Martin | 57 | Cheshire | Herself, but younger (32), and using another woman's photos | Episode 10 | Episode 13 | Blocked |
| Precious Muir | 34 | London | Herself, but younger (25) | Episode 12 | Episode 15 | Blocked |
| Scotty Forrester | 36 | London | Himself, but younger (31) | Episode 7 | Episode 16 | Blocked |
| Harry Southern | 22 | South Shields | Himself | Episode 12 | Episode 17 | Blocked |
| Dan Mosaku | 28 | London | Himself | Episode 1 | Episode 18 | Fourth place |
| Sian Owen | 20 | London | A “Plain Jane” version of herself | Episode 1 | Episode 18 | Third place |
| Freddie Bentley | 20 | Essex | Himself, but straight and older (24) | Episode 1 | Episode 18 | Runner-up |
| Alex Hobern | 26 | London | "Kate", a 25-year-old woman | Episode 1 | Episode 18 | Winner |
Results and elimination edit
For the first series, the contestants rated one another out of five throughout. At the end of each ratings their average scores were revealed from highest to lowest to the players. The two highest rated players became "influencers", while the remaining players were at risk of being "blocked" by the influencers.
| The contestant was blocked. | |
| The contestant was an influencer. | |
| The contestant was immune from being rated and blocked. |
| Episode 2 | Episode 4 | Episode 6 | Episode 10 | Episode 12 | Episode 13 | Episode 15 | Episode 16 | Episode 17 | Episode 18 Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex "Kate" |
3.28  
|
3.41
|
2.86
|
2.71
|
2.50
|
2.71
|
3.50
|
Not published |
2.50
|
3.00
|
Winner (Episode 18) | |
| Freddie | 2.71
|
2.43
|
3.14
|
2.86
|
2.83
|
3.14
|
3.33
|
Not published |
3.00
|
2.67
|
Runner-up (Episode 18) | |
| Sian | 3.00
|
3.14
|
2.43
|
3.00
|
3.17
|
3.29
|
4.00
|
Not published |
4.25
|
2.33
|
Third place (Episode 18) | |
| Dan | 3.14
|
2.86
|
3.71
|
2.86
|
2.83
|
3.43
|
3.83
|
Not published |
2.75
|
2.00
|
Fourth place (Episode 18) | |
| Harry | Not in The Circle |
Exempt | 2.33
|
Not published |
1.50
|
Blocked (Episode 17) | ||||||
| Scotty | Not in The Circle |
2.71
|
3.17
|
2.86
|
3.50
|
Not published |
Blocked (Episode 16) | |||||
| Precious | Not in The Circle |
Exempt | 2.00
|
Blocked (Episode 15) | ||||||||
| Mairead | Not in The Circle |
Exempt | 2.57
|
Blocked (Episode 13) | ||||||||
| Ryan | Not in The Circle |
Exempt | 2.57
|
2.50
|
Blocked (Episode 12) | |||||||
| Hannah | Not in The Circle |
2.29
|
Blocked (Episode 10) | |||||||||
| Genelle | 3.00
|
2.71
|
3.14
|
Walked (Episode 10) | ||||||||
| Aiden | 2.86
|
2.57
|
2.57
|
Blocked (Episode 6) | ||||||||
| Sinead "Christopher" |
Not in The Circle |
Exempt | 2.00
|
Blocked (Episode 6) | ||||||||
| Mitchell | 2.43
|
2.86
|
Blocked (Episode 4) | |||||||||
| Jennifer | 2.28
|
Blocked (Episode 2) | ||||||||||
| Notes | none | 1 | 2 | none | 3 | 4 | none | |||||
| Influencers | Alex, Dan |
Alex, Sian |
Dan, Freddie, Genelle |
none | Scotty, Sian |
Dan, Sian |
none | Sian | none | |||
| Walked | none | Genelle | none | |||||||||
| Blocked | Jennifer Influencers' choice to block |
Mitchell Influencers' choice to block |
Sinead "Christopher" Influencers' choice to block |
Hannah Lowest rated player |
Ryan Influencers' choice to block |
Mairead Influencers' choice to block |
Precious 3 of 5 votes to block |
Scotty Super-influencer's choice to block |
Harry Lowest rated player |
Dan Lowest rated player |
Sian Third highest rated player | |
| Aiden Influencer's choice to block |
Freddie Second highest rated player |
Alex "Kate" Highest rated player | ||||||||||
Notes edit
- ^Note 1 : In Episode 6, as Freddie and Genelle tied on their ratings, they both joined Dan as influencers. The first ever double blocking was also held on the same day.
- ^Note 2 : In Episode 10, although they were new players, Hannah and Scotty were eligible to be rated and ultimately blocked from the game. Genelle also received a rating, however it was not revealed as she chose to leave The Circle before the ratings were announced. Her ratings for the other players were still counted. Also, for the first time, there were no influencers; instead, the player with the lowest rating was automatically blocked from the game.
- ^Note 3 : In Episode 15, as the bottom two players, Precious and Harry were at risk of being blocked. The other five players had to publicly cast their vote for which of the two to block from The Circle. Sian, Dan, Freddie voted for Precious. Scotty voted for Harry. "Kate"/Alex did not cast a vote, as a majority decision had already been reached.
- ^Note 4 : In Episode 16, the top player was a secret super-influencer. The ratings were not revealed to the players nor the audience.
References edit
- ^ "Meet The Circle contestants - the deceptive social media-inspired reality show". 18 September 2018.
- ^ "The Circle's finale date isn't far away". Capital.
- ^ Donaldson, Laura (3 October 2018). "The Circle on Channel 4: What is The Circle and when is it on?". OK! Magazine.
- ^ "BARB – Weekly Top 30 Programmes: ITV2 Total". Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ^ "Who won The Circle 2018 and what is the prize for the show?". Heart.
- ^ "Meet The Circle contestants - the deceptive social media-inspired reality show". The Metro. 18 September 2018.