Emma Willis will be presenting The Circle when the second series kicks off next week, with another batch of contestants battling it out for £100,000.
The Channel 4 competition sees players holed up in separate flats, communicating solely through a social media platform, with the most popular contestant taking home the cash prize.
But the presenter – who has taken over from Maya Jama and Alice Levine – explained it took her a while to watch the first season, as she saw it as ‘competition’ for Big Brother.
Speaking ahead of the show launch, on 24 September, the 43-year-old admitted she felt betrayed by friends watching the show at the time.
‘Well, I totally missed it because I was doing Big Brother and it was our competition,’ she said.
‘Then lots of my friends that used to work on Big Brother but had left to work on other things said they were watching it. I said, “What do you mean you’re watching that? What about Big Brother?”, and they went, “Oh no, we’re watching that too, but it’s really good and you’d love it.”
‘I didn’t think I would and then I watched it after Big Brother finished and I couldn’t stop watching it!’
But Emma – who previously helmed Big Brother – insisted it wasn’t a replacement for the Channel 5 series.
Speaking about her move to the show, the mum-of-three continued: ‘It just felt like a natural thing to do, to be honest. I know there’s this kind suggestion it is just a replacement for Big Brother for me but I view it quite differently.
‘The thing with Big Brother is that for me, I always viewed it with the purist mentality, it was a social experiment. That is always how I watched Big Brother. But this, I very much watch it as a game.
‘I hated Big Brother being compared to a game but this is clearly a game with the interaction of people, how they’ll react in certain scenarios and then seeing who is going to be themselves and who is going to play it to try and be the most popular and win that money.’
The Circle shows contestants either playing as themselves or creating a completely different identity, in a bid to be voted the most popular.
Last year, viewers watched in utter shock as Alex Hobern managed to convince his co-stars he was actually a woman named Katie – modelled on his real girlfriend, Millie – before eventually taking home the crown.
Side note: Alex’s revelation was some of the best TV we’ve ever seen.
And, because Emma hadn’t watched it beforehand, she believed the show was actually celebrating everything that was ‘wrong with social media’, but has completely changed her mind now.
Which is lucky for us.
‘Before I’d watched it, I was like, “This is glorifying what is wrong with social media, where anyone can be anyone. You don’t know who you’re talking to”,’ she said. ‘But I hadn’t watched it and that was just my opinion.
‘Then I watched it and I thought “This is a glowing beacon to teach people, do not trust who you’re talking to online. Because you just don’t know!”
‘So I think it’s a brilliant vehicle for education in the way that a game is showing you that you should be so wary of anything that you’re doing online, who you’re talking to.’
However, Matt Willis’ wife wouldn’t ever go on the show herself, as she is way too ‘paranoid’ to take part.
‘I second guess everything. So talking to someone online, I wouldn’t trust them,’ she added.
‘I wouldn’t trust anyone. 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.’
The Circle kicks off on Tuesday, 24 September, at 9.15pm, on Channel 4.
Got a showbiz story?
If you’ve got a story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk Entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE: Great British Bake Off curse: Tonight’s Star Baker may regret impressing Paul Hollywood so much
MORE: Gareth Thomas breaks down in tears as he fights back to HIV blackmailers in impassioned speech
