‘The Circle’ Season 6’s Latest Blocked Player Went Out on Top: “Who’s Gonna Block Me?”

The Circle giveth and The Circle taketh away. One minute you’re chatting with your #CircleBestie, the next you’re deleting your profile and your shot at $100,000. And after getting off to a slower-than-usual start, Season 6 of The Circle is now blocking players left and right — and doing so in creatively cutthroat ways. Let’s talk about that Ride or Die twist. SPOILERS ahead!

After getting paired up with another player, the result of a personality quiz they didn’t know would matter so much, everyone’s fate was suddenly intertwined. Not only did players have to look out for themselves, they also had to ensure that their new ride or die survived the next round of ratings — because if one of them gets blocked, they’re both headed to the airport. For Kyle and “Paul,” a.k.a. Paul’s sister Caress, this didn’t seem like a big problem. The two of them were already working together. What could go wrong? But due to one of them landing in the bottom of the ratings, our boys were faced with a choice: stay in the game or sacrifice your spot. If they both chose to stay, they’d both go home. It would take one of them stepping up and stepping out in order to ensure their ride or die would live to see another round. So… what happened?

Below you’ll find our interview with the first Circle player to ever give up their spot in the game for someone else. Why did they do it? Do they regret it? And what was it like to walk down that famous Circle hallway by choice?

“PAUL” / CARESS

Decider: What was your strategy going in?

Caress: So strategy going in — it was to take the little parts about him that I know and intertwine those into what I think he may play like. It’s been interesting seeing how this is playing out, to be truthfully honest, because I’m realizing that I probably need a little bit more help in the flirtatious department. But I definitely wanted to go in and bring his joy, his fun to The Circle. And so that’s what I’m doing.

Were you worried at all that anyone might recognize him as Paul Russell from TikTok?

To be honest with you, I talked about it with him a lot. Him making it to being this big celebrity guy just recently happened, so there’s this disconnect between like, he’s still my little brother and no one knows him — until, wait a minute, everybody may know him. If I post this picture in there or if I talk about it too much, and he’s pretty active on social media, so this could be murky water. So I was a little apprehensive to really go full on like, “Hey, this is Mr. ‘Little Boo Thang.’” I was like, wait a minute, wait a minute — I think I need to pull back on some of that a little bit.

You also mention that you’re a rapper in your profile. Were you afraid that would put a target on your back, especially if there’s a rapping challenge?

I’m a wordsmith myself. I toured the country for the past 12 years doing a beatbox poetry show for colleges and universities. So when it comes to the rapping and coming up with stuff straight off the bat and doing it in a poetic sense, that’s something that I’m actually very familiar with. So I wasn’t afraid to rap. I don’t know if you’ll see in the show, when they’re like, “Oh, it’s a rap battle,” I’m like, “Yo, let’s go. I’m gonna body this.” My brother and I, we had a studio in our house since we were five. That’s something that been a part of our lives, so rapping wasn’t something I was gonna be afraid of. I was okay with that.

Your first solo chat on the show is with Lauren, and usually those first chats establish an alliance between players — but you and Lauren both come away from your first chat being like, “That’s a catfish.” 

That was an interesting chat. I went into every chat thinking we were gonna come out with best friends, let’s just be clear. I was not aware that it could possibly go left — but then I was also super skeptical. The introduction of an AI and knowing that people are not playing themselves, automatically I’m apprehensive with whoever I talked to. Are you real or not? The level of me being very critical of her was high going in there and I could tell by Lauren’s responses that she wasn’t really feeling me. And a little bit of me was like, “If you’re not feeling me, I’m not feeling you either, I guess. You know what? Screw you too!” So that was one of those feelings, like, tensions were high and I think that she and I both were like, “Dude, something’s not clicking here.”

Usually players align themselves in gendered alliances in Episode 1, but not this season. Why did it take a little bit longer to establish #BroCode?

I don’t think we were on that tip. To be honest, I knew once the boys hit the bottom [of the ratings], that something needed to be done. There was really no need for that much of an alliance that was girls and guys at the beginning of the show. We were all still trying to get to know each other. But then when I saw that we were all in the bottom, I was like, “Yo, okay, now we need to be strategic in this particular area.” I think that everybody came in and was like, “Look, whoever is with me is with me, regardless if they’re a guy, regardless if they’re a girl. But then we started realizing there was some polarization here in the ratings. We were like, “Okay, no, we got to do something. #BroCode is established.”

When QT comes in, you try to establish a little side alliance with her in addition to #BroCode. Why did you strike up that convo with QT?

I realized that it didn’t didn’t go well with Lauren. I needed a girl on my side. and here we’ve got this new player who just swooped in and I saw it as an opportunity. I need a Circle boo, right? So if I’m gonna do this, I need to try to establish something with QT. It literally was like, it’s the bros in the Code and then what girls do I have on my side? I can’t just ride that #BroCode wave the whole time. I’ve got to have somebody else, so I went for it. Shoot my shot. Let’s go.

The reveal that one player was actually AI came right after the Rap It Up challenge. Did you worry that players might suspect you of being the AI because your rap was too good?

I didn’t. When you’re in The Circle, you’re excited when something goes kind of right. So I was like, “Look, I rapped and I rapped good.” That’s the extent of it. I was so excited at that point that I actually did something because I felt like there was a little bit of a target on my back already, a little bit like people weren’t really feeling that I was really me. So I felt like I represented rapping well and I didn’t even realize that, wait a minute, I should maybe not have been as good. I wanted to prove that I had some sort of skill! I was excited that it happened.

The rap battle also established your one-sided beef with Steffi. That came out of nowhere. Where did that come from?

Man, I have no clue. [Ed. Note: Steffi spilled to us] But I am not one to back down. When I saw that Steffi came, I was like, “Oh, you want to play a game? Let’s play a game.” I was so in it. I was so excited that there was actually an opportunity for me to come back at her, because I knew I could come pretty hard and maybe that would help me out a little bit. But I didn’t know where it came from. I was a little shocked. I was a little taken aback because I thought we were all lilies and flowers and stuff, and then all of a sudden she one-two punched me and I was like, “Oh, if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it.”

You came back at her during the Empathy Test, joking about avoiding a private chat with Steffi.

I come from a long line of ball-busters in my family. We hit you where it hurts. We’d be like, “You’re gonna come in here looking like that?” We’re good with being bold, just really hitting it. So I’m not gonna beat around the bush. We got beef, so I’m gonna let everybody know we got beef and what’s up. She came for me so I’m coming back. Let’s go. I’m not a punk. [Laughs]

That also explains why you made the joke about Myles’ “girlfriend back home when he hollered at QT.” That was some #BroCode ball-busting, but everyone took it so seriously.

I thought it was gonna be a little hardy-har-har. We joke around — me and my brother joke around like that all the time. So yeah, it was gonna be a little joke and also let QT know that I’m a little jealous, you know what I mean? You supposed to be my boo. What’s happening here? I thought it was gonna be funny, but I guess people kinda took it like, “Dang! #BroCode, sike! What happened here?”

#BroCode started to fall apart after the AI reveal when Kyle tried to test you, asking about if you preferred Manhattan or Venice Beach. What was that?

I was so freaking out because I knew he was from LA and if he asked me anything about LA, this is where I’m gonna bomb. There’s only so many questions I can ask my brother to prep me for LA. It’s LA! It’s huge! I didn’t know what area people were gonna talk about. I think that was super smooth on Kyle’s part to ask me about the beaches, because that is something that I never even would have studied. And when he said it, I knew he had me. I was like, “No! I gotta ride the fence on this, because if I say the wrong answer, he’s gonna definitely know.” So I felt like riding the fence on the answer was the best way to go. Maybe not, but hey, I had to go for something. I want to say that’s probably one of Kyle’s smartest moves in the game. 

After Myles was rated as Most Human, you had an awkward chat with him and Max — the AI — where Max ghosted both of you. What vibes were you picking up on Max at that point?

Max had me so perplexed. I was like, what are you doing here? And not just that — what kind of relationship do you have with Myles? I’m clearly having a one-on-one conversation and you’re an innocent bystander just sitting there looking. And I’m like, “Dude, are you gonna say something?” And at that point, I’m gonna be honest with you, I felt like Max was either really shady, because they were having previous conversations about me and he was too scared to bring it back up when I was right there in his face — or Max has got to be a catfish. We weren’t getting enough from Max and that’s what I was feeling. Max was avoiding confrontation and it frustrated me a little bit because I felt like I had somebody peeping in the window when I was having a private conversation. And dude, if you’re not going to be a part of the conversation, get out the window.

The Ride or Die twist was introduced and you were paired with Kyle. Ultimately it came down to one or both of you going home, and you sacrificed yourself for Kyle. How did you reach that decision?

Oh my God — that was the hardest thing. It was so hard. To be really honest, I can be wrong or right, but I’m going to be confident. I’m confidently whoever I’m gonna be and I’m gonna take it in stride. But this right here — I’m not one to back down. I’m not one to walk away. I’m not one to give up. But at the same time, I have a ton of empathy and I’ve got a younger brother. I know what it means to move aside to make sure that he’s got what he needs. And I’m able to recognize in this moment that this may not be for me. I may not be the winner. But if I’m not, somebody else has to be. Kyle and I, I felt as if we had the closest relationship. I wasn’t going to take us both out. I felt like I was in the bottom and so because of that, I wasn’t gonna go out and drag him out. There’s no integrity in that for me. So I went ahead and sacrificed myself, and when I walked into that apartment and I saw who he was and he was real, how genuine he was — when I met Deuce! Oh my God, I felt so good about my decision. And I was so proud of myself because I gave myself up for somebody who I genuinely respected and was very happy to see continue on in the game. It made me feel great.

And what an iconic way to go. If you’re gonna lose The Circle, that’s the way to do it.

I still walk out confident. Who’s gonna block me? Nobody! I felt great. It’s an opportunity to shine. When you have $100,000 on the line, very few people are willing to walk away and not take anybody with them. That was something that I’m proud to show the world. There are times when you win, there’s times when you lose, but if you walk away with your head held high, that’s what matters the most. My integrity is intact and that’s all I care about.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. New episodes of The Circle Season 6 premiere on Netflix on Wednesdays.