The Challenge: Scouting Reports: The Circle Seasons 2 & 3
*SPOILER ALERT FOR THE CIRCLE SEASONS 2 & 3*
The Challenge started off with rookies coming on exclusively from The Real World or Road Rules but nowadays contestants are coming on to The Challenge from almost anywhere. The finale of Season 3 of The Circle premiered earlier this week and Ed broke the ice this season as the first Challenger from Netflix’s The Circle. So I thought it was a good time to evaluate who from season 2 & 3 would and would not be good additions to The Challenge following up my evaluation of The Circle Season 1 cast.
I am breaking down the cast members from each show in to one of four categories “Not Right for The Challenge”, “I’m not excited but they could surprise me”, “Good Casting Choice” and “Absolutely! Why aren’t they already cast?” First a quick description of what The Circle is…
The Circle is a social strategy reality show that on Netflix. The premise is that each of the players are isolated in their own apartments and communicate exclusively using an in show social media app called The Circle. The big twist is that players can appear as themselves or choose to catfish as a somebody else. So without further ado here are my thoughts on where the cast from The Circle Seasons 2 & 3 fall in terms of potential as prospects for The Challenge.
Not Right for the Challenge:
Season 2:
Lee Swift
I really liked Lee on The Circle. He was a lot of fun and had a good reason for choosing to “catfish” since he is an author who has written under a pen name for years. If his catfish persona River was really him then could fit in on a show like The Challenge. However since there is no catfishing on The Challenge he is absolutely not going to be on a season. Lee is in good shape for being nearly 60 years old but unless the show starts airing on TV land instead of MTV and gets sponsored by AARP I think we aren’t going to see him on a season.
Lisa Delcampo
Another person where age plays a big factor in whether they’d be a good fit for The Challenge is Lisa. Lisa went on to The Circle pretending to be Lance Bass of N’SYNC, which is a lot less crazy when you learn that she is his real life personal assistant. She is 42 and not in good shape. She also seems like someone who seems happy with her 5 seconds of fame on a show like The Circle. The Challenge is absolutely not her game. Maybe she could be on a Circle All Stars or another less physical show like Big Brother or Survivor if she wanted to do more reality tv.
Season 3:
Michelle Rider
Michelle was one of the early boots in this most recent season of The Circle. She seems like a perfectly nice woman, but as is true with a lot of people in this category, her age has me thinking there is no way The Challenge is a path she has open to her.
Chanel Capara
Chanel was in a way both the first boot and the third boot of this season due to the fact that she reentered the game. Similar to how Ed played The Circle as a team with his mom, Chanel also played as a team. Chanel is absolutely an interesting character. I will not take that from her, but she is not an athlete and is 42 years old. She gives me much more of messy Real Housewives vibes instead of Challenge competitor.
Ruksana Carroll
Ruksana was such a nice person on The Circle, giving off big supportive Mom energy. But again, that’s not right fit The Challenge. She is also a competitor with dwarfism. Even though Jordan competed on The Challenge with his hand disability, making competitions fair for her and still true to The Challenge seems like a much more difficult task. So in trying not to be ableist, I think Ruksana is another person who is not right for the intensity of how physical the show gets.
Sophia Layne
I really liked Sophia on The Circle this season and she seems to be somebody I would really get along with as a nerdy queer person. She doesn’t give me the impression that she would want to do a show like The Challenge. I think that she may not necessarily get along with the kind of people on the show and I think she would lag behind physically compared to people on The Challenge.
I’m Not Excited But They Could Surprise Me:
Season 2:
Jack Atkins
Jack (also like Sophia) gives me nerdy vibes, and even though he doesn’t seem to be out of shape I do not see him being able to compete with people like CT, Cory & Nelson. He is someone I did find pretty entertaining on The Circle and I think he could do fine socially but he is a really skinny guy, so I have major concerns with the physical nature of The Challenge.
Bryant Wood
Bryant was the first boot of season two and gave a very hippie/granola vibe. He is a former model (on America’s Next Top Model Cycle 22) and on the show called himself a “breathwork instructor” and was talking about people spreading good energy. He announced on Instagram that he changed his name to Ikar which means “the one that touches the sky” in Greek. He is a young athletic guy who is a big yogi but it feels like he would be way over his head on The Challenge since he does not have the fight. Unless they are looking for a goofy early boot I don’t think Bryant/Ikar is a direction they should go.
Terilisha
I really liked Terilisha on her season of The Circle but she is on the older side in terms of rookies. She is pretty dedicated to growing her career as a singer/actress and she did go out pretty early on the season. Terilisha has an explosive personality and is in good shape, so I do not think she would clearly be outmatched physically. However, I think she is the kind of person you cast for a reason. For example if they wanted her for a Rivals with Savannah, (more on her later), or to fill out a team on a Battle of the Shows theme. What it comes down to for me is that there are a lot of good potential rookies from The Circle so Terilisha is lower on my radar.
Season 3:
Ava Capara
Ava is a young attractive girl trying to break through as an influencer/singer/ model according to Instagram, and she has more reality tv experience appearing on a season of America’s Next Top Model. But she was boring on The Circle. Her older sister Chanel overpowered her in all of their scenes on the show and she does not make up for being bland by being a strong athlete like with a Kaycee or Jenny, so I simply do not think Ava is worth taking the chance on.
Daniel Cusimano
Daniel is really young and immature which was a fun dynamic on a show like The Circle, but I think he just is not right for The Challenge. I would assume it is not where he would see himself either. He would be overmatched physically and though I think he could give good snarky confessionals, casting a rookie purely for confessionals is not a recipe for success.
Jacki Jing
Jacki was the last person added to the show on this most recent season of The Circle. I think that if she had been in the game earlier she could have done better, but I would be surprised if a move to The Challenge is in the cards. She is a video gamer and is a very tall and pretty girl, though I would be unsure of her physicality. She did mention that she liked playing volleyball. Jacki proved to not be a great strategic player by sticking with a losing side in the middle on The Circle instead of flipping when she could. She could change my mind since she has good personality, but like a Terilisha she seems busy with other things like her stream and as being a host for video games.
Good Casting Choice:
Season 2:
Deleesa St Agathe
Deleesa was awesome on season 2 of The Circle. Part of the initial move-in group, she catfished the whole time as her husband, building strong relationships both by being genuine and by flirting with one of the girls. I think she could be a lot of fun and the only reason I have her this low is she seems very busy with two young daughters (very few moms come on The Challenge, particularly rookies), but since she was on Netflix’s backyard version of The Challenge, “Netflix Reality Games” she may be willing to compete. Another concern I have is that it is unclear to me how she would stack up athletically compared to the rest of the cast.
One exciting possibility is if her husband Trevor wanted to take the step in to reality tv with her. He is an athletic trainer who worked for the NHL & NBA in the past and could at least be a good resource for her to get physically ready for The Challenge. Or he could preferably join her as a dynamic duo.
Savannah Palacio
Savannah was an early boot on her season of The Circle but she was a fiery personality and a huge part of one of the major story lines that set up the entire season. She was one of the first in players in power and had developed a strong relationship with the other player in power until it came down to who they were sending home, where Savannah felt betrayed by Terilisha. Savannah is a young pretty girl in good shape who does not back down from a fight and I would be glad to see her bring that same energy to The Challenge on her own or potentially as a Rivals pair with Terilisha.
Courtney Revolution
Courtney was a heck of a lot of fun on The Circle and one of the best strategic players throughout season two. He is also a black queer man, which Corey mentioned this season is a demographic the show has not had a lot of representation from. Courtney is in good shape but he is not built like a Jordan, Cory, Bananas or CT. So I think were he to hit the gym a bit more he could be fine there. Courtney’s real strengths are his confessionals potential and strong strategic game. Socially, he excelled on The Circle but I think that he could struggle in the different environment of The Challenge. He was also on Netflix’s knock off version of The Challenge “Netflix Reality Games,” so I think more reality tv is on his radar.
Season 3:
Rachel Ward
Rachel, unlike a lot of the other players I think should be on The Challenge, was not as memorable of a character on The Circle. She does absolutely fit the mold of the kind of people that MTV usually casts. She is a beautiful flirty twenty-something, though she didn’t really stand out as a big part of the show since she was catfishing as a dude in order to not get caught and stay under the radar. She could do fine on The Challenge but she is not who I would be excited to see production bring over.
James Andre Jefferson Jr
James was my favorite contestant from season 3 of The Circle. When he came on to the show in episode six I felt like it was a dramatic improvement. James was by far the funniest, had some of the most genuine connections, and was a solid strategic player. James is not in the upper tier for me because he is a bit older at 30 and is in a committed relationship, and I question whether he will be able to keep up athletically. If James has more abilities in The Challenge then his career as a comedian and radio host would suggest then he could be a great choice to cast.
Absolutely! Why aren’t they already cast??
Season 2:
Khat Bell
Khat was only on season 2 of The Circle for a short time but she made her presence known coming after the power players and building a strong friendship with her fellow late comer Mitchell. Khat is a professional volleyball player which is one of the biggest reasons I’d want to see her on The Challenge. I think she has the potential to be a top physical competitor from the start (I mean seriously look at those arms. I am really hoping Khat gets her second shot on reality tv with a move over to The Challenge.
Mitchell Eason
Ed has been quite a favorite rookie so far this season as I talked about last week. Fortunately, Ed is not an only child, and The Circle brought his brother Mitchell in on season two where he was in my opinion more entertaining than Ed. Mitchell is a flirty athletic guy and I would genuinely be interested in seeing the brothers together on The Challenge on a bloodlines type season. I also think they would work great on a season even without the need for that kind of game changing twist. Mitchell looks to be solid athletically, happy to flirt and get in potential showmances and seems like he would be a lot of fun in the house. It seems obvious to me that casting him is a no brainer for MTV.
Chloe Veitch
Chloe was the absolute star of the second season of The Circle which was kind of odd since she was overshadowed on the first season of Netflix’s Too Hot To Handle. On the Circle, Chloe was so much fun, she had really great social bonds and was just so damn likeable. Chloe is also really gorgeous and very likely to be down for a showmance since she flirted with several guys (including Mitchell who I want to see cast). Chloe was originally from Too Hot To Handle which was all about people hooking up. She is tall which usually helps in challenges but I am not positive on her athletic abilities. I think she would be awesome on The Challenge and she is from the UK, a country MTV has been consistantly casting from.
Season 3:
Matthew Pappadia
Matthew was one of my favorite this season, apart from the times when he was fawning over one of his fellow contestants. He entered The Circle catfishing as his best friend Ashley but was able to build great connections with many of his cast mates. His reactions were really entertaining and I think he would bring a similar energy to the confessionals and in the house on The Challenge. He is also single which is fun and is in really good shape. He is a bit short at 5'9", but is working as a health & fitness consultant and occupational therapist so he has potential to do really well physically.
Calvin Kiing Crooks
Calvin is in many ways a stereotypical jock, flirting with one of the women and trying to form a “Wolfpack” alliance with all the men. Overall he was well liked and played the middle but he was outspoken and not secretive about his loyalties getting taken out to weaken his showmance Kai. A big positive about Calvin is that he is the kind of guy that I see taking a big shot and not falling in line like many rookies on The Challenge and he also looks like he has the muscles to then back it up.
Nick Uhlenhuth
Nick looks like he rolled of the assembly line in a frat bro factory. I was initially skeptical of his game early on in The Circle but I would argue that he easily played the best strategic game of the season. Nick created a counter alliance “the band” when he realized he was down in the numbers. He built strong relationships both in and out of his alliance to maintain popularity. Finally, he was able to convince competitors who weren’t on his side to take out their own alliance instead of their original choice. In addition to his strategic game he is also the typical flirty athletic dude that regularly gets cast on The Challenge. Not to mention he has some brains with a Computer Science degree from MIT. Nick is someone I think can easily get cast on The Challenge and could absolutely thrive there.
Keisha “Kai” Ghost
Like Chloe from season 2, Kai was the star of The Circle season 3 from the very begining. She played a great social game with her ability to have people want to work with her after a single conversation. She had a decent strategic game but ended up out of power for the latter half of the game and unable to do what was best for her game. Kai was in a showmance on The Circle which is allegedly done and she appears like she could be at least average in the competitions if she were on The Challenge. She seems like a good person for confessionals since she openly had some good jabs at other players expense on The Circle. It seems like an easy decision for MTV to call her up for a future Challenge season.
