‘The Circle’ Season 8 heads to Hulu with a mind-bending new celebrity twist nobody expected
Netflix’s popular social experiment ‘The Circle’ has moved to Hulu for its upcoming Season 8. The fan-favorite competition series ran for seven seasons on Netflix and now has found a new home. It happened after the streamer did not renew the show for another season, after its seventh season concluded in October 2024. Hence, Hulu picked up the show and turned it into a new format with ‘The Traitors’ producer Studio Lambert. The Disney streamer’s decision might have come as a surprise, as ‘The Circle’ was among Netflix’s first hit reality shows and has also had spinoff versions in Brazil and France. As reported by Deadline, it happened after the Unscripted and Alternative Entertainment EVP Rob Mills from Walt Disney Television shared they were making a “concentrated” push into the serialized competition, along with Parker Posey-fronted show The Mob.
As a result, ‘The Circle’ Season 8 will come with a lot of surprising twists and format changes. One of them would be: while the Netflix version featured civilians as contestants, the Hulu version will feature celebrity contestants along with civilians. Additionally, the new format will introduce audience voting in the U.S. As Rob noted, it would be a “reimagined” and a “fast-turnaround” social experiment from Hulu. Witnessing celebrities from various popular franchises competing alongside civilians would surely be a treat for the show fans.
For viewers who might not be aware, the reality competition show features contestants living in separate apartments in the same building, unaware of other contestants’ real identities. They are only allowed to communicate via a specific app, using texts and photos. However, there is an exciting catch. Contestants could decide whether to play the game as their own self or adopt a fake identity. Originally, the show was described as “Catfish-meets-Black Mirror.” Another major format change would be that the Hulu version will be filmed in real-time, unlike the Netflix version. It will offer even more excitement, since they will witness new twists and developments involving the players. Furthermore, the audience votes will shape the player dynamics moving forward in the competition.
Initially, the show’s format was first launched in the UK and ran for three seasons from 2018 to 2021. Later, in 2020, Netflix picked it up for the US version and aired it until 2022. Seeing its popularity, ‘The Circle’ was renewed for two more seasons, seasons six and seven, which then concluded in 2024. The Hulu version of ‘The Circle’ Season 8 will be produced by WPP Motion Entertainment and Studio Lambert. Susan House, who has worked on ABC’s renowned series, including ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Hustler’, will be serving as the showrunner. She was also one of the executive producers for the Netflix version. Along with her, the team of executive producers will include Studio Lambert’s Tim Harcourt, Niall O’Driscoll, Stephen Lambert, Jack Burgess, along with Martin Oxley, Chet Fenster, Peyton Manning, Colin Campbell, Jamie Horowitz, among others.
