Major spoilers for The Circle on Netflix are ahead. “I’m the most unlucky person in love on Netflix,” The Circle star Chloe Veitch laughs during a recent phone call with Refinery29. Veitch initially broke out on the streaming platform during last year’s self-help-as-horny-game-show Too Hot to Handle; for the last few weeks, viewers have watched the 22-year-old compete for social media popularity points over The Circle’s second season. A key component to Veitch’s Circle game was her ability to flirt through the series’ titular app, even though Veitch swears she’s “not that much of a good flirt.”
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“I’m more weird and cheesy. I love dishing out compliments and being cheeky,” Veitch explains. “But I never went in there with the intention of actually catching feelings for someone.”
Still, over the course of The Circle, Veitch had two separate love interests: “Trevor,” a handsome single dad and complete catfish played by winner DeLeesa St. Agathe, and Mitchell Eason, a living, breathing 26-year-old (oft-shirtless) dreamboat. After surveying both hunky options, Veitch settles on pursuing Trevor throughout The Circle gameplay proper. “I was just like, ‘Oh my word. If I found The One on The Circle,’” Veitch reminisces. “And then… yes. The final happened. And I was fumin’.”
As The Circle fans know, Veitch learns of Carrasquillo’s catfishing in the season 2 finale. Veitch quickly forgives Carrasquillo for tricking her — “I’m not a bitter person. I’m not the type of person to hold grudges,” she clarifies now — and the pair become fast friends. Ultimately, Carrasquillo wins The Circle and the game’s $100,00 prize. But, after the show, it sounds like Veitch got her own Circle spoils as well.
“Me and Mitchell — there are definite feelings there,” Veitch confirms. “We speak every other day on FaceTime. I’ve spoken to his mum. All of my family knows who he is.”
Anyone who has seen The Circle finale likely noticed the sparks between Veitch and Eason from the moment they meet in the farewell episode’s mini-reunion. Closing footage of the event shows the duo deep in a private conversation behind Circle host Michelle Buteau. Veitch says she and Eason shared a kiss once production wrapped, “Because he thought it was going to be the last time he was ever going to see me.” Now, Veitch and Eason are hoping she can get to America “ASAP” — COVID restrictions pending — for an IRL hangout.
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Refinery29: Were you always confident you could flirt through The Circle?
Chloe Veitch: “The Circle’s just a weird game. It’s such a fantasy game. I’ve got such a wild imagination. So going into The Circle, and seeing Trevor, I was just like, ‘Oh my God! What if he is real?’”
I could not believe that more of you weren’t suspicious of him with that beautiful, beautiful mannequin.
“I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, I don’t really think that this is a guy.’ But then there were so many pros and cons, I just thought, ‘I don’t know!’ Even if I did think, ‘Oh maybe this is a woman’ — they were still my ally. So I was never going to do anything about it.
You ended up being good at game play.
“I watched it back and I thought, ‘I’m actually quite smart without realizing.’ Because I had no game plan.”
Speaking of the mannequins, that’s around when Mitchell joins the show. How did it feel wanting to flirt with one person when you already had this No. 1 ally in “Trevor.’
It was just my cheeky side. I thought, ‘I love a flirt. And Trevor might not even be real. So I’ve got Mitchell who’s just come in.’ Mitchell is absolutely stunning. He’s like a Greek god. And I thought, ‘Okay. Well one of them has got to be real. So why not?’”
You seem so open to love and romance in general. Did Too Hot to Handle help you with that?
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“No, I’ve always been like this. I said in one of the Circle challenges that within 10 minutes of meeting a guy in a bar, I booked a flight to Paris with him. Like that is me. I will meet someone and, if we’re on the same vibe, and I don’t get any inkling that he’s not interested, then I just run with it. Because I believe in fairytales. It might sound silly, but that’s just how I am. I believe I will find someone… who’s real.”
Do you have a flight app on your phone?
“No; you can just Google ‘Flights to Paris’ and click on a link. And just pay for it.”
Are you still close with anyone from the show? You seemed to instantly forgive DeLeesa.
“She won the money for her family. I would have preferred her to win over anyone … I haven’t spoken to Trevor. She said she wants me to. She was like, ‘We need to make sure that you have a FaceTime one day.’ I’m going to film it and put it on YouTube.”
You and Mitchell have been talking. You kissed after filming. I want this to work for you.
“Do you know what? He would be the first good-looking person I’ve ever been with. Because most of my exes just don’t cut it.”
From your body language in the finale, I knew this was going to happen.
“He was like, ‘Chlo, I can’t leave England without knowing if I could kiss you or not.’ And he asked if he could kiss me! It was so cute.”
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This is delightful.
“It’s in the process. We don’t want to rush anything.”
This interview has been edited and condensed.