Every couple of years, a new reality show comes along and takes the internet by storm. Recently, that reality show is The Circle. The show has attracted attention for numerous reasons, including the unique lives inside the apartments.
The contestants are forced to live all by themselves inside their respective apartments, speaking to the other contestants only through a social media “app.” Naturally, a ton of questions have arisen regarding everyday life inside these apartments. Luckily, many of these questions have been answered by past contestants, and we now know how everyday life functions.
The Complex Is In Manchester
While the American version of the show displays landscapes of various American cities (including Chicago), the apartment complex is actually located across the Atlantic. It is found in Salford, Manchester, because that’s where the original British version filmed.
Rather than creating their own apartment complex for the American release, Netflix simply used the pre-existing Manchester complex and flew the contestants overseas to compete.
Two Weeks Inside
Unlike other reality shows with a “day” counter, it’s never made explicitly clear how long The Circle lasts. However, The Circle creator Tim Harcourt has revealed that a shoot lasts fifteen days.
While contestants obviously spend different amounts of time inside The Circle (resulting in some rather unexpected friendships), players who enter on day one and make it to the finale spend a hair over two weeks sequestered inside their apartment.
Entertainment
Life inside The Circle could get very boring, according to creator Tim Harcourt. According to him, contestants are not allowed to bring electronics, which means no video game consoles, no iPads, and especially no phones.
However, they were occasionally allowed to watch Netflix on the apartment television (although Alex from the British version has said there is no TV), and they were allowed to bring books from home. This may sound like a relaxing vacation to some, but two straight weeks of reading and doing puzzles can also prove extraordinarily boring.
They Can Speak To The Producer
It’s not like the contestants are left completely on their own for two straight weeks. They do have a degree of personal interaction, including their assigned camera operator and producer (whom they are allowed to speak to).
Harcourt has also revealed that contestants are allowed to directly speak with their respective producer, typically about strategy. Not only that, but the producer will often help articulate a player’s thoughts so they can better explain themselves and their best strategic moves to the camera (and audience watching at home).
The Rooms Aren’t Next To Each Other
The Circle is edited in a way to suggest that everyone is living on top of each other. Exterior shots often show players inside their apartments, and their apartments are stacked one on top of the other. Some may think, “Couldn’t they just open the balcony door and yell up at each other?”
However, this is nothing but editing and post-production trickery. Alex from the British Circle has revealed that the apartments are actually spread out throughout the building to prevent potential yelling and contestants hearing each other’s daily lives.
Food Is Brought In Daily
Two weeks is a long time, and it’s plenty of time for food to go bad. Luckily, fresh food is brought into the apartment daily. Alex revealed how it works on his personal YouTube page.
Contestants write out the groceries they want/need on a daily basis and leave the list on their kitchen table. They then go to the rooftop hot tub or exercise room for a certain amount of time, and when they return, their fridge and pantry is stocked with the food that they requested.
The Players Are Limited In Conversations
Some viewers may ask, “Why don’t the contestants just talk to each other throughout the day?”, or, “Why are they only talking about this massive season 3 twist, hours after it actually occurred?” Well, it’s because they are only allowed a certain number of conversations in a day.
To prevent an overabundance of content (and therefore, make the editors’ lives much easier), the producers limit the amount of conversations that the players can have. The editors need to craft a coherent story, and that’s borderline impossible if the players were allowed to speak to each other all day, every day.
The Studio Lights
As it turns out, living inside the Circle apartments is Hell. The Circle is a television show, and like all television shows, it needs an acceptable degree of lighting. That means bright studio lights, and bright studio lights tend to get very, very hot.
All day, players are forced to contend with overly-bright living conditions and a brutally stifling apartment, which is why some refuse to wear clothes or don sunglasses inside. It’s essentially a small studio, and these people are living inside of it.
Going To The Bathroom
Despite the presence of cameras, there is some degree of privacy inside The Circle. And that’s inside the bathroom. Chloe Veitch (one of the funniest cast members the show has ever seen) revealed that players are forced to tell the producers when they need to use the washroom (or “use” the washroom to get five minutes of privacy).
When they do so, the producers operating the room turn the cameras around and cut the microphones so that the players are afforded complete privacy. Presumably, this goes for changing clothes as well…
No Sound
A lot of reality TV is made in post-production, and that goes for The Circle as well. As Courtney revealed, the Circle TV app has no sound. The whooshes and boops and iconic “Ba ma ma ma merp!” alert sound are not actually present in real time, but added in post-production.
Therefore, the surprised “alert!” reactions from all the players are not some forced thing that producers make them do, but genuinely shocked reactions. They don’t hear the noise that TV viewers hear. They’re just making dinner when they happen to look over and see their TV screens flashing pink.
