Who won The Circle 2018 and what is the prize for the show?

23 September 2019, 16:08

As the social media game kicks off once more, we flash back to last year's series and reveal how much cash the winner banks.

The Circle is back for a brand new series this coming autumn.

The mind-manipulation game, which only allows its contestants to communicate through a social media platform, sees eight people from different walks of life compete for a huge cash prize.

All they have to do? Become the most popular member of 'The Circle'.

But as part of a shock twist, the show lets its players decide whether or not they want to play the game as themselves – or catfish their fellow competitors by making up completely false profiles instead.

Here, we take a look back at last year's winner and reveal exactly how much money the champion could be going home with this time around.

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Who won The Circle 2018?

The first ever series of the show in 2018 was won by catfish Alex Hobern.

He tricked his fellow players into thinking he was a young woman called Kate, using photos of his real-life girlfriend Millie to back up his story.

Charming both men and women competing for the cash prize, the former YouTuber convinced them to crown him the winner and bagged a whopping £50,000 for his masterful manipulation skills.

The 26-year-old also won an additional £25,000 when the audience branded him the show's top influencer, which meant he took home a whopping £75,000 overall.

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Winner Alex has since opened up about his decision to fake his profile, and said it took him a while to come to terms with his "deception" after seeing the impact it had on co-star Dan Mosaku.

He told the Radio Times: "We’re friends now, and I love Dan to bits, but he was taken for a fool by me and that’s hard for me as I wasn’t trying to make him look silly, but because it was part of the game you kind of have to by pretending to be this woman.

"I felt I shouldn’t have won the money because I was being fake. It really hit me hard.

"Now it’s like, no, I should have, because I won the game. I wish I wasn’t so hard on myself."

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What is the prize for the competition?

While catfish Alex cashed in on a staggering £75,000 last year, the new series of The Circle promises to be even bigger and better when it comes to the prize fund.

It's boosting the winner's pot by another £50,000, meaning the most popular contestant is set to bank an eye-watering £100,000 in the final – that's before the bonus pot even comes into play.

Season two, hosted by Emma Willis, is expected to involve even more sneaky tactics than season one.

Viewers at home will be called on to influence how different gameplayers interact with one another, adding a further dark dimension to the dystopian reality show.

The Circle returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday 24th September at 9.15pm