The third and final series of The Circle began airing on Channel 4 on 16 March 2021, hosted by Emma Willis,[1][2] and concluded on 9 April 2021 following twenty-one episodes. The series premiered after the conclusion of The Celebrity Circle.[3] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the series was pre-recorded from 13 September 2020 to 6 October 2020.[4][5]
On 9 April 2021, the series was won by Natalya Platonova, who had played the game catfishing as "Felix", a 29-year-old Paratrooper.[6] Manrika Khaira was the runner-up of the series. Both players finished joint-first in the final ratings, but due to Natalya receiving the most top ranks, she was crowned overall winner. In a change from previous series, there was no viewers winner. Instead, Natalya received the full £100,000 prize fund. In May 2021, Channel 4 announced that it would not be renewing the show and that season 3 would be the last.[7]
Format changes
Due to the series being pre-recorded, the weekly live shows that featured in the previous series were axed and instead replaced by a regular highlights episode.[8] Unlike previous series, host Emma Willis delivered video messages to the players informing them of upcoming twists, similar to the spin-off Celebrity series. These messages could be private to the players or shown to the group.[9] Due to being pre-recorded, the viewers vote at the end of the series was also axed. Instead, the winner from the series received the full prize fund of £100,000.
Players
The first set of contestants taking part in the series were revealed on 13 March 2021.[10][11]
^Yolanda became the first player to be blocked during the first episode. However, rather than leaving The Circle, she stayed to become a clone of one of her fellow players. She chose to clone Tally.
^ abJoey and Pippa joined forces during Episode 16 to become "Tom"
Results and elimination
Colour key
The contestant was blocked.
The contestant was an influencer.
The contestant was immune from being rated and blocked.
The contestant was blocked, but returned as a different contestant.
The contestant was at risk of being blocked following a twist.
Jamie & Millie "Penny" Influencers' choice to block
Yolanda "Tally" 4 of 6 votes to block
Billy Influencers' choice to block
Tally Blocker's choice to block
James "Gemma" Influencers' choice to block
Vithun Influencers' choice to block
Pippa Natalya's choice to block
Scott "Dorothy" Influencers' choice to block
Shabaz "Alice" Super Influencer's choice to block
Joey & Pippa "Tom" Lowest rated player
Hashu "Syed" Fourth highest rated player
Andy Third highest rated player
Manrika Highest rated player
Joey "Femi" Scott's choice to block
Natalya "Felix" Highest rated player
Notes
^Note 1 : After Yolanda was blocked, she was told that she was still in the game, and that she had to clone a persona of another participant to continue playing. She chose to clone Tally.
^Note 2 : In this round, Tally and Yolanda were immune because of the ongoing clone twist.
^Note 3 : In this round, there were no ratings. Instead, players had to vote between Tally and Yolanda as to who should be blocked.
^Note 4 : In this round, James was given a secret mission to try and get a player of his choice blocked. If he failed his mission, then he would be blocked, if he succeeded he would become immune at the next blocking. He chose to target Billy. As he was successful in getting Billy blocked, James earned immunity for the next round.
^Note 5 : In this round, there were no influencers. Instead, the two lowest rated players, Scott and Tally would be at risk of being blocked. It was then up to the remaining players to vote for one influencer who would hold the sole responsibility of blocking one of the players at risk.
^Note 6 : In this round, the two new players Joey and Pippa chose one person to become an influencer.[37] The remaining players rated each other to determine the second influencer.[38]
^Note 7 : In this round, the two influencers, Natalya and Scott were given the opportunity to block each other. They chose not to do so. Instead, they had to choose two other players to block, picking one player each.[39] Natalya chose Pippa, and Scott picked Femi respectively. Following the blocking, Joey and Pippa continued in the game together as new player Tom.
^Note 8 : In this round, the top rated player was a secret super-influencer, whose identity was not revealed to the other players. The ratings were not revealed to the players nor the audience. The secret super influencer had to block a fellow player face-to-face.
^Note 9 : Natalya and Manrika both placed 1st in the ratings. However, Natalya won the series due to being ranked 1st the most in the final ratings.
Reception
The Guardian reviewed the series positively in the final week, describing it as "The next Big Brother" and embracing "the unnatural nature of reality TV", though "twists may have tipped slightly into excess in the final week".[40]
Manrika Khaira was singled out for abuse and death threats on social media during the airing of the programmes. Digital Spy put this down to young women being "often seen to be 'acting above their station' if they are anything but apologetic and accommodating to others. Other factors, such as race, can also compound this issue." Digital Spy concluded that she was "getting a lot of air time at the moment, which just goes to show that without her involvement there can't be much else happening in The Circle that would be worth us watching."[41] After the series finale, Khaira's management company asked Channel 4 to stop posting content about her, in an attempt to reduce the backlash.[42]
The i newspaper described players "Syed" and Andy as "beloved both in and out of The Circle" and described Manrika as "a reality TV gift". It concluded that the series had "made for exceptional television, gripping us with twists and turns every night".[43]
Viewing figures
Official, 28-day consolidated ratings are taken from BARB and include Channel 4 +1. Catch-up service totals are added to the official ratings.[44]
