Yahoo News The Circle season 5's Tom Houghton dishes on episode 12's shocking blocking: 'I stayed loyal'
Warning: This article contains spoilers about The Circle season 5, episode 12.
Alert! The biggest betrayal in The Circle history just went down between Tom Houghton and who he thought was his No. 1 ally throughout all of season 5.
In the last episode before next week's finale drops on Netflix, the British comedian assumed he and "cool aunt" Jennifer were making it to the end together... but he had no idea "Jennifer" was actually previously blocked players Brett Robinson and Xanthi Perdikomatis, who would stop at nothing to prevent themselves from getting blocked again. So while Tom ranked his Circle BFF at the top of his ratings, "Jennifer" ranked Tom last to ensure that he'd be at the bottom instead of them, saving "Jennifer" from getting blocked after everyone figured out she was the hacker causing problems.
"I had an interesting journey. I thought I really had a shot at one point as well," Houghton tells EW. "I could have done it if I had just been clever. I thought when it came to it that I'd be able to be a bit more cutthroat, but it's really hard when you get deep in there — you can't do it."
While Houghton played with his heart over his brain, he admits that even if he thought more strategically, he never would have figured out that "Jennifer" was a catfish. "Because Jennifer was the hacker, I didn't expect her to also be a catfish," he adds. "In my head, she was this kind, loving, divorcé woman who's giving life a second go, so I can't throw her under the bus! 'She'll never do that to me!' I didn't think there was a bloke called Brett who's watched American Psycho too many times on the other end of her profile. That's certainly how Xanthi explained [it] to me: she was the womanly, sweet, social side, and Brett was just the bloody Patrick Bateman number cruncher. They were a very good combination."
Below, Houghton dives deep on getting blocked, if he regrets working with "Jennifer," and more. Send message!
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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Have you watched any of the episodes yet?
TOM HOUGHTON: I haven't seen anything at all, apart from the trailers.
Do you know the whole reason of why you got blocked after talking with your castmates, or are you curious to see how it plays out on TV?
Well, it sort of went downhill after the rebellion took place. And then, I don't exactly know, no. Did people gang up on me?
It seems to be all because Xanthi and Brett, as "Jennifer," ranked you last to save themselves from being blocked.
I did think to myself that if I had ranked them last, they might have been blocked, but I stayed loyal.
Did it ever cross your mind in the moment to do that to Jennifer?
Sort of, I did a bit. At the time, I remember Jennifer had been a bit dodgy about who was the mole or the glitch — I can't remember what it was, there was something, and Jennifer had been acting weirdly. I knew that her and me were in this danger spot. Then they had that Love Day the day of the voting, and it was all about, "We love each other, and it's all a big family and it's all wonderful and great." Then we had the videos from home, and after I'd had the Love Day and I'd watched all the videos from home, I remember just going, "I can't vote tactically or manipulative, I've just got to vote with who I've had the best journey with." So I voted like that, which is what led me to be voted out. I crumbled via love, sadly. Love will take you down. Brutal. But I'm happy having gone out being loyal to the person you are in with long-term. If I'm going to go out, I'd rather go out in an honorable way.
How did it feel when you found out your No. 1 ally was the reason you got blocked?
I wasn't expecting it at all. Because I'd come in with Jennifer, I was so concerned with the people who had already been in since day one that I didn't really even question the person I'd come in with. Now looking back, there were definitely signs, but then after the surprise, I also sort of had a bit of respect for both of them for being able to pull it off. When I actually talked to them, my comments were, "Well, I hope you win now."
I felt a great sense of connection to them anyway, despite the fact that they'd sold me up the river. I didn't actually feel bad about them voting me down — I felt a bit annoyed with myself for not playing more tactically. But no bad vibes were meant. I was just in shock at the whole thing, because then going into the room that they were in and thinking, "Oh wow, this hotel room's a lot bigger than mine. Jennifer's getting really well looked after here." Then suddenly this bloke in a cowboy hat with this massive smile just popped his head round, and then this Greek Adonis jumps out the wardrobe, you're like, "Oh, bloody hell!" I never expected that.
Did you ever suspect Jennifer was a catfish?
Honestly, no, I really hadn't. We had such a strong bond, we really were like two peas in a pod the whole way through from when we arrived, it was just a complete blind spot for me. When she got to have that secret conversation, as the hacker, and she messed up, I'm sure that Brett and Xanthi were probably going, "We've messed up, he's going to know that we're fake." But I just thought it was a middle-aged woman who hadn't done something correctly. I thought, "Oh, bless, Jennifer's out of touch," and I protected her right until the end. It was a complete blind spot for me, I'm afraid.
Do you regret allying with Jennifer knowing how it ended for you?
No, I don't regret making the alliance. I do regret how I voted at the end, just because I literally voted myself out the game, I think, by voting her first. Because they'd had the Day of Love, and I went slightly mad and just went, "I'm going to vote for her." Yeah, that was stupid. But I don't regret the journey for me, because though the person was fake, the emotions were real. We're all really great friends now and it's nice. Me and Brett had a real bromance immediately, and then Xanthi is just an absolute sweetheart as well. At the end of the day, it's just a game.
How close are you with the rest of the cast now?
I'm close with them all. We've all got a WhatsApp group together, and we all really, really want to meet up. There's all these things like wrap parties that I'm hoping to get to, we're planning to go to Mexico at some point, which should be fun. I already meet up with Billie-Jean in London, as a fellow UK player. I've had some really nice personal messages with Brian, he's such a lovely guy. He's really interested in traveling, he's the only person who really probably knew what the Tower of London was.
Had you watched every season of The Circle before you were on it?
Absolutely, 100 percent I had. I did my research. I wanted to know what I was getting myself in for. So finding out Shooby was in the game was huge. I was very sad because I was the one who voted Shooby out, of course, and I didn't really want to. I wanted to get rid of Marvin.
Did you regret blocking Sasha when you learned it was actually Shooby playing as a catfish?
I regretted it even before I [knew] it was Shooby, because he was a good ally. But I was trying to maintain a strong connection with Chaz, I thought that Marvin would be voted out next time anyway, which he was. So I was regretting it anyway, but then when I found out it was Shooby, it was like 10 times the amount of regret. It was all because he got really angry. He really started shouting and killed the vibe, apparently. But also then he sold me up the river, because he mentioned to everyone about the attempted rebellion, and I hadn't told Chaz about that when voting, so that then led to me becoming very untrustworthy.
That was what was the beginning of my decline, because otherwise, up until then I'd been playing a really good game. I didn't want to tell Chaz about the rebellion, because I didn't want to muddy the waters with all the other players — I was trying to keep peace. And then Shooby, just as he left the building, he threw a grenade back in, which I did not see coming. Then he walked away, like a big action man with the explosion behind him, and left me dying in the rubble.
Did you ever seriously consider joining Sasha's newbie rebellion?
I didn't, because, to be honest, if it had been anyone apart from Sasha — because she wasn't in a strong enough position to lead a rebellion, she'd just come in and she'd lost a vote, and she was looking very desperate. Because it was her leading it, she really needed me or Jennifer to get behind it. I think if I'd have said yes, other people might have said yes, because I thought at that point I was the strongest of the newbies, hence why I got the top influencer spot immediately. But because it was led by Sasha, I didn't really entertain it.
I did, however, once Marvin had been thrown out, it was me, Jennifer, Tamira, and Oliver, and we outnumbered Sam, Raven, and Chaz, think about doing a second rebellion. By then, I don't know, I think I was too grasping-at-straws and trying to be apologetic about the other rebellion. I regret not doing a second rebellion. Looking back, the rebellion would've actually been a good idea. It would've certainly opened the whole game up, because that power three of Chaz, Raven, and Sam, I think I'm right in saying I'm the only person apart from those three who managed to become an influencer. They were an impenetrable three, apart from the one time I managed to do it and then I messed it up. With great power comes great responsibility, and I did not take to it well.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Episodes 1-12 of The Circle season 5 are streaming now on Netflix.
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