Editor’s note: The original November 2022 version of this article was lost. The Lee Daily Register rebuilt it in October 2026 from the sources cited below, and added what happened afterward. The original version said $150,000 was at stake this season. That was not accurate: the Season 5 prize was $100,000, while $150,000 was the top prize in Season 4. The original also suggested the show’s players are directed like actors; we found no reporting to support that, and it has been removed.
Netflix’s social media competition “The Circle” is coming back for a fifth season, and this time every player says they are single. The new season, officially titled “The Circle: Singles,” premieres on Wednesday, Dec. 28, according to Netflix’s Tudum site.
The twist this time
Every contestant claims to be single, including a returning fan favorite. Some are telling the truth. Others are catfishing as singles in the hope of winning the cash prize, Netflix said. The returning player is Shubham “Shubi” Goel, who competed in Season 1. Michelle Buteau is back as host.
Release schedule
Netflix is releasing the episodes in weekly batches rather than all at once, MEAWW reported:
- Wednesday, Dec. 28: Episodes 1 to 4
- Wednesday, Jan. 4: Episodes 5 to 8
- Wednesday, Jan. 11: Episodes 9 to 12
- Wednesday, Jan. 18: The finale
That means viewers who finish the third batch will wait a full week for the finale, which drops on its own, Distractify noted.
How the game works
Players never meet in person during the game. Each one stays in a separate small apartment and talks to the others only through The Circle, a social media platform, MEAWW noted. That lets a player show their real self or a made-up profile, which is where the catfishing comes in.
Throughout the season, players rank each other, and the finale uses the same kind of ranking to pick the winner before the finalists finally meet face to face, Distractify explained. Season 5’s winner will take home $100,000, Distractify reported. The previous season was won by Frank Grimsley, who earned $150,000, MEAWW reported.
Why there is a fifth season
Netflix renewed “The Circle” for Seasons 4 and 5 in August 2021, ahead of Season 3, and called it one of its most popular unscripted shows of 2021, TVLine reported. Buteau was confirmed as host through Season 5 at the same time.
What happened next
The finale streamed on Jan. 18, 2023, and Sam Carmona, a makeup artist, was named the winner. She told Distractify she had tried to play an honest game, and that she planned to use the $100,000 toward buying a house. She said she formed lasting friendships in the game with Chaz Lowry and Raven Sutton.
Netflix made two more seasons. Seasons 6 and 7 were filmed at an apartment complex in Midtown Atlanta, and Season 7 debuted in fall 2024. Netflix then dropped the show after seven seasons, and Hulu picked it up for an eighth, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The Hulu version will mix celebrity contestants with members of the public, include audience voting in some form and be filmed in real time. Union data showed shooting scheduled in Atlanta from Nov. 4 to Dec. 18, 2026, the newspaper reported, and no launch date had been announced.
