Season 1 of “The Circle” is the one that started it all — and it remains one of the most beloved seasons in the franchise’s history, not just because of who won, but because of how genuinely the cast connected with each other. Joey Sasso himself said he doesn’t think the Season 1 cast will ever be replicated. He’s probably right.
Here is every player ranked by how well they played, from worst to best.
Before we rank them: a note on the late additions. Miranda Bissonnette, Sean, Bill, and Ed and Tammy all entered mid-game, when alliances were already locked, social bonds were already formed, and the original five had a head start of several episodes. Ranking a latecomer the same as an original player is like grading someone who arrived at the midterm on the same curve as the people who attended every class. They are ranked here, but with that structural disadvantage acknowledged.
11. Ed & Tammy Eason
The Circle’s first duo — Mitchell Eason‘s mom and brother from Conshohocken — entered together and were blocked almost immediately.
They had an interesting personality and the gimmick of family chemistry, but the timing was brutal.
The original players had already bonded deeply, and a mother-son duo entering as a single player read as too odd to trust. They never had a real shot.
Mitchell watched what happened and applied for Season 2 anyway.
10. Bill Cranley
Bill entered late, brought warmth and no particular strategy, and exited without making a significant dent in the game in either direction.
He is the definition of a good person who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
9. Sean Taylor
Sean entered as a catfish — using photos of a thinner female rather than her actual appearance. Partway through the game, she revealed her real photos to the cast. The intention behind it was genuine and the moment was emotionally resonant.
The problem was strategic: the reveal shifted attention onto her in a way she could not control, and it was not her authenticity that got her blocked.
Joey used his Super Influencer power to eliminate Sean not because of her appearance but because he didn’t know where her alliances stood. Unfortunately, it landed on a night where she ranked Joey as number one.
In a game that runs on relationship certainty, ambiguity is a death sentence.
8. Alana Duval
The first player blocked, in episode two — which tells you something.
Alana was the original cast’s most obvious target when Sammie and Antonio held the power as the first influencers.
She didn’t build enough relational protection early enough, and when the first blocking came, she was the consensus choice.
Being blocked first isn’t always a reflection of bad gameplay so much as bad positioning.
7. Antonio DePína
Antonio is one of the most interesting cases in Season 1. He was one of the first two influencers alongside Sammie, which means he was popular early.
He built real connections, played as himself with complete authenticity, and was still suspected of being a catfish by multiple players. There was no real reason other than seeming too warm and genuine to be real.
The irony is perfect and brutal. He was eliminated mid-game despite never doing anything obviously wrong. His ceiling was limited by the fact that he never quite built the cross-alliance relationships that would have made him too costly to block.
He was too likable to distrust — and too disconnected to protect.
6. Karyn Blanco
Karyn entered as “Mercedeze” — a catfish persona — which immediately gave her more social flexibility than players going in as themselves. She formed a tight alliance with Chris Sapphire early and was one of the most strategically coherent players of the season.
She was a threat to win, and the cast knew it, which is exactly why she was targeted.
Being too visibly sharp in the Circle is its own liability. Karyn played well enough to deserve a finale spot. She was blocked before she could get there because other players saw her coming.
5. Miranda Bissonnette
Miranda is the season’s most painful elimination and probably its most unfair. She entered as a latecomer, built relationships faster than almost anyone with a full-season head start, and developed the most genuine individual connection in the entire cast — with Joey. Their dynamic was the heart of the season’s second half.
She was eliminated through a twist in which influencers were individually tasked with choosing players to save, leaving the remaining player blocked.
Joey’s decision not to save her was the one move he later described feeling guilty about.
She wasn’t voted out because she played badly. She was voted out because the structure of that particular twist left her as the remainder.
5. Seaburn Johnson (Rebecca)
Seaburn entered as Rebecca — his real-life girlfriend — and maintained the catfish for nearly the entire game. That alone is an accomplishment.
Playing as a woman when you are a man requires a different kind of sustained performance than most Circle catfishes, and Seaburn held it together long enough to make the finale. Rebecca developed emotional connections with the other players, particularly with Joey, which kept Seaburn safe through multiple rounds of ratings.
The knock against him is that the catfish was doing more work than the player was. Seaburn’s strategic instincts were never fully visible because Rebecca’s persona absorbed all the social labor.
When the finale reveal came and the cast finally met the real person behind the profile, the warmth in the room was genuine but noticeably more cautious than the reception given to other players — they had built a relationship with someone who did not exist, and they knew it.
He made the finale. The strategy worked. It just never felt like Seaburn was driving it so much as Rebecca was carrying him.
4. Sammie Cimarelli
Sammie was one of the first two influencers alongside Antonio in episodes one and two — meaning she entered the game and immediately ranked at the top. That isn’t nothing.
She and Antonio chose to block Alana, a decision that was consensus enough to go smoothly and didn’t cost her any relationships. She built connections across every alliance, was universally liked, and made it all the way to the finale.
The knock against her gameplay is that “universally liked” is not the same as “strategically dominant.” Sammie never made a move that cost her anything, which also means she never made a move that elevated her above anyone.
The cast loved her enough to give her the $10,000 Fan Favorite prize — the most votes of any player — but not enough to rank her first in the finale.
She finished third. Her emotional intelligence was genuine and it carried her far. The strategic ceiling was real, and it stopped her just short of the top.
3. Chris Sapphire
Chris flew below the radar in the best possible way for most of Season 1.
He formed a tight alliance with Karyn early — the Sapphire-Blanco duo was the season’s most strategically sound pairing — became an influencer alongside Shubham in the second round of ratings, and held his position through to the finale without ever becoming a primary target.
He never had the emotional storyline of Joey or Shubham, which meant he never generated the kind of investment that produces a winner. But he was consistently smart, consistently safe, and consistently one of the best-positioned players in the building.
He finished fourth. In a different season configuration, he is a finalist for the top spot.
2. Shubham Goel
Shubham was ranked last by his castmates on day one. He came in with a self-described disregard for social media, told the group as much in his introduction, and somehow ended up as runner-up by doing the exact opposite of everything the format seemed to reward.
He never pretended to be someone he wasn’t. He built an unlikely alliance with Joey — the Italian jock from New York and the nerdy student from California, two people who would never have crossed paths in real life, finding genuine common ground in an apartment building — and he held that alliance for the entire season.
He was named influencer alongside Chris in the second round of ratings, meaning he climbed from last place to top two in the span of four episodes.
That arc is the most dramatic individual turnaround in Season 1 history. He lost the finale to Joey by a narrow margin. In a different season, a different cast, a slightly different final ranking — he wins.
1. Joey Sasso
Joey won by being himself in a format specifically designed to reward deception, and the thing that makes him the best player of Season 1 is not just the result but the process.
He was ranked first going into the finale for a reason: he built sincere relationships across every alliance, never generated a real enemy, and when he held Super Influencer power in the penultimate round, he used it to eliminate Sean — the one player he wasn’t sure about — while protecting his core allies Chris, Shubham, and Sammie. That was a cold, calculated move dressed up in warm clothing, and it worked perfectly.
The Miranda elimination is the one mark against him, and he knew it. He said he felt guilty. But the guilt is actually evidence of the same quality that won him the game: he was emotionally present enough to feel the cost of a strategic decision, which is more self-awareness than most Circle players manage.
He came in screaming “Yeah, buddy” like a walking New York stereotype. He left with $100,000 and the unanimous affection of the cast.
It wasn’t an accident.
“The Circle” Seasons 1 through 7 are streaming now on Netflix.
Read next:
- Where Is Joey Sasso From ‘The Circle’ Now?
- Who Is Shubham “Shooby” Goel? ‘The Circle’ Star’s Career & Netflix Shows — Where He Is Now
- Where Is Sammie Cimarelli From ‘The Circle’ Season 1 Now?
- Where Is Mitchell Eason From The Circle Season 2 Now?
For more “The Circle,” click here.
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