‘The Circle’ Season 2: Contestants Aren’t Told How Long They’re Playing For Prior to Filming
The Circle Season 2 is a reality show sweeping Netflix — and it’s hitting on all the notes of what it means to live in the modern era of social media and “catfishing.” The show features contestants all living in their own apartments away from the others, and the only way they communicate is through social media. And one past contestant said cast members aren’t told how long they’re on the show for, which adds to the chaos.
Production allegedly doesn’t tell contestants how long filming lasts
Most reality TV shows have some element of stress for the contestants, and The Circle is no different. Here’s how the game works: Each contestant has their own apartment, and the only way to communicate with the others is through social media and online messengers. The contestants form friendships in an attempt to not get “blocked” and eliminated by the other players. The person to establish the best friendships and makes it the furthest is awarded the $100,000 grand prize.
Season 1 of the show took 15 days to shoot, and The Circle Season 2 likely takes the same amount of filming time. But E! News notes winner Joey Sasso said he had no idea how long he’d be filming when he started on the show.
“I don’t know,” Joey told The Hollywood Reporter regarding how long he’d be in his apartment. “When you sign up, they tell you, we don’t tell you the day, we don’t tell you the time. That’s part of the mental game of kind of losing your sh*t and trying to keep it together.”
Are ‘The Circle’ apartments real?
Are the apartments on The Circle Season 2 real? They are — and production personally outfits each apartment for the individual contestant. Tim Harcourt, the creator of the show, spoke to Vulture about the experience of finding the perfect place.
“Finding the apartment block is incredibly difficult because what we need, really, is a completely empty apartment block, because we don’t want to be sharing it with residents who are living there,” he explained. “We end up sort of taking over the whole thing.”
He then noted it takes about “four or five months” to find the perfect spot. And production redesigns elements of each apartment for contestants. “The Americans, they wanted all their creature comforts,” Harcourt added. “We fill all their fridges with food that they loved, American food or Brazilian food. We made it feel like home to everyone that’s living in there.”
When is ‘The Circle’ Season 2 coming out on Netflix?
When can fans watch The Circle Season 2 on Netflix? Currently, eight of the episodes are available on the streaming service. Episodes 1-4 released April 14, according to Marie Claire. Episodes 5-8 came out on April 21, and episodes 9-12 come out on April 28. The finale airs on May 5.
It seems the release schedule is what’s working best for fans who love to binge their shows and others who love to wait week to week for new episodes. And we’re looking forward to seeing who gets the boot and who manages to take home the grand prize.
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