Joey Sasso was the first winner of the US reality competition 'The Circle'.
The first US season premiered on Netflix in 2020. Contestants lived separately in apartments and communicated through a dedicated social-media-style platform called The Circle. They could present themselves honestly or play as a catfish, while players periodically ranked one another.
Sasso entered the game as himself and won the final, receiving the season’s cash prize. Shubham Goel was the runner-up and became one of the season’s most recognizable players, which sometimes causes viewers to remember him as the winner.
The format originated with the British series created by Studio Lambert before expanding internationally. The US edition retained the central idea that popularity, strategy, and online identity can matter more than face-to-face interaction. Later seasons introduced new twists, but the first season established the basic ranking and blocking structure.