It has been confirmed today that Channel 4’s reality TV game show ‘The Circle’ has been renewed for a third series and a charity celebrity special is in the works too.
The Circle is a social media-inspired game show that centres around the concept that “anyone can be anyone in The Circle”. Throughout the series, contestants live in the same apartment building, but are never allowed to meet and instead must communicate solely using their profiles on a specially-designed app.
The hit show is filmed in Salford.
As well as the third series, a Stand Up To Cancer special has also been commissioned and the lineup will solely be made up of celebrities attempting to win alliances, form cliques and ultimately be crowned the most popular contestant.
Channel 4 has confirmed that both the third series and the celebrity spin off show will be filmed in line with strict COVID-19 guidelines, meaning that episodes will be pre-recorded and there will be no studio audience or live shows as there has been in both previous series.
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Production and filming is set to begin later this year, with the show aiming to be on air at the start of 2021.
The game where anyone can be anyone, but who would you be to win?
Casting is now open for possible future series of #TheCircle.
Emma Willis will return as host, alongside comedian Sophie Willan on voiceover duty.
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Speaking on the renewal of the series, Emma Willis said: “The Circle is just brilliant, unmissable television,”
“I loved every minute of being a part of it and I’m delighted to be returning to it for another series where I’ll be right at the centre of all the mischief and drama! To add to that, we’re also doing a celeb version – I can’t wait to see who’ll be in the line-up and whether they’ll play as themselves or as another celebrity, it’s going to be incredible.”
Gilly Greenslade, who commissioned all three series for Channel 4, said: “When we were developing the series three years ago, I knew it would reflect how we live but I never expected it to be quite so prophetic.”
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“Now many more of us have had a taste of living our lives isolated and online, I am excited to see the strategies and tactics that the new players bring to the game.”
“Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, people around the world have been learning the power of connecting remotely. Perhaps in the light of this, the new series will resonate even more for audiences as well as offer them the distraction of fun, warmth and strategy.”
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Manchester Museum’s iconic T-Rex Stan is moving for the first time over 20 years
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Museum’s iconic T-Rex Stan is moving locations for the first time over 20 years.
Stan, the famous Tyrannosaurus rex at the heart of Manchester Museum’s Fossils Gallery, is on the move from one historic building to another, as he leaves his home in the Museum next spring for a spectacular residency in a Grade II-listed Edwardian swimming pool.
That’s right – the famous dinosaur is heading on holiday to Victoria Baths, where he’ll be on display in the Gala Pool, marking the first time he has left Manchester Museum since arriving there in 2004.
The process of moving Stan to Victoria Baths is already being tipped as a ‘gargantuan task’.
Manchester Museum’s iconic T-Rex Stan is moving for the first time over 20 years / Credit: The Manc Group
It’s expected that the move will take a team of specialists a full week, as at 12-metres long and 3.7-metres tall, big boy Stan is roughly the size of a double decker bus and his bones must be dismantled and reassembled in a strict order to ensure counterbalance and stop him from toppling over.
During the residency at Victoria Baths, Stan will be on display to the public but will also act as the centrepiece for a full programme of events – with more details set to be announced soon.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for people to experience this incredible Tyrannosaurus rex in an entirely different context,” explained Georgina Young, who is the Acting Director at Manchester Museum.
“Not only is Victoria Baths breathtakingly beautiful, but their team will bring renewed creativity to encounters with Stan.”
Anthony Baker, CEO of the Victoria Baths Trust, added: “Victoria Baths would like to state for the record that we did not invite a T-Rex skeleton into our Grade II-listed swimming pool. Stan has made his own arrangements and we are simply going along with it.
“He is insisting that we open our doors for free so that as many people can visit him as possible and it is very difficult to say no to a giant dinosaur, especially when he asked so nicely.”
Stan the T-Rex will be at Victoria Baths from 22 March to 19 April 2027, and he’ll be free to pop in and say hello to.
Featured Image – Stephen Gidley (via Flickr)
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Workers at major Manchester city centre hotel to strike this bank holiday weekend
Emily Sergeant
Workers at one of the most prominent hotels in Manchester city centre are set to strike this bank holiday weekend.
Workers at Kimpton Clocktower Hotel and its bar venue The Refuge, who are members of the union Unite, will take 24 hours of strike action on Saturday (29 August) in what is said to be a ‘long-running dispute’ over union busting.
The strike day chosen by the workers is the second day of this year’s Manchester Village Pride, and is historically the most lucrative day of the year for their employer.
This is because Kimpton Clocktower is located very close to the Pride Parade route, and for several years has been a very popular location for people attending the festival, and even runs a number of Pride events itself.
Unite says that for months now, workers at the Kimpton Clocktower – which is owned by InterContinental Hotels Group UK (IHG) – have been asking for formal union recognition to improve conditions after raising several issues with management, but IHG UK has refused this and instead ‘targeted’ the union for its actions.
Workers at a major Manchester city centre hotel are set to strike this bank holiday weekend / Credit: Rebecca Hope Photography (Supplied)
Previous strikes have already taken place this summer, apparently causing ‘financial hits’ to the business in the process – with the bar being forced to close early at several events as there were not enough staff to cover them.
“A strike on Kimpton’s most profitable day is entirely of its own making,” commented Unite regional officer, Alison Treacher. “Throughout this dispute, Kimpton Clocktower management have treated its loyal workforce with contempt and our members have shown they will not stand for it.
“There is still time to avoid this highly disruptive strike action, but that relies on IHG changing tack by listening to its members and giving them the union recognition they have long been calling for.”
This dispute is said to be the first ever hospitality strike in the North West.
Unite is currently running a petition demanding that IHG UK stop targeting union activists, recognise the Kimpton workers rights to have their grievance heard collectively, and support their union recognition campaign.
The Manc -
15th June 2020 
