The Circle dropped by Channel 4 after three series

The Circle has been dropped by Channel 4 after three series despite a fiercely loyal fanbase.

However, there could be hope for the programme widely hailed as the best reality series on British television as streaming giant Netflix is said to be in talks to pick up the UK edition. 

The Circle launched in 2018 and merged the murky waters of social media with reality television, with contestants hoping to win £100,000 by playing either as themselves or posing as someone else – a catfish.

Channel 4 maintains the youth-skewing 10pm format was a success but will be replacing The Circle with new ideas. 

The Circle continued to grow its audience and kept a steady performance among its target audience of 16-24s. Its third series, which was won by catfish Natalya Platonova, pulled in an average seven-day audience of 1.3million viewers, up from the 1.2million who tuned into series two in 2019. 

Studio Lambert chief executive Stephen Lambert has stressed the company is in talks with Netflix about the future of The Circle where the streaming giant is home to The Circle US, which has already been commissioned for a third series.

‘We are grateful to Channel 4 for all they did to help launch this innovative and entertaining format,’ said Lambert. 

A C4 spokesman said: ‘The Circle has been a huge hit for young audiences and has grown successively over three seasons on Channel 4, consistently outperforming slot averages.

‘We’re incredibly proud to have worked with Studio Lambert North and Motion Content Group to invest in such an innovative show and to have given it a springboard for its international format success.

‘In much the same way as when we originally commissioned The Circle, Channel 4 has a responsibility to continually look at how we reinvent and create space for new ideas, and so we have decided not to commission the show for a fourth season. 

‘We’d like to thank Studio Lambert, Motion and all those involved for The Circle’s huge success over the last three series.’

The Circle is available to stream on All 4. 

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