Richard Madeley joins Channel 4’s The Circle as a ‘celebrity catfish’

Richard Madeley is to join series 2 of The Circle on Channel 4.

The television host will act as a ‘Celebrity Catfish’ in the social media based reality show.

In The Circle, players live in separate flats in an apartment block and communicate with each other through a voice activated social media platform called The Circle.

Never meeting face to face, the players can be whoever they want on their Circle profiles, as they are hidden behind the screen. They can choose to hide certain things, change their identity entirely or simply be themselves.

The first eight of The Circle 2019 contestants and their game plans were revealed yesterday.

But now an extra addition has been announced with Richard Madeley joining as a ‘Celebrity Catfish’.

Richard won’t be using his real identity, instead giving viewers full control over his profile in The Circle.

He explained: “I have absolutely no idea who I’m going to have to pretend to be because you’re going to decide. We’re asking you to help me form a completely different character.”

The Circle launches live tonight at 9:15PM on Channel 4 with host Emma Willis where you’ll be able to decide who Richard will play.

Meanwhile, Richard has confessed his wife and fellow TV personality Judy Finnigan has been left “baffled” after he signed up for the show.

“Judy is completely baffled because she hasn’t seen any of The Circle, and she wasn’t aware of the concept of it,” he said. “So, at first, she was really baffled. “Like I said, normally I say no to most reality shows, things like Strictly and I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here and stuff.

“So she was a bit surprised as to why I said yes. Then when I explained it to her she kind of got it.”

On why he agreed to take part, Richard added: “I get asked to do all kinds of things all the time, and usually the answer is, ‘No, thank you,’ because it either sounds a bit boring, or I’ve kind of done it before. This is genuinely different.

“I was aware of the programme. I’d seen a little bit of the last series, and I read quite a lot about it. I was quite intrigued by it at the time and it got some very interesting write-ups. It’s not your normal reality show. It’s got quite a lot going for it intellectually as well as being a lot of fun.”

In The Circle, popularity is the name of the game.

Across the series the players rate each other and the least popular are ‘blocked’.

The Circle launches live on Channel 4, Tuesday at 9:15pm