Entertainment
The Circle: ‘Felix’ star Natalya Platonova almost quit over Manrika Khaira betrayal
The Circle’s Felix, aka Natalya Platonova, almost quit the show after her catfishing of Manrika Khaira became too much.
The star eventually won the show in a tense final, beating her ‘Circle girlfriend’ to the £100,000 prize fund by appearing as paratrooper Felix.
However, despite playing an incredible game, she told Metro.co.uk that there was a point she was very tempted to go home over the deception.
‘That day that Scott [Nanna Dot] came, I thought this won’t be worth it for how I’m feeling mentally,’ she said when asked if she wanted to back out.
‘But there’s also a psychiatrist on call, she’s a lovely woman. She always talks to you and she puts it into perspective.
‘Because when you’re in there, you start to overthink and she’s always on hand to speak to us and she was lovely. She tells us, black and white, it’s a game, remember you don’t know what’s real and what’s not.
‘After I saw Scott, I was like, “Yeah, you’re not real. I’m not real. Who else isn’t?”
‘It was difficult but when you didn’t see us on camera, it was such a wholesome experience. I baked cakes, I built robots, I read books. It was just lovely to get away from social media and just have a little break.’
As well as building up strong friendships in the Circle with Andy and ‘Dot’, Natalya also used her catfish persona ‘Felix’ to get a romance going with Manrika.
The pair instantly clicked and soon became ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ in a close bond that eventually secured them a place in the final.
Viewers were glued to their screens for the moment the pair finally came face-to-face, with Manrika visibly livid at the betrayal.
And, chatting about her gameplan, Natalya shared her regrets for going ‘so hard’ at their relationship.
‘Yeah, I wish I didn’t go down that relationship route so hard,’ she continued. ‘I wish I could have played it softer or had a bit more of a tactic in a sense to be more…
‘Maybe if I picked someone who was more average looking, I could have been everyone’s best mate. I played it to the max with Felix, I was like, this is what he’d do and this is me.
‘I wish maybe I’d picked a more average-looking guy so I could have just been everyone’s best bud.’
Well, you nailed the ‘best bud’ aspect anyway.
The Circle is available to watch on All4 now, with all episodes on catch up.
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