The Circle proves you can never judge a book by its cover, even if someone is trying to present a version of themselves. Take for example Nick Uhlenhuth. Nick came onto the show underplaying his MIT degree, spotlighting more of his “bro” and flirtatious tendencies. But over the course of the season, Nick transformed into one of the biggest power players in the show’s history as the self-proclaimed drummer drummed up support from friends and enemies. Unfortunately, once Nick got to the finale, the blood he had on his hands was used to paint a target on his back, making him finish the season in fifth place. Nick casually eased into The Circle in the beginning, bro-ing down with Calvin Kiing Crooks and laying it on thick to Ashley (Matthew Pappadia) and Isabella (Sophia Layne), to varying reactions. Those relationships got him into several alliances, most notably “The Band,” which he formed expressly to target Kai Ghost and her allies. His game came to life when he was tasked with impersonating a ghost hunter, an extra profile gifted to him by Calvin after elimination. He used that to bolster his popularity and get into the influencer position, which he didn’t give up for the rest of the season. Holding power to eliminate, he was able to dismantle Kai’s alliance person by person systematically. However, he kept her safe due to his complicated relationship with her and a stubborn back-and-forth with James Andre Jefferson Jr. His wheeling and dealing got Nick to the finale with everyone he promised a position. But as strategy made him rise in the game, it proved to be his downfall. Everyone else saw him too threatening to win the $100,000 and ranked him near the bottom, sending him spiraling from the top of the ratings to fifth place. Read on to hear Nick’s thoughts on his time in the game. And check out Parade.com throughout The Circle season 3 with the various players and catfishes alike. What made you decide to enter The Circle? I actually saw casting for The Circle season one. And I was like, “Oh, this seems like a show that would be right up my alley.” Because it’s all about an online presence. I’ve been on many different dating apps that feel super similar to The Circle. You have to trust other people’s profiles, and you get to try to optimize your profile. I felt like my skill set could transfer from dating apps to The Circle. Were you surprised you finished in fifth at the end, considering how you had just been an influencer three times in a row? I just wanted to make it to the finale. I knew at that point, any previous rating people had done doesn’t matter. It’s just a total crapshoot; you never know how people are going to actually rate at the end. So I knew there wasn’t a whole lot of sense in worrying about it because you have no idea. From my point of view, I was either going to first or maybe second, or dead last. It was always going to depend on whether the people rating me number one decided to go the super strategic route and put me lower, or go the more emotional route and put me higher. What were your final ratings of the other four players? I believe I went Isabella first, because I had a feeling that she wasn’t going to get rated highly by anyone else in The Circle. I wanted to put my first position as someone who would stand no chance at winning. Then I put Ashley second because she was my ally. And I also didn’t think that Kai or James would have put her highly, so that would balance that out. I was basically trying to make all the other players average out so that I could float above the average. I’d also rather just put the two people who helped me even get to this finale up at the top because I felt like they deserved it. Then I put James and then Kai, I believe. You became one of the bigger strategic presences of the season, specifically when it came to forming the Band. Talk to me about the impetus behind that and why you specifically chose to join up with Ashley, Isabella, and Jackson. Good news to hear you thought I was strategic! Because not everyone thought that right away. I felt like I was very strategic the whole time. But I noticed the world just thought I was aimlessly flirting. I don’t know why people think I was legitimately trying to get a girlfriend on the show. It was all strategy. Why would someone block me if I’m flirting with them? But anyway, I digress. So the Band. Obviously, Ashley was my day one rid or die. Isabella was my crush on the show. So that made sense. I had already pulled Jackson into the Wolfpack, so we had like a little bit of history. Pulling Jackson into The Band was like I’ve done him two favors. Jackson and Isabella had also recently entered The Circle. So I was like, “I need to talk to these people before anyone else can. I need to be the one who’s forming their opinions on other people and giving my impressions of the other players to these newcomers before they’re able to create their own opinions.” Your most interesting relationship this season was with Kai, working together yet constantly targeting one another. Why did you choose not to get rid of her, specifically at the double blocking? I for sure had the opportunity when Daniel and I could each block someone. But strategically, I felt it made sense to get rid of Ruksana. Because at that point, I had barely talked at all to Ruksana. I don’t even know if we had a one on one conversation. With Kai, we had just had a conversation about how we would take each other to the end. Now, I didn’t really believe that conversation, but at least it was like one little thread of hope. I knew that taking out Ruksana would still weaken Kai for future ratings because she was losing a big ally. But I would still hopefully be earning Kai’s trust. She could say, “Nick saved me like, I can really trust this guy.” I felt by blocking Ruksana, I could earn Kai’s favor, whereas if I blocked Kai, Ruksana still wouldn’t like me. Your popularity was evident in the game, especially in the back half of the season. For example, the players made the most cakes for you in the decorating game. And you were voted co-Circle MVP. Were you worried at all that you could get targeted as a threat and clipped before the end? Things like those definitely putting a target on my back. That was concerning. The good part about it, though, was that it was from a lot of different people. It wasn’t like I was just flirting with one girl who was my only ally. I felt like I had a lot of strong allies with The Band, which was nice. I should have honestly been more concerned when I became influencer at the end back to back to back. But at the time, I was just so relieved that I wasn’t on the chopping block. I had been stressing out during all the ratings up to that point because you never know who’s going to get blocked. The only time you can relax is if you’re an influencer. So I was just so happy to be able to relax. You and James go head-to-head in the last two influencer chats of the season. In the first one, you negotiate him into getting rid of his ally Daniel in exchange for safety. Could you walk me through that? In our first chat, honestly, I was expecting our chat to last longer. But I went in with this idea. I knew Kai was James’s biggest ally, so I wanted to pretend like I was gunning for Kai. If I act like I really want to get rid of Kai, then James will be like, “No man, please, if we can just save this one person, I’ll block whoever you want.” I wanted to get rid of Daniel the whole time. But I threw out Kai as a ploy to be like, “Hey, I gave you Kai, so you block who I want.” In the next chat, you’re both kept anonymous. And you’re able to settle on getting of Jacki, another person that was close to him. How were you able to do that? The second chat we had was harder for me. I felt like James had gotten better at negotiating. I had a little slip up about Isabella being a catfish, which almost cost me, and I was able to wiggle my way out of that. But I thought he did that very well. And then there was, of course, the secret influencer part. I knew it was James, but I thought maybe there was an inkling that it could be someone else. But he kept saying, “So and so is a valuable member of The Circle.” It was so irritating. I was cracking up too. But I was so sleep-deprived that I almost gave up. I was like, “I’m already in the finale. I don’t even care if Ashley goes home.” Because again, I feel like the final ratings are very hard to game. Everyone’s strategy up to that point can completely swap. So I thought it didn’t really even matter if I kept Ashley. In fact, it might have been better if I had gotten rid of Ashley. Because then people would think, “Oh, James got rid of Ashley, we need to rate James lower.” But I ended up staying strong for my team. You got the opportunity at one point to play as an additional profile, “Vince.” How difficult was it to manage two personas in The Circle? At the time, I thought the main benefit of Vince was going to be that I was going to be able to rate every player twice. But at that point, my whole concern was not to let them know it was Nick. So I didn’t really play a super aggressive strategy game with Vince. In hindsight, if I had known I wasn’t able to rate the players as Vince, I would have probably done things differently. For example, one strategy future players could do if they get a burner profile is actually trying to cause some havoc. In this case, James, at one point, teased Vince about being a ghost hunter. He was like, “Some ghost story. That’s the plot of the Ring!” And I could have gone the route of being like, “Wow, James is such a bully. I can’t believe you would do that.” I could have painted James as a villain with Vince. One of the runners throughout the season was your flirtation with Isabella. What was your reaction to finding out she was actually Sophia? Obviously, throughout the whole time in The Circle, you’re always paranoid about catfish. So I wasn’t really getting my hopes up. I also wasn’t really seriously flirting. It was all good. But when she walked in, I was like, “This looks similar to Isabella. But I’m not sure if it’s Isabella or not.” It makes sense that they’re sisters! I was actually relieved when she told me she was catfishing. I don’t even live in Seattle anymore. I did in my profile, and that’s where Isabella says she was. I was dreading having to break the news to her that I actually live in Texas now. You also get visited by Rachel, who reveals she was Jackson, and it’s clear there was some physical attraction there. Did anything happen after the show? At the time, I thought she was super cute. It was an absolute shock. I was fully expecting a dude to walk into my apartment. I felt like sparks were flying, but who knows? After the show, we talk a lot. I did go out to LA to hang out with her. But we’re kind of just playing it by ear. Was there anything you took from The Circle into your real life after the game? Going in, I was definitely not expecting to make any sort of genuine connection in a game that’s literally about catfishing, where you can’t trust anyone. I was definitely surprised to actually feel a connection with a lot of the players by the end of the show. After the show, I’ve gotten super close to the entire cast. This cast is super diverse, and it’s awesome to have these connections now to all sorts of different walks of life and perspectives. I value that part of the show a lot. Next, read our interview with The Circle season 3 fourth-placer Kai Ghost.
