# The Circle (British TV series) series 3

The third and final series of The Circle began airing on Channel 4 on 16 March 2021, hosted by Emma Willis, and concluded on 9 April 2021 following twenty-one episodes. The series premiered after the conclusion of The Celebrity Circle. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the series was pre-recorded from 13 September 2020 to 6 October 2020.
On 9 April 2021, the series was won by Natalya Platonova, who had played the game catfishing as "Felix", a 29-year-old Paratrooper. Manrika Khaira was the runner-up of the series. Both players finished joint-first in the final ratings, but due to Natalya receiving the most top ranks, she was crowned overall winner. In a change from previous series, there was no viewers winner. Instead, Natalya received the full £100,000 prize fund. In May 2021, Channel 4 announced that it would not be renewing the show and that season 3 would be the last.

## Format changes

Due to the series being pre-recorded, the weekly live shows that featured in the previous series were axed and instead replaced by a regular highlights episode. Unlike previous series, host Emma Willis delivered video messages to the players informing them of upcoming twists, similar to the spin-off Celebrity series. These messages could be private to the players or shown to the group. Due to being pre-recorded, the viewers vote at the end of the series was also axed. Instead, the winner from the series received the full prize fund of £100,000.

## Players

The first set of contestants taking part in the series were revealed on 13 March 2021.
| Name | Age | Hometown | Playing as | Playing as | Entered | Exited | Status |
| Jamie Dutton-Forshaw | 57 | Hampshire | Father & Daughter playing as "Penny", a 49-year-old letting agent | Father & Daughter playing as "Penny", a 49-year-old letting agent | Episode 1 | Episode 4 | Blocked |
| Millie Dutton-Forshaw | 20 | Hampshire | Father & Daughter playing as "Penny", a 49-year-old letting agent | Father & Daughter playing as "Penny", a 49-year-old letting agent | Episode 1 | Episode 4 | Blocked |
| Yolanda Thomas | 30 | London | "Chris", her 29-year-old husband, but single | A clone of "Tally" | Episode 1 | Episode 4 | Blocked |
| Billy Dawson | 19 | Essex | Himself | Himself | Episode 1 | Episode 8 | Blocked |
| Tally Brattle | 23 | Worthing | Herself, but single | Herself, but single | Episode 1 | Episode 10 | Blocked |
| James Crossley | 47 | London | "Gemma", a 31-year-old NHS nurse | "Gemma", a 31-year-old NHS nurse | Episode 1 | Episode 13 | Blocked |
| Vithun Illankovan | 23 | London | Himself | Himself | Episode 1 | Episode 14 | Blocked |
| Scott Paige | 30 | Manchester | "Dorothy", his 85 year-old grandmother | "Dorothy", his 85 year-old grandmother | Episode 5 | Episode 19 | Blocked |
| Shabaz Ali | 29 | Blackburn | "Alice", a 23-year-old teacher | "Alice", a 23-year-old teacher | Episode 17 | Episode 21 | Blocked |
| Pippa Walker | 26 | Manchester | Herself | "Tom", a 29-year-old priest | Episode 11 | Episode 21 | Fifth place |
| Joey Alabi | 26 | London | "Femi", a Nigerian immigrant version of himself | "Tom", a 29-year-old priest | Episode 11 | Episode 21 | Fifth place |
| Hashu Mohammed | 28 | Birmingham | "Syed", a 63-year-old restaurant owner | "Syed", a 63-year-old restaurant owner | Episode 1 | Episode 21 | Fourth place |
| Andy Smith | 34 | Solihull | Himself | Himself | Episode 1 | Episode 21 | Third place |
| Manrika Khaira | 24 | Birmingham | Herself | Herself | Episode 1 | Episode 21 | Runner-up |
| Natalya Platonova | 30 | Reigate | "Felix", a 29 year-old paratrooper | "Felix", a 29 year-old paratrooper | Episode 5 | Episode 21 | Winner |
* ↑ Yolanda became the first player to be blocked during the first episode. However, rather than leaving The Circle, she stayed to become a clone of one of her fellow players. She chose to clone Tally.
* 1 2 Joey and Pippa joined forces during Episode 16 to become "Tom"

## Results and elimination

| | | Episode 1 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 7 | Episode 9 | Episode 12 | Episode 14 | Episode 16 | Episode 18 | Episode 20 | Episode 21 Final | Episode 21 Final |
| Natalya "Felix" | Natalya "Felix" | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Exempt | Not published | =2nd | 2nd | 1st | 5th | Not published | =1st | Winner (Episode 21) |
| Manrika | Manrika | =6th | 5th | Yolanda to block | 1st | Not published | Exempt | 1st | 3rd | =1st | Not published | =1st | Runner-up (Episode 21) |
| Andy | Andy | 3rd | 2nd | Yolanda to block | 2nd | Not published | 1st | 5th | 7th | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | Third place (Episode 21) |
| Hashu "Syed" | Hashu "Syed" | 8th | 1st | Yolanda to block | =4th | Not published | 4th | =3rd | 4th | =1st | Not published | 4th | Fourth place (Episode 21) |
| Joey "Femi" | "Tom" | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Exempt | 6th | 6th | Exempt | Not published | 5th | Fifth place (Episode 21) |
| Pippa | "Tom" | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Exempt | 7th | 5th | Exempt | Not published | 5th | Fifth place (Episode 21) |
| Shabaz "Alice" | Shabaz "Alice" | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Exempt | Not published | Blocked (Episode 21) | Blocked (Episode 21) |
| Scott "Dorothy" | Scott "Dorothy" | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Not in The Circle | Exempt | Not published | =2nd | =3rd | 2nd | 4th | Blocked (Episode 19) | Blocked (Episode 19) | Blocked (Episode 19) | Blocked (Episode 19) | Blocked (Episode 19) |
| Vithun | Vithun | =4th | 3rd | Tally to block | =4th | Not published | 5th | 8th | Blocked (Episode 14) | Blocked (Episode 14) | Blocked (Episode 14) | Blocked (Episode 14) | Blocked (Episode 14) | Blocked (Episode 14) |
| James "Gemma" | James "Gemma" | 1st | =6th | Yolanda to block | =4th | Not published | 6th | Blocked (Episode 13) | Blocked (Episode 13) | Blocked (Episode 13) | Blocked (Episode 13) | Blocked (Episode 13) | Blocked (Episode 13) | Blocked (Episode 13) |
| Tally | Tally | =6th | Exempt | Not eligible to vote | 3rd | Not published | Blocked (Episode 10) | Blocked (Episode 10) | Blocked (Episode 10) | Blocked (Episode 10) | Blocked (Episode 10) | Blocked (Episode 10) | Blocked (Episode 10) | Blocked (Episode 10) |
| Billy | Billy | 2nd | =6th | Tally to block | 7th | Blocked (Episode 8) | Blocked (Episode 8) | Blocked (Episode 8) | Blocked (Episode 8) | Blocked (Episode 8) | Blocked (Episode 8) | Blocked (Episode 8) | Blocked (Episode 8) | Blocked (Episode 8) |
| Yolanda "Chris" | "Tally" | =4th | Exempt | Not eligible to vote | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) |
| Jamie & Millie "Penny" | Jamie & Millie "Penny" | 9th | 4th | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) | Blocked (Episode 4) |
| Notes | Notes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | none | 7 | none | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Influencers | Influencers | James | Andy, Hashu | none | Andy, Manrika | Andy | Andy, Manrika | Manrika, Natalya | Natalya, Scott | Hashu, Manrika | Andy | none | none |
| Blocked | Blocked | Yolanda "Chris" Influencer's choice to block | Jamie & Millie "Penny" Influencers' choice to block | Yolanda "Tally" 4 of 6 votes to block | Billy Influencers' choice to block | Tally Blocker's choice to block | James "Gemma" Influencers' choice to block | Vithun Influencers' choice to block | Pippa Natalya's choice to block | Scott "Dorothy" Influencers' choice to block | Shabaz "Alice" Super Influencer's choice to block | Joey & Pippa "Tom" Lowest rated player | Hashu "Syed" Fourth highest rated player |
| Blocked | Blocked | Yolanda "Chris" Influencer's choice to block | Jamie & Millie "Penny" Influencers' choice to block | Yolanda "Tally" 4 of 6 votes to block | Billy Influencers' choice to block | Tally Blocker's choice to block | James "Gemma" Influencers' choice to block | Vithun Influencers' choice to block | Pippa Natalya's choice to block | Scott "Dorothy" Influencers' choice to block | Shabaz "Alice" Super Influencer's choice to block | Andy Third highest rated player | Manrika Highest rated player |
| Blocked | Blocked | Yolanda "Chris" Influencer's choice to block | Jamie & Millie "Penny" Influencers' choice to block | Yolanda "Tally" 4 of 6 votes to block | Billy Influencers' choice to block | Tally Blocker's choice to block | James "Gemma" Influencers' choice to block | Vithun Influencers' choice to block | Joey "Femi" Scott's choice to block | Scott "Dorothy" Influencers' choice to block | Shabaz "Alice" Super Influencer's choice to block | Andy Third highest rated player | Manrika Highest rated player |
| Natalya "Felix" Highest rated player ||