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Netflix is in the middle of airing a new season of The Circle, and multiple catfish are afoot. And much to the annoyance of fans, the contestants playing as themselves in The Circle Season 5 are still trying to hunt down the ones playing under fake personas. But there are some rules for outing the catfish in the game.

Brian Clark, one of the contestants in 'The Circle' Season 5 on Netflix, wears a black shirt that reads 'Feast Mode' in white letters.
Brian Clark | Netflix

Blocked contestants are allowed to visit one other player before leaving ‘The Circle’

The Circle is designed as a strategic popularity contest. And one of the many features that make the show unique and is what hooked viewers are the presence of catfish in the game. Before entering The Circle, contestants can choose to play as themselves or as someone else. The other players won’t know who is real or fake, but they are determined to find out.

Every few episodes or so, the players rate each other. And typically, the two cast members with the highest ratings become influencers. Together, they decide to block one person from the game. Of course, the show includes many twists that throw off this format, but this is the standard procedure.

Following a blocking, the eliminated player can visit one of the contestants before leaving The Circle. They chat for a bit, maybe freak out if one of them is a catfish, and then they part ways. And the next day, the blocked cast member sends a recorded video message to everyone. The videos vary based on the person, but it’s their chance to leave their last mark on The Circle.

One producer reveals why the players never out catfish in their goodbye messages

If someone who played as themselves was blocked and visited a catfish, The Circle fans wonder why the contestants never reveal their fake identity during their goodbye messages. But according to executive producer Tim Harcourt, there are rules set in place to prohibit exposing catfish.

“It’s a rule of the game that blocked contestants can’t overtly out other contestants,” Harcourt told Decider.

But even though they can’t expose catfish, they can hint at someone’s deception in their video messages. The Circle viewers have seen contestants do this before, especially if they are bitter toward the person.

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Meet the contestants of ‘The Circle’ Season 5

There is a good mix of contestants playing as themselves and as catfish in The Circle Season 5.

The cast member playing as themselves are:

  • Raven Sutton and Paris McTizic (Raven’s interpreter) — they aren’t disclosing Paris’ presence to the other players
  • Marvin Achi
  • Chaz Lawery
  • Sam Carmona
  • Tom Houghton
  • Oliver Twixt

The catfish are:

  • Brian Clark, playing as his daughter, “Brittney”
  • Billie-Jean Blackett, playing as her ex, “Bruno”
  • Brett Robinson and Xanthi Perdikomatis as “Jennifer” — Brett and Xanthi started the show playing as themselves, but The Circle gave them a second chance as a catfish named “Jennifer” after they got blocked
  • Tasia Lesley, playing as “Tamira”
  • Shubham Goel, playing as Sasha

Raven and Chaz, as influencers, blocked Brian, aka “Brittney,” in episode 4. After “Sasha” got the least amount of followers, he blocked “Bruno” in episode 6. And Tom and Chaz became influencers in episode 8 and blocked “Sasha.”

The Circle Season 5 airs Wednesdays on Netflix.

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