After last night's double eviction, Syed explained that his entire circle experience flashed before his eyes, and Felix added that 'hat we had to do there in the influencer chat was brutal' but he added that he was able to prove his loyalty to Dorothy. Manrika explained that she needed to build an alliance with Andy, but think both strategically and tactically. We found out that the final new player to enter The Circle was 28 year old Shabaz, a Chemistry teacher from Blackburn who explained that being a teacher is the best job, even the children who swear at him. He explained that he was going into the game as Alice, a Chemistry teacher from hertfordshire, adding that he is not somebody who would stand out straightaway, but Alice is the type of person that would. He also said that the players who said they weren't going into the game were clearly lying, because 'there's 100k at the end of that line, you've gotta believe that it's mine'. Once Alice started creating her profile, she said 'I have a popular personality, but she has the face' and added that she was a big lover of pizza, gin and staying in...but afraid of crumpets. She said 'that bio is sick, I'm gonna be a winner'. Pippa, 1/2 of Tom, explained that she needed to learn the guide of being a priest and Alice said that she's got to work her way to the top as 'that's the game!'.
Pippa explained that she had a few ideas of things to do, and Alice explained that although in real life, she doesn't care if people like her or not, she said that she wanted to be popular, and Manrika explained that she doesn't just rely on one thing and that in The Circle, she's got her backup plans. Pippa and Femi's goobye messages were played to the other players, and after Pippa said that some relationships aren't as genuine as you think, Manrika wasn't sure if it was because of Felix who had blocked her, or whether she was speaking about Manrika. Femi explained that The Circle family might not be all that it's made out to be with a lot of 'uncles, aunties, brothers and sisters', with some of the other players being shocked about how honest and open he was. Dorothy explained that she felt bad because she blocked him and his story was really interesting, but that was a lie. Tom a.k.a Femi and Pippa were able to watch the players in The Circle chat as they were put into 'lurker mode'. Syed explained that he had told Andy and Dorothy about his suspicions about Femi being a catfish, and after Manrika explained to the new players to watch out for some of the fake relationships, Tom started laughing at her, as she was making out that the players were all loyal and that 'the bonds were all real'. Andy explained that he wanted the popular player crown next and Manrika explained that she might go next, so she needs to play a good game today, and Tom said that 'Andy and Manrika are on their last two legs'.
The Circle revealed that 'two new players had entered The Circle' and it's fair to say that the other players didn't take the news too well. Felix said that 'oh kids, you're gonna have a good time in here' and all of the players got to check out the new player profiles. Pippa admitted that Alice must be real and Alice stated that she loved Manrika's profile, but that Syed looked like her Dad, and that Syed might not be real. Felix looked at Tom's profile and instantly said 'oh, he's a catfish' and Manrika laughed at his bio, adding 'a laugh and a beer, I'm all about that, this is good for me'. Andy explained 'who doesn't love a beer dirnking football loving priest? I smell fish', adding that he needed to get into a private chat with Tom quickly, before Manrika gets in their first. In The Circle chat, both Alice and Manrika spoke about self love, and Andy stated that he appreciated what Tom does for a job, but he didn't have much to add onto the topic of conversation. Dorothy admitted that Manrika is good at getting in there and making relationships, and Andy asked both of the new players to tell him and other players 'one thing about yourself that we don't know from your profile!'. Alice admitted that she spilt coffee on a famous person by accident, and stated that this would hopefully get people to reach out to potentially ask which celebrity it was, and Tom said that he loved a friendly game of Poker, but with no gambling involved. He also added that his confession box was open, and Syed commented that it was a good tactic to get information out of the other players. The Circle revealed to the players that no more players would be joining the game, and the final 7 were to battle it out for the prize. Tom went on to explain that 'this is the home stretch' with Syed stating that 'this is just everything to me now...I've actually come this far' and Andy admitting that it's a game, and there's a very big prize at the end of the game, so anything could happen!
Alice started a private chat with Manrika, to which she replied 'this is what I need in my life' and Alice explained that she wanted Manrika to let her know who the most popular players were so that she could align with them. She also put a seed of doubt into Manrika's head by saying 'how funny would it be if Felix was a 40 year old man?'. Syed then started a private chat with Andy who began their chat with a joke...'what do you call a seagull on his head?' and the answer being 'Cliff!'. Syed replied with 'and if he's rich, we can call him Richard, Cliff Richard! Andy also suggested that they could both play pranks on Tom, with Andy saying that Syed could admit to stealing from his neighbour, and Syed suggesting that Andy had fallen in love with him and neither of them wanted to go back to their wives. Syed ended the conversation with 'speak soon brother, with you to the end'. Dorothy went on to say 'I think what would be good' adding that a welcome chat with the newbies would help get those alliances cemented. Femi already explained that he hated Dorothy after she blocked him from the game but decided to put that behind him and to try and make a new relationship with her through his joint profile with Pippa. Dorothy asked whether she should refer to Tom as Tom or Father Tom, and Alice admitted that her Nan had died last year, which would help her build a stronger connection with Dorothy, and have her as a 'replacement Nan'.
The players were then involved in a game called 'Snap Battle' where the new players Tom and Alice were to go head to head with another player, sharing their best picture for a particular category. Up first was Tom and Felix with the category 'Hard at Work', and although Tom's image was a win with the other players, Felix got 5/5 votes with Syed stating that 'Felix, that photo is 100% photoshopped!'. Up next was Alice vs Manrika with the category 'Young Me', and after Alice shared her photo, Pippa's reaction was 'that's well cute' and in the end, Tom and Syed both voted for Alice, but Andy, Dorothy and Felix helped lead Manrika to a 3-2 win! The third battle was between Tom and Dorothy whose category was 'Me + 1' with Syed explaining that everytime Dorothy shares a picture, she always has his heart, and again, Dorothy won 5/5 of the votes making her the winner of the battle. The fourth battle was Alice vs Syed whose category was 'Eccentric' with Andy stating that if Syed didn't have an eccentric picture, something wasn't right. In the votes, Dorothy voted for Alice, but Manrika, Andy, Tom and Felix all voted for Syed to win, so with a 4-1 vote he won the final duel battle! The final battle was Tom vs Alice vs Andy with the category of 'Glamorous'. Tom's image saw him in a blue suit, Alice was sitting outside in a summer dress and sunglasses, and Andy's top half was a smart shirt and tie, whilst wearing casual trousers for his bottom half. Dorothy, Syed and Manrika all voted for Andy, whilst Felix voted for Tom, and with a 3-1 in the votes, Andy won the final battle! Femi noticed that all of the OG players won a battle, and it was only him and Alice that didn't win one!
Manrika invited Andy to a private chat, which he said he was trying to avoid, but went into the conversation with a positive mindset to try and recover his friendship with Manrika. She explained that she needed to adapt her gameplan on a daily basis and that The Circle was a game of survival. She admitted that if it's the case that Andy becomes the next influencer, she can't run the risk of him getting rid of her, because he thinks she would want to get rid of him. Andy explained that he was hurt when Manrika didn't defend him in the book cover challenge, but Manrika came back with a powerful message, saying that his comment about Femi being a strategic player didn't look good for him, and she went on to say 'I've played a game from the start, I didn't need to do that', and hopefully after that chat, the relationship between the only non catfish players in The Circle has been resolved! We'll find out in the next Episode!
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