With seven seasons under its belt now,The Circlebecame a surprise hit reality competition series for Netflix. Now that it has become fairly established and familiar, new players have a good idea of what strategies work and which ones don’t. But this hasn’t always been the case. Given this, it’s not surprising that some of the worst contestants hail from the first season of the show. But there are some pretty bad players in later seasons, too. But they are “bad” for different reasons.
Whether these people didn’t didn’t perform at their best, weren’t convincing as catfish, failed to forge alliances, or just behaved badly, there have been all types of personalities on the show so far. The best players toe the line wonderfully between saying what people want to hear and playing as authentically themselves, even when the profile photo and some specifics of their true identities are withheld. Butthe worst players don’t seem to mesh well with others, stir the pot, and/or miss the mark.
The Circle
Watch on Netflix
15Lance Bass (Lisa Delcampo)
Lisa Delcampohad good intentions of coming in and playing as her boss, but she made some grave mistakes. First, she decided to play as an early 2000s boy band member, neglecting to appreciate thatmany of the players inThe Circleare in their 20s and thus aren’t necessarily familiar with N’SYNC orLance Bass. Indeed, the oldest playerLeewas among the only people who were excited about the prospect of playing with “him,” and knew who he was without being told.
Going into the game playing as a celebrity already suggests that someone is a catfish, and Lisa solidified that by trying too hard to sound like him. Once again, she didn’t realize others didn’t know much about him anyway.It was a fun inclusion on the show, but Lisa didn’t bring much to the game. However, she did get the chance to redeem herself and did so successfully by secretly playing withJack Atkinsas a man named John.
14Tierra (Antonio Hayes)
Antonio Hayesadmirably played as his best friendTierra, believing that he would feel more comfortable doing so. He indicated that he felt he did not meet the traditional beauty standards for men and wanted to play as someone more confident than him. Fans loved seeing Antonio gain more confidence in himself, as himself, as the season progressed.
Gameplay-wise, however, he came in far too hot in conversations. Trying to make an impression since he joined late, Tierra didn’t quite make the right one. She made it to the end, but mostly because everyone needed her to help them rank the person they needed to stay. She was effectively just a vote for both sides, which helped her float by. She didn’t make any significant moves of her own.
13Brett Robinson
Brett Robinson’s ego and questionable decisions made hima villain onBig Brother. He enteredThe Circlein Season 5 playing as himself but was quickly sent home when he didn’t mesh well with others. Oddly, however, on the reason wasn’t because his ego got the best of him, but because he was perceived as being standoffish. He had trouble communicating without his physical presence in the same room as the other person, and replicating the same confidence behind a screen.
Brett had the chance to re-enter the game, playing as a 51-year-old woman named Jennifer alongsideXanthi Perdikomatis. Strangely, while he was one of the worst players as himself,he excelled at fooling others into believing he was a lovable mom, working beautifully alongside Xanthi.
12Miranda Bissonette
Miranda Bissonettewent into the game later than others and played as herself. But she didn’t really forge many deep bonds with others. She seemed more focused on her flirty relationship withJoey Sasso, even sharing a kiss with him once she was blocked. This never materialized into anything after the show and may have been part of her strategy, especially knowing Joey was so popular. But her attempt at ingratiating herself to the group didn’t materialize either.
Any chance of a bond she had, Miranda soured it, such as when she accusedSammie Cimarelliof being a catfish. In the end, the core group from the first set of players had grown too tight with one another by the time Miranda arrived. While others in subsequent seasons have proven that it’s possible to break through that invisible wall,she just didn’t have the right moves to join this clique.
11Xanthi Perdikomatis
Fans initially weren’t warming to Xanthi Perdikomatis. She chose to play as herself with her real profile photo. Most of the details she revealed about herself were factual, except for her profession. She didn’t want others to know she was a model so instead, pretended to be a preschool teacher. Her loudness put off viewers and turned her into anunlikable personality on the show, though others in the game couldn’t hear that, of course. Nonetheless,despite making friends and alliances, she didn’t stand out enough(or maybe stood out too much) which got her sent home early.
As with Brett, Xanthi came off better playing alongside him as the 51-year-old Jennifer. She redeemed herself with the second chance opportunity. But playing as herself, Xanthi’s game was sorely lacking.
10Bryant Wood
Bryant Woodwins the award for playing the most authentically, being exactly who he is in real life inThe Circle. But this also meant that he didn’t have much of a strategy. In a game where strategy is key, especially on what many consider to bethe best season ofThe Circle, he wasn’t playing the way others were and fell behind.
Despite being universally liked by fans and players, alike, Bryant came across as too much of a threat and as someone to whom the others couldn’t relate. He was quirky and outgoing. But he put too much of himself out there too quickly, proving that maybehe was just too good of a person for the manipulative game aspect of the competition.
9Paul (Caress Russell)
Caress Russellmade a valiant effort attempting to play as her brotherPaul. But she didn’t fully immerse herself in his personality and came across more like herself in the chats, instantly making people suspicious that she wasn’t who she said she was. Paul is one of the first people others suspected might be a catfish, proving Caress wasn’t doing as good of a job as she could have been doing.
Further, she was accused of stirring the pot and trying to rile people up, contrary to the calm, cool, and collected profile photo she used to personify the person she was trying to be in the game.While Caress started to finesse her game and play better in later episodes, she was always at the bottom of the rankings.
8Terilisha
Terilishahad one of the biggest falls from grace on the show. She started out being among the most popular, an instant influencer and someone with whom everyone wanted to align.But her bluntness, while appreciated, didn’t translate well in a game where only text-based messages can be sharedwithout context, facial expressions, and clear intent.
She made enemies and her game became more about getting people out that she didn’t like or get along with than it was about making strong alliances to help her game. She engaged in a heated argument with another player when avoiding that would have been the better decision. Ina reality competition showthat’s reliant on ranking high with a small number of people, that was a fatal error. She needed to play more rationally and with less emotion.
7Ed (Ed & Tammy Eason)
The most awkward pairing,Ed and Tammy Easonplayed together as son and mother. It didn’t make much sense since the way they would play as one or the other would be completely different from how they would play together. What’s more, watching a son flirt with women while his mother looked on to help him with conversation points and emoji or hashtag options was cringey.
It seems the pairing was added for the purpose of creating an interesting twist in the game, but it didn’t make much sense and made viewers feel uncomfortable.Ed would have done better playing on his own.
6Ava (Ava and Chanel Capra)
Ava and Chanel Capraplaying together as Ava didn’t make much sense, much like Ed and his mother Tammy playing as one person was awkward. Having a second person there on which to bounce message ideas off didn’t help in any significant way and just complicated things. It made Ava second guess what she might respond, and not in a positive or meaningful way.
The pair later had the chance to play as Blue Michelle, a clone of another player, where they became more entertaining. But the fact that they wreaked havoc on the real Michelle’s game made fans continue to dislike them. This isn’t necessarily their fault since it was the hand they were dealt to stay in the game. The sistersdo get credit for successfully fooling others into believing that they were the real Michelleand the real one was the clone. Nonetheless, eithermember of the female duocould have done better playing on their own.
