Warning! The interview below contains spoilers for all of Netflix's The Circle Season 7, which aired in September and October. Please do not continue if you do not wish to be spoiled on who was blocked in those episodes.
When you play as a catfish in The Circle , it's a tricky balance as to how much of yourself you're going to put behind a fake identity. When Deb Levy decided to play as somebody half her age, she got thrown off almost immediately, as a few games had outed her lack of Gen Z knowledge. And so, teetering off-balance, she decided her approach to the game from then on would be on tilt. Feeling in the hot seat, she came for in abstentia influencer Kevin Fernandez in the "at risk" chat, saying he was playing them all. And, surprisingly, she was granted a stay of execution, courtesy of her closest ally and fellow Staten Island native "Gianna" (AKA Jojo and Nicky Scarlotta ).
When "Rachel's" perception completely changed in the game, Deb began to strike up some complicated relationships with the other players. She was forced to switch profiles temporarily with Madelyn Rusinyak , and taking a walk on the "spicy" side brought the two closer together. That is, until she went hard for Madelyn at the end of the game, fearing she was being played. Madelyn helped Deb and Kevin reconcile, and their relationship became bonded in blackmail when she caught him in a lie about his lifeguard job. In the end, though Deb was not victorious, she was elated to have a new Circle family to merge into her own.
Read on to hear Deb's thoughts on her time in the game. And check out Parade.com throughout The Circle Season 7 with the various players and catfishes alike.
Related: The Circle Season 7: Everything You Need to Know
What's your history with The Circle ? How did you end up getting on the show?
Actually, I'd never watched it. I did not know anything about it. One of my best friend's daughters and her fiance are obsessed with it from Season 1, obsesssed! And I guess when the announcement went out, they saw and they're like, "Oh, Deb's a character. She needs to be on there." So they call me and they're like, "We want you to apply for this thing." And I say, "What are you talking about?" And I watched a couple of clips, and I was like, "Oh, that looks funny. But it's all young people." They go, "No, there's been some old people on there." So I said to her, "You know what? I'll apply for you. And this will be fun!"
I did think it looked cute, but it was not my idea. They were like, "You're perfect. You're a nut job and you need to go on this show." So that's how it went down. When they asked me to submit a one-minute video, I'm like, "Hi, I'm Deb, I'm hilarious. You need me on your show?" And then I sent it. One take, sent it, and that was it. So when they called me, I was kind of like, "Wait, what?" I didn't even remember applying. Then I had to watch all the seasons all at once.
So when does Rachel get brought into the picture. Were you always intending to catfish?
So everyone would like to think, "I should go in as myself. I'm so lovable and so whatever. "But especially after you watch the show, moms don't always get so far. I'm not so sure how that would play. So going in as a catfish, looking back, I'm actually really glad I did it. It gives you a little more freedom. You feel like you can almost be more "in your face." It's not really me, in a sense, but it is. Obviously, I misjudged. I miscalculated in the beginning how well I could play a 26-year-old. But that was kind of how the idea of like, "Let's go in as a young person. I can do this." I was really confident that I could, which is kind of funny now. So the girl Maddie, who suggested I go on, this is Maddie's best friend that I watched grow up, Rachel. And the reason I picked her was, I'm not a big makeup girl. I couldn't pick someone that wouldn't feel like me either. The 26-year-old had to be someone that felt like me, not a lot of makeup, your average, nice, sweet girl.
Let's fast forward from the beginning to the end of the season. What was your reaction to finishing in fourth place in the final ratings? Especially after you had won the "It's Giving Winner" superlative shortly before that?
I saw that, I was like, "Well, that's over now. That's no good." Even though I watched everything, I really went into this just for the experience. At 55, who gets to do this? So would I have liked the money? Of course! That being said, the fact that I made it to the finale, to the final group, I was floored. I gotta be honest. was truly happy. I was legit thrilled with the winner. I'm so happy. I can honestly say that that they're the only reason I was in the game, Gianna. That's the only reason I stayed in that game. That was a true, legit, happy feeling for them.
We see in your final ratings, you rate Gianna first and Kevin fourth. Do you remember where you rated Madelyn and Tianna, and why you rated the way you did?
Well, Kevin was a no brainer. [ Laughs .] I don't know. Again, very irrational in some ways. And I have to say, 100% surprised he was real when I walked in there. I thought he lied to me; I didn't believe in one bit. So of course, Kevin was always going to be less than Gianna there. Looking back, you know, should I have maybe messed with those a little bit? I couldn't. I really felt at the end of the day, there was just that commitment to Gianna. I had to. It's the only reason I lasted. I actually think I might have put Tierra in my second place, because I think I was not sure on Madelyn, where she was putting me. I knew Madelyn was playing a really good game, and I was kind of worried, where she was at, who were her alliances. So I put her third.
Let's stick with Kevin here. You knew you were in trouble in the beginning due to being sniffed out as a catfish in some of the games. So you decided to go for him hard in the "at risk" chat, definitely changing the perspective of "sweet, quiet Rachel." Talk to me about your logic behind doing that.
I wish that I could see what you know. Think about it. You're by yourself in an apartment. You've taken all these notes, and your head is spinning. So I was like, "Oh, I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. If Gianna can't save me, I'm out." So I went in as soon as that at risk chat opened. I was like, "Let's blow it up. Let's go." I literally had nothing to lose. And it was making me mad, because I was for sure like, "Kevin's lying to everyone." Which makes me laugh now, but I was like, "He's not real. "So I just was like, "Well, we're just gonna and see what happens."
As you mentioned, your most important relationship in the game was with Gianna. Did you have any suspicion that she was a catfish?
Not even an ounce. When they came out. I seriously might have peed a little bit, like actually slightly pee, because I was convinced, never questioned. [ Laughs .] Which is so funny now, right? Like, Kevin, convinced. Horrible, completely, utterly wrong the whole time.
Your game certainly takes a turn when you're forced to switch profiles with Madelyn, especially when you have to carry on a conversation with Andy. Talk to me about that experience.
So again, you have to remember you're alone with your thoughts. So let's go with that for a little bit. And she's like, "You can't have spicy talks." And I don't spicy talk; that's not my thing. So, also, in my head, I was like, "Pineapples, no. Ooh, eggplant!" [ Laughs .] I was trying to think of like things. I was like, "Do you say bae?" I mean, it was in my head leading up. I knew it was coming. And you go with it, right? You go with it. It's fine.
Talk to me more about your relationship with Madelyn. Because that experience brings you two closer together, until Garret comes to you after his blocking and you proceed to say the next day that he threw Madelyn under the bus to you.
When Garret came in and told me there was a lot of other things going on that I needed to know about, I didn't for a second think anything about Gianna. Even though he had said things to me, I immediately went right for Madelyn. When I was able to kind of think back about "Andy's gotta go," all of those little things, I went, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. [ Gasps. ] Oh, I'm being played here." I felt like I had gotten played. He lit that fire under me a little bit. I was like, "Oh, I've been missing something." I thought it was okay. And then I was like, "No, I'm not." [ Laughs .]
What was your reaction to the response to you revealing your true identity in the finale. Did you know people were suspecting you were that much of a catfish?
I think that they all kind of got a good sense that I was a catfish. Maybe not Tierra/Antonio, because he wasn't there for that. So his reaction might have been a real one. I don't know if they expected me to be basically their 50-something-year-old mom. I had called myself "that bitch." I think maybe this was not exactly what they expected, the person who was constantly messing up the chat. So I think there was not that they didn't suspect that I wasn't Rachel. But like I said, then this 5'2" mom comes walking out. [ Laughs .]
You told Garret during his blocking that you could be his "second mommy." What has your relationship been like with the cast since the season. Have you brought them into your family?
They're all my kids. I adore them. I'm so glad I can tell people this. I can't wait to just put that out there. I don't hate any of them. They're the greatest, most wonderful people. I love them. I really do. And I'm constantly like, "Stop reading things, everybody! Don't go to Reddit. Stop it." And I keep sharing screenshots, like, "Facebook, where all the old people are, people love you guys!" And I keep sharing how much they're loved on Facebook, because I was like, "You guys are perfect and beautiful and wonderful, and stop it!" [ Laughs .] So I'm definitely very mom with them. Like, "Enough, guys. Stop, you're perfect."
Finally, looking back on your time in The Circle , how do you think you would have done if you played as yourself rather than catfishing as Rachel?
I think it would have been harder for me to come at people. I think if I had been me, I wouldn't have wanted to come at Darian like, "Now you're showing personality!" Throwing out those things, I think it's harder when you're you. At least for me, because I am a mom. What's funny is, and I don't know if it gets shown in any other thing. But a lot of times I was like, "You're all such babies. Grow up!" They were babies; to me, they were babies. So it was kind of easier to pretend to be one of them and go on the attack. Whereas I think if I've been in a mom position, how can I do that? How can I have done that? I would not change anything. It was the coolest experience. I cannot believe the amount of work that it takes to run that. How many people have to be filming and producing and making sure everything's going? The people who just put my batteries in my mic all the time! I'm floored by it all. I loved it. It was just amazing. And the kids–they're kids and I call them kids–I love them all. I hope they all whatever they wanted to get out of this. I hope they get everything they want. They were adorable.
Next, check out our interview with The Circle Season 7 third-place finisher Madelyn Rusinyak .
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