| Series Number: | 3 | ||||||||||||
| Network: | Channel 4 | ||||||||||||
| Module1: |
| ||||||||||||
| Num Episodes: | 21 |
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]
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.
The first set of contestants taking part in the series were revealed on 13 March 2021.[10] [11]
| --- Please do not change the width this allows the table to scale within page margins based on display. ---> | Name | Age | Hometown | Playing as | Entered | Exited | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Dutton-Forshaw | 57 | Hampshire | Father & Daughter playing as "Penny", a 49-year-old letting agent | Episode 1 | Episode 4 | Blocked | [12] [13] | ||
| Millie Dutton-Forshaw | 20 | ||||||||
| Yolanda Thomas | 30 | London | "Chris", her 29-year-old husband, but single | A clone of "Tally" | Episode 1 | Episode 4 | style=background:#f4c7b8 | Blocked | [14] [15] |
| Billy Dawson | 19 | Essex | Himself | Episode 1 | Episode 8 | style=background:#f4c7b8 | Blocked | [16] [17] | |
| Tally Brattle | 23 | Worthing | Herself, but single | Episode 1 | Episode 10 | style=background:#f4c7b8 | Blocked | [18] [19] | |
| James Crossley | 47 | London | "Gemma", a 31-year-old NHS nurse | Episode 1 | Episode 13 | style=background:#f4c7b8 | Blocked | [20] [21] | |
| Vithun Illankovan | 23 | London | Himself | Episode 1 | Episode 14 | style=background:#f4c7b8 | Blocked | [22] [23] | |
| Scott Paige | 30 | Manchester | "Dorothy", his 85 year-old grandmother | Episode 5 | Episode 19 | style=background:#f4c7b8 | Blocked | [24] [25] | |
| Shabaz Ali | 29 | Blackburn | "Alice", a 23-year-old teacher | Episode 17 | Episode 21 | style=background:#f4c7b8 | Blocked | [26] [27] | |
| Pippa Walker | 26 | Manchester | Herself | "Tom", a 29-year-old priest | Episode 11 | Episode 21 | Fifth place | [28] | |
| Joey Alabi | 26 | London | "Femi", a Nigerian immigrant version of himself | Episode 11 | [29] | ||||
| Hashu Mohammed | 28 | Birmingham | "Syed", a 63-year-old restaurant owner | Episode 1 | Episode 21 | Fourth place | [30] | ||
| Andy Smith | 34 | Solihull | Himself | Episode 1 | Episode 21 | Third place | [31] [32] | ||
| Manrika Khaira | 24 | Birmingham | Herself | Episode 1 | Episode 21 | Runner-up | [33] [34] | ||
| Natalya Platonova | 30 | Reigate | "Felix", a 29 year-old paratrooper | Episode 5 | Episode 21 | Winner | [35] [36] | ||
| 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. |
| Episode 1 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 7 | Episode 9 | Episode 12 | Episode 14 | Episode 16 | Episode 18 | Episode 20 | Episode 21 Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natalya "Felix" | Not in The Circle | Exempt | Not published | =2nd | 2nd | 1st | 5th | Not published | =1st | Winner (Episode 21) | |||
| Manrika | =6th | 5th | Yolanda to block | 1st | Not published | Exempt | 1st | 3rd | =1st | Not published | =1st | Runner-up (Episode 21) | |
| Andy | 3rd | 2nd | Yolanda to block | 2nd | Not published | 1st | 5th | 7th | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | Third place | |
| Hashu "Syed" | 8th | 1st | Yolanda to block | =4th | Not published | 4th | =3rd | 4th | =1st | Not published | 4th | (Episode 21) | |
| Joey "Femi" | "Tom" | Not in The Circle | Exempt | 6th | 6th | Exempt | Not published | 5th | Fifth place | ||||
| Pippa | Not in The Circle | Exempt | 7th | 5th | |||||||||
| Shabaz "Alice" | Not in The Circle | Exempt | Not published | Blocked (Episode 21) | |||||||||
| Scott "Dorothy" | Not in The Circle | Exempt | Not published | =2nd | =3rd | 2nd | 4th | Blocked (Episode 19) | |||||
| Vithun | =4th | 3rd | Tally to block | =4th | Not published | 5th | 8th | Blocked (Episode 14) | |||||
| James "Gemma" | 1st | =6th | Yolanda to block | =4th | Not published | 6th | Blocked (Episode 13) | ||||||
| Tally | =6th | Exempt | to vote | 3rd | Not published | Blocked (Episode 10) | |||||||
| Billy | 2nd | =6th | Tally to block | 7th | Blocked (Episode 8) | ||||||||
| Yolanda "Chris" | "Tally" | =4th | Exempt | Not eligible to vote | Blocked (Episode 4) | ||||||||
| Jamie & Millie "Penny" | 9th | 4th | Blocked (Episode 4) | ||||||||||
| Notes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | none | 7 | none | 8 | 9 | ||
| Influencers | James | Andy, Hashu | none | Andy, Manrika | Andy | Andy, Manrika | Manrika, Natalya | Natalya, Scott | Hashu, Manrika | Andy | none | ||
| Blocked | Yolanda "Chris" Influencer's choice to block | "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 | "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 | |||||||||||||
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".[37]
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."[38] After the series finale, Khaira's management company asked Channel 4 to stop posting content about her, in an attempt to reduce the backlash.[39]
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".[40]
Official, 28-day consolidated ratings are taken from BARB and include Channel 4 +1. Catch-up service totals are added to the official ratings.[41]
| scope=col colspan=7 | Viewers (millions) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | ||
| Sunday | No episode | 1.37 | No episode | 1.32 | |
| Monday | 1.37 | 1.37 | 1.48 | ||
| Tuesday | 1.74 | 1.24 | 1.31 | 1.52 | |
| Wednesday | 1.41 | 1.41 | 1.61 | 1.47 | |
| Thursday | 1.39 | 1.49 | 1.54 | 1.44 | |
| Friday | 1.55 | 1.67 | 1.86 | 1.72 | |
| Weekly average | 1.52 | 1.43 | 1.54 | 1.49 | |
| Running average | 1.52 | 1.46 | 1.49 | 1.55 | |
| Series average | 1.55 | ||||