After seven seasons on Netflix, The Circle is moving to Hulu. Hulu acquired the series after Netflix declined to renew it following the reality competition’s seventh-season conclusion in October 2024, with a Hulu version featuring celebrity contestants, new U.
The shift came quietly at first: Netflix ended its run of The Circle after its seventh season wrapped in October 2024. Then the next chapter surfaced—The Circle is now headed to Hulu.
Hulu has acquired the series after Netflix declined to renew the reality competition following the end of that seventh season in October 2024. The move arrives as Hulu prepares a more focused push into serialized competition formats, a plan shared in April by a Walt Disney Television representative.
The Circle was one of the early breakout hits in the reality competition space for Netflix. The format is built around a social experiment: players interact through a dedicated app. using photos and text. separated from each other while the show’s twists depend on what they choose to show—or hide. The same premise has already traveled beyond the U.S., spawning versions in France and Brazil.
Before Netflix made it an American phenomenon, the series premiered on Channel 4 in the UK, running for three seasons. A U.S. version launched in 2020 through Netflix, and six additional seasons followed. Netflix eventually chose not to renew the series, setting up the handoff now underway.
The Hulu version changes the temperature of the experiment. The Circle on Hulu will feature celebrity contestants competing alongside civilians, unlike the Netflix version, which only featured civilians. Audience voting will also be introduced in the U.S. and the show will be filmed in real time—so viewers will get access as twists and player ratings unfold.
A faster rhythm is part of the pitch. The Circle is being “reimagined” as a “fast-turnaround” social experiment.
Susan House, who executive-produced the Netflix version, will serve as the showrunner for the Hulu series. Studio Lambert, Motion Entertainment, and Omaha Productions are backing the new run.
A premiere date for The Circle on Hulu has not yet been announced.
In the Netflix era, the show was described as a Catfish-meets-Black Mirror-style social experiment. The Hulu version keeps the core mechanism—contestants moving into separate apartments in the same building. isolated from each other and communicating through the app—while layering in new elements: celebrity participation. U.S. audience voting, and the decision to film in real time.
The Circle Netflix Hulu reality competition social experiment Susan House Studio Lambert Motion Entertainment Omaha Productions