The Circle's Joey and Shooby feel like they're back in the game: 'Corona's the real influencer now'

Since the start of social distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic, most of us have been living in a world of group chats — limited to texting those around us instead of interacting in person. What does that sound like? Netflix's reality show The Circle, and the winner of the first season knows exactly how you feel.

"You know everyone keeps telling me we're in the real-life Circle right now," Joey Sasso tells us in his TikTok video. "I want to go back! Let's do it."

Sasso then recruits the show's runner-up Shubham Goel, a.k.a. Shooby, for a mini-reunion.

"Circle. Message Broey Joey. Joey, the corona is the real influencer now. Don't get blocked. Send!," he tells Sasso, finishing his message with an odd hand movement we can only compare to the Dragon Ball-Z "Kamehameha."

In The Circle, contestants compete to be the most popular person on a social media platform called, well, The Circle. They could never see the others in real life. The end goal: create a Facebook-like profile, win daily challenges, and manipulate others for the right to be the No.1 “Influencer” and $100,000 richer. The show began in the U.K. in 2019, and has since continued in the U.S., Brazil, and France.

Sasso has been active on social media since the conclusion of the US show in January. On Thursday, Joey tweeted that he'd never imagine people would understand what it felt like to be stuck in an apartment for a long period of time.

"After we did the show, I truly never thought that the audience around the world would be able to comprehend how hard and sh—y it was to not be able to leave your apartment.house allllll day long. Boy was I wrong on that one," he wrote.

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Social distancing has affected nearly every facet of the entertainment industry, including reality television. Although EW can confirm no more productions of The Circle were underway before Netflix halted all projects in progress, the cast of Big Brother Germany did get a rude awakening earlier this week when they were finally told the news. The cast had been living in isolation in a house in Cologne since Feb. 6. Somehow the safest place to be was right where they were, in isolation.

For the latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19), including how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you are sick, please visit coronavirus.gov.

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