Emma Willis says ‘The Circle’ is definitely "a game" compared to other reality TV shows.
The 43-year-old star is the host of second series of the Channel 4 show, which sees contestants housed in individual apartments with their only means of communicating with one another being The Circle, a social media-style chat system in which they can be themselves or catfish the other participants and pretend to be someone else to become the most popular person and win £100,000.
Emma insists it is a very different programme to something like ‘Big Brother’ – which she also hosted – because the only goal for the participants is to win the cash.
In an interview with the Daily Star newspaper, she said: "I always viewed ‘Big Brother’ with the purist mentality that it was a social experiment. I hated ‘Big Brother’ being compared to a game, but I very much watch ‘The Circle’ as a game, seeing who is going to be themselves and who is going to play it to try to be the most popular and win that money."
Emma admits working on ‘The Circle’ has made her re-evaluate her own ideas about social media and she makes an effort to be "realistic" on the platforms that she uses.
She said: "I guess I am anti-social on social media! I talk to people I know, but I’m of the older generation, I don’t trust anyone!
"I’m always conscious of being realistic on it and painting a true picture of my life, rather than a version of me. I think that’s the responsibility we should all be taking. Even if you have that strength I think we can all still get sucked into it.
"It should be enjoyable and it should be either a tool for your trade or some way where you can express the things that you enjoy or that you’re into, or to stay in touch with friends.
"There’s a whole world of people listening, watching and judging. I don’t mean edit yourself and only put the best version out there, but just be thoughtful."
Among the participants on the new series of ‘The Circle’ are former ‘This Morning’ presenter Richard Madeley and Zoe Ball and Fatboy Slim’s 18-year-old son Woody.
Emma Willis: The Circle is definitely a game
