Netflix has cancelled popular game show The Circle after seven seasons – but the show won’t be disappearing from screens.
The latest season of the reality series, in which contestants can catfish their way to a cash prize, arrived on the streaming service on October 2024, and viewers have been left wondering about the show’s fate due to the lengthy absence.
It turns out Netflix has called time on the show, and a new version will air on Hulu, whose projects end up on Disney+ in the UK. A British version of The Circle aired on Channel 4 from 2018 to 2021.
The Hulu series will merge civilian contestants with celebrities, a format first sampled in the UK with the addition of Spice Girls stars Mel B and Emma Bunton, as well as broadcaster Richard Madeley. It will also add audience voting for the first time in the show’s history; usually, the fate of the contestants is decided by their fellow players.
According to The Wrap, host Michelle Buteau will no longer present the series, and Hulu will name the host and cast members “at a later date”.
The first season of the UK series was hosted by Maya Jama and Alice Levine, with seasons two and three being presented by Emma Willis, who was recently named as one of the new Strictly Come Dancing hosts following the departure of Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
The Circle follows a group of people who all live the same block of flats. Rather than meeting each other face-to-face, they are are locked in their apartments and can only communicate via a custom built social media app: The Circle.
Participants are able to lie about themselves, and whoever proves to be the most popular person wins a cash prize.
The first series of the UK series was filmed in London, before being relocated to Salford, Manchester, where the first few US seasons were shot. However, after the cancellation of the British series, the Netflix production moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
