The Circle season 7's Jadejha calls Madelyn 'the true villain of the season'

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the The Circle season 7 finale.

Alert! If you're going to lie, cheat, and steal, don't cry about it. Circle, send message!

Jadejha Edwards didn't make it to the last ratings of The Circle season 7 after Madelyn Rusinyak blocked her at the beginning of the finale, and while she understands Madelyn's decision from a gameplay perspective, she's not happy with the way the blocking went down — because Madelyn wouldn't stop crying even though she was in power and making up lies to end other players' games.

After Madelyn became the Secret Super Influencer, she had to block someone in person, so she did it face-to-face with Jadejha. But Jadejha reveals there was "a lot" cut from that moment, including that Madelyn was already crying when she walked into Jadejha's apartment, which is why she called her out for crying again during the finale while talking about all the lies she made up during the game.

Lying didn't end up working out for Madelyn — she ended the game in third place, while "Gianna" (a.k.a. Nicky and Jojo Scarlotta) took home the $100,000 prize — and Jadejha calls her the "true villain of the season" because of how she acted in the end. "I feel like I'm the people's winner, so I'm okay with how it all worked out," she tells Entertainment Weekly.

Below, Jadejha breaks down that shocking finale and why Madelyn's tears didn't work on her.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When Madelyn walked through your door, were you shocked? Did you feel safe?

JADEJHA EDWARDS: Actually, no. I did not think that I was safe in that moment. That whole day, I just had this gut feeling that something bad was going to happen. The cameras in my apartment, I felt like everything kind of got graveyard quiet for a second, and I was just like, "Oh, there it is. I know it's about to be me." In my personal opinion, that wasn't the smartest move for Madelyn. Now, if the Secret Super Influencer was Gianna or someone, I feel like that would've been a great move to block me. My strategy the entire time, I just wanted to lay low, not really have any enemies, so then at the end, when people say who deserves to win the money the most, no one could say it wasn't me — except I didn't actually make it to that last rating.

How did you feel when Madelyn blocked you so close to the end?

I was so annoyed. A lot of it got cut out, but when Madelyn walked into my apartment, she was already crying, and I was like, "Please, no. Uh-uh. Why are you crying? I'm the one that's blocked right now!" I wasn't really a fan of it.

What else happened in that moment that wasn't shown in the episode?

Madelyn came in and she was crying, and I was like, "Girl, please." So that's why during the finale, I said, "I don't want to see your tears no more," because I had already seen them. "Stop crying." I'm such an accountability person. If you're going to do something, stick beside it. Don't say, "It's just a game," but then at the same time, be like, "I have feelings too." If it is just a game, then just act like it's just a game. And the reunion itself was really, really intense. Madelyn started crying, and there was a moment where she actually ran off stage.

And once everyone got back, I'm like, "Why are we coddling this behavior right now?" It just rubs me the wrong way when people don't take accountability [for their actions]. I can separate the gameplay from the real life person, yes, but just own up to it. No one made you do that, girl, you chose [to lie]. And then you repeatedly kept doing it. Watching the show, you see her be like, "Now I feel bad, but not that bad." And then she just goes and does the exact same thing to someone else. Own up to that. You did it. Stand behind your actions.

During the game, Kevin was labeled the villain of the season. But now that you've seen the season, do you think Madelyn was the villain?

Yes, 100 percent. I definitely think Madelyn is the true villain of the season. I don't think Kevin was ever an actual villain because he didn't necessarily do anything that was sneaky or sleazy. He was just way too gullible. Especially in a game where you don't know who's real, who's fake, you've never met this person, why would you just go based off what one person told you and just run with it? But Kevin's young. For a really long time, I thought Kevin was a catfish. But once I started seeing how gullible he was, I was like, "He acts too much like my younger brother," who is the same age as Kevin. And that's how I knew that Kevin was 100 percent real.

What's your relationship with Madelyn like now?

I really have been essentially the glue between our cast. Only a few of us actually talk in [our cast's group chat]. Madelyn and the twins rarely ever came out — it wasn't until last month where they actually started interacting with us all more and speaking to us. Whenever I did reach out to Madelyn, I wouldn't get responses for a few days. Last month, Madelyn, Savannah, and Heather all tried to do the same thing that was done in the game where it was all these girl group chats, but left me out of it, and that backfired on them a little bit, and then they all ended up coming to me and complaining about each other.

But I am cool with everyone. I don't know if the rest of the cast is that accepting and understanding. I don't plan on telling Madelyn all my secrets for obvious reasons, but I don't have any beef. I don't think we would ever be best friends just because of personality differences, her lifestyle, my lifestyle, but definitely cordial and cool. I definitely can teeter between being good and not being so good, but I think it's more about the fact that I just have a no-bulls--- tolerance. I lead with logic instead of emotion.

How did you feel about Gianna — a.k.a. the twins — winning after she was the first player blocked?

I feel like it was very much season 5 coded in a sense. The moment Gianna got saved from the Disruptor mode, I was like, "We've seen this before. Sam came in dead last the first rating, and then ended up winning season 5." So that was always in the back of my mind. But at the end with my goodbye video, I was like, "If anyone deserves to win, it was Gianna just because of the fact that that was a true come up, underdog, rise-to-glory type of story." I was not mad at it, especially watching the show. The rest of the players were being just straight-up dirty. Out of all those people who were left, Gianna deserved it, for sure.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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