The Circle has announced that former Big Brother host Emma Willis will take over presenting duties on the show’s upcoming second series.
Last year, The Circle debuted on Channel 4, garnering a relatively small but dedicated following with its unique premise.
The show is based individuals living in isolated flats, who interact with one another via a purpose-built social media platform called The Circle.
Last year’s series was won by Alex Hobern, a young man who won £75,000 by masquerading as “Kate”, tricking his competitors into believing he was actually a woman.
With a second series set to air on Channel 4 later this year, it’s been announced that original hosts Maya Jama and Alice Levine won’t be returning, and instead Emma Willis be stepping in to present.
She said: “I’m an avid people watcher and fascinated by the positives and negatives of social media. I got hooked on the first series and thought it was a smart format that highlights how we shouldn’t take everything on social media at face value.
“I’m delighted to be part of something that is incredibly relevant and can’t wait to join the team and see how mischievous people are prepared to be for £100,000.”
The first run of The Circle featured original hosts Alice and Maya heavily in its promotional material, but viewers were ultimately disappointed (and confused) about how little they went on to feature over the course of the series.
Channel 4 has announced that this time around, Emma will be hosting a weekly live episode of The Circle on Friday nights, and the series will also have an extended run time.
Neither Maya Jama nor Alice Levine has commented on the matter at the time of writing.
Emma is best known as the presenter of Big Brother, a job she held for six years until it was axed by Channel 5 last year.
She also presents The Voice for ITV, as well as the spin-off series The Voice Kids, and served as one of the hosts of this year’s Comic Relief telethon for the BBC.