Channel 4 has commissioned a third series of reality show The Circle and an additional series, The Celebrity Circle, as part of the Stand Up To Cancer campaign.
Once again participants will get the opportunity to be anyone they want to be in order to gain popularity.
Emma Willis will return to host and comedian Sophie Willan will continue to voiceover the reality series.
To follow covid-19 filming guidelines, there will be no studio audience or live shows and the format will change to a pre-recorded set-up.
Players will move into their own separate apartments in the same apartment block and the only way they can communicate is through a social media platform called The Circle.
The players voted most popular will gain power, whereas the least popular players are at risk of being blocked. Players that are blocked will leave the show immediately and can reveal themselves to the other players for the first time.
"The Circle is just brilliant, unmissable television,” Emma Willis commented. "I loved every minute of being a part of it and I'm delighted to be returning to it for another series where I'll be right at the centre of all the mischief and drama!
She added: “To add to that, we’re also doing a celeb version - I can't wait to see who’ll be in the line-up and whether they’ll play as themselves or as another celebrity, it’s going to be incredible.”
Channel 4’s Deputy Director of Programmes and Head of Popular Factual, Kelly Webb-Lamb, praised the series for it’s effortless diversity and for creating hundreds of jobs for freelancers in the North.
The Circle will be filmed later in 2020 before airing in 2021, starting with a week-long celebrity version ahead of series three.
