Circle Spy

Former This Morning host Richard is The Circle’s first ever celebrity catfish – and viewers chose who he’d become.

Richard did not know what his profile would be in The Circle, but was excited about taking on a new persona that might be “extreme and embarrassing”. He lives with his wife, fellow broadcaster and author Judy Finnigan, and they have been married for 33 years. He and his wife share their time between Cornwall and London. They have two adult children, Jack and Chloe, who both encouraged him to take part in The Circle. He enjoys reading and writing and is currently working on his fourth novel. Richard was an early adopter of Twitter, which he describes as being like “going into a new pub” and has amassed over 200,000 followers.

Motivation for entering The Circle: Richard is fascinated by the idea that people in today’s society can form friendships and relationships before ever meeting in real life. He met his wife at work in a time before the web and social media. He wants to observe for himself how strangers get to know each other behind a screen. He’s also looking forward to having some down time away from his phone and emails. He’s hoping that disconnecting from the world outside will be like “going to a retreat”.

Strong: Richard intends to go into The Circle as an “agent of mischief”. Richard has worked in broadcasting for over 40 years and is used to meeting people from all walks of life, which may work to his advantage when it comes to chatting with the other Players in the game. However, he intends to steer clear of difficult topics that could be misinterpreted on Circle Chat.

Viewers voted for Richard to play as Judy, a 27-year-old glamour girl. He was free to come up with her backstory, and decided she was a boarding school dropout who recently broke off her engagement.

As a celebrity guest, Richard is only staying in The Circle for a limited time, and is not eligible to win the prize money.