The Circle: Channel 4 viewers outraged by woman pretending to be a cancer doctor on 'Black Mirror' style show

'This is going to get me lambasted'

Channel 4’s latest reality show The Circle has already caused controversy thanks to its risque premise. Now, after seeing the first episode, viewers are also calling out one particular contestant for lying about her occupation.

The Circle follows a group of people who all live the same block of flats. Rather than meeting each other face-to-face, they are are locked in their apartments and can only communicate via a custom built social media app: The Circle. Participants are able to lie about themselves, and whoever proves to be the most popular person at the end of three weeks wins £50,000.

Thanks to the ability to create a fictional online persona, various contestants have outraged the audience watching from home. Arguably causing the most concern is Jennifer, a 40-year-old ad executive who has started the series pretending to be a 34-year-old oncologist. She told the camera before entering the flats that she knows lying about being a “cancer doctor” is “morally questionable” but she is intent on winning the prize money.

“This is going to get me lambasted,” she said during the first episode. “At the end of the day its a popularity contest it’s not real, so what’s the problem? It’s a game.”

Viewers have already criticised Jennifer on social media:

Other contestants to set social media on fire include Alex, a YouTuber from London, who has decided to use a picture of his girlfriend as his own profile picture and invented a female character to play, and Freddie, who is openly gay in real life but has decided to “play it straight” on the series.

The Circle has also drawn comparisons with the Netflix TV show Black Mirror, particularly the Bryce Dallas Howard-starring episode “Nosedive”. The premise of the episode regards a social media app which allows users to rate each other out of five. The Circle, likewise, sees contestants rate each other out of five and each person is given a cumulative rating.

Read The Independent‘s review of the first episode here.

The Circle continues weekdays on Channel 4 at 10pm