Yahoo Movies The Circle player Trevor St. Agathe talks following in his wife's footsteps as a catfish
Warning: This article contains spoilers about the season 4 finale of The Circle.
Trevor St. Agathe had a lot to overcome when he joined The Circle.
The season 4 player entered the game last, and was playing as a catfish, so the odds were already stacked against him. But the thing is, he couldn't play in Netflix's social media reality competition series as himself — because his wife, DeLeesa St. Agathe, had used his persona as her catfish profile back in season 2. After DeLeesa became the first catfish to win The Circle, her husband Trevor decided to see if he could do it too.
And despite the tough road ahead of him — the last people to enter the game are usually blocked before the finale and have little to no chance of winning the game since they simply don't have enough time to bond with the other players — Trevor actually came close to winning the $150,000 grand prize when he finished the season in second place, getting beat for the top spot by Frank Grimsley. Not bad for a catfish who joined the game right before it ended!
Below, Trevor breaks down what it was like going from watching his wife catfish as him to entering the game as a new catfish, and more.
Netflix
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Even though you didn't win, getting second place after coming into the game last and playing as a catfish is really impressive. Seriously, great work.
TREVOR ST. AGATHE: Thank you! I appreciate that. Yeah, you're right, when you come in at that point, you're just like, "How far can I actually go?" It's definitely rewarding to get that far.
When it was down to just you and Frank in the finale, what was going through your mind in that moment?
I was shocked. I was really not expecting that at all. As they were going down the line, I kept expecting my face — or Imani's face — to pop up, and it didn't. And then when it got to two, I was like, "There's no way." In my head, I was like, "There is no possible way this can happen." But what a rush, man. I can't even explain in enough detail what that felt like. You're overwhelmed with so many different emotions. You think about your family, think about DeLeesa, obviously you think about Frank. It's a feeling I can't fully describe.
Take me back to the beginning of your time on The Circle — after your wife's season when she was catfishing as you, how did you end up getting cast on the show?
When DeLeesa's season aired, people were asking, "Trevor, what do you think of her gameplay?" I did a couple of Q&A's and people really started to become interested in how I would do on The Circle. DeLeesa and I are the most competitive people ever, especially with each other, so I would critique her game. I'm like, "Babe, I wouldn't have said that. I don't think that was a good move for you." Granted, I know she won, but I think she could've made it a bit easier on herself.
As I was doing that, she was like, "Oh, so you think you could do better?" And I was like, "Probably," so it kind of started out that way, and next thing you know, she's like, "Why don't you just go apply and see what happens?" So I did. I applied, I submitted an audition video, I had my interview, and lo and behold, here I am in this rental apartment.
Have you and DeLeesa ever talked about going on The Circle together or playing against each other?
We have had those conversations. That'd be cool. But who's going to watch the kids? [Laughs] That's usually the thought. I'm trying to figure out which would be more interesting, seeing us go up against each other, or to see us on the same side. I don't know. I would love other people's opinions. If it ever happened, I think it would be really entertaining to do. Personally, I'd love to go against DeLeesa. I wish there was a way for us to do it and not know [we're both in the game]. I wouldn't want to be in there knowing that one of those people is DeLeesa. It's just kind of weird. But I would love for it to be anonymous.
How did you prepare to play the game? Did DeLeesa give you any tips or advice on how to catfish and win, or did you want to go in with your own strategy?
A lot of people feel like I had some type of prior knowledge of The Circle and to be honest with you, you can't really ... she didn't really tell me much about how she played the game, because every season is so different, every cast is different, the twists and turns are so different, and every season takes on its own unique personality. Her experience is something she can't really tell me how to repeat, with the exception of, "You need to have an ironclad backstory when it comes to your catfish persona." That's where she really was helpful for me, in the sense that she was like, "I can tell you how to be a woman. I can't tell you a whole lot about the game, because I don't know what they're going to throw at you, but here's everything you need to know about being a woman." If you remember, I sent DeLeesa on the show with her catfish bible. I promise you, the one she gave me was 17 zillion times bigger. I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is so much stuff!" And she's like, "And that's not everything." "You've got to be kidding me."
[Laughs] But it was really nice because she was able to help me. She had me doing makeup numerous times. I was braiding wigs. I was looking up nails, nail types, nail shape, heels, everything. I was looking up chick flicks. There were so many different things that she was telling me I should look up and know and be prepared for, because I didn't want to leave anything to chance, so DeLeesa was very helpful in that regard.
How did you want to make a name for yourself outside of DeLeesa's Circle legacy as Trevor?
Part of the bet was that DeLeesa was going to choose my catfish persona, and I knew ahead of time that it was going to be a woman, but I wanted to play the game and not be a dirty player. I didn't want to be shady and backstabbing and lying or anything like that. Obviously, I took shots when I needed to, but I wanted to portray a woman that was similar to the women that have been very impactful in my life. I hope that came across in the show. I feel like there's elements of DeLeesa, there's elements of my mom and my aunts and the women that raised me, so I wanted that to be something that came through to the audience.
I hope that showed more of a side of Trevor to people that they didn't see when DeLeesa was catfishing as me because they don't know me. People kind of know what DeLeesa showed them of me, but there's still so much more of Trevor that people didn't get an opportunity to see in her season, so I just hope I was able to let people in a little bit and get to know me and what makes me who I am.
Since DeLeesa already introduced the world to a version of "Trevor" in her season, were you worried about living up to that Trevor The Circle fans already knew?
You definitely have those nerves, where I'm like, "Gosh! I really have to," like you said, "live up to what DeLeesa put out there." DeLeesa established a legacy on the show, and the last thing I wanted to do was come in and butcher it. But, when it came to me, I wanted to come across as authentic and genuine. She definitely showed those sides of me, but I wasn't going to be super-duper concerned about how DeLeesa played me, because now it is me. And that's all I could be, the Trevor that I've been for the last 36 years. She did a fantastic job of portraying me. It's as close as anybody could come to being me without being me, but I just think it was very important that I get the opportunity to showcase who I am, and I think it just helped that who I am, it aligns with who DeLeesa portrayed me to be. And my wife is happy with the performance that I put forth, and the fact that in that game, I stayed true to myself, I played the game with integrity, and I can look myself in the mirror knowing that I did what I considered to be the right thing.
You actually did something no one else has done before on The Circle — you entered the game last, and not only were you not blocked, but you finished in second place. Usually entering the game last means you don't really have a chance to do well, so what do you attribute your success in the game to when you had to overcome that massive disadvantage?
I told myself going into the game, I don't know what has happened. I'm going to have to try to get some background info as to what I've missed, but I just needed to be what the game needed me to be at that point, which is like, I'm sure there's been drama. When there's drama, there's people questioning relationships, questioning other people, so I just need to be an ear for everybody else. I generally feel like people like to talk about themselves and their issues, so I was like, "Great! If there's stuff that's happened and people have issues, I'm just going to be the person that is ready to listen."
My persona was perfect for that: a 35-year-old woman who's got some life experience. People can look up to her. I can work with this. That's how I just chose to attack it, and I feel like that worked out for me. And, within that, you can't help but make those really strong relationships, and people jump out at you because you're in a rush to meet so many people. I think the toga party really helped with having me be able to meet different people at once, so I was able to kind of pick and choose people that I thought was going to be really good for my game, obviously Frank being the No. 1 person that came out of that toga party chat for me. It was just very important that I be like a tuning fork for people and use those conversations as opportunities to build trust, establish relationships and unspoken alliances.
Do you think that if you came into the game even just one or two times earlier that you would have won?
I'd like to say yes. Just like when I came in, I felt a sense of loyalty to Eversen because we came in at the same time, I think that's just something that happens with the rest of the players. I'd like to think that my chances would have been better had I come in earlier, but you never know. With the twists and turns, I might've gotten outed by somebody. Alyssa being the mastermind note-taker, she might've got me, you know? You just never really know which way the game is going to go, but confidently enough for me, I can say that I do think, in my heart, that had I been in earlier, it may have worked out better for me.
What is it actually like living in that apartment and playing in The Circle that doesn't come across onscreen?
You just never know what time of day it is or anything. You wake up, you don't know what time it is. You go to sleep, you don't really know what time it is. The days can be so long, and I wonder if it was because I came in later, but I just felt like I was just on go, from wake-up to lights out. Time flies when you're having a great time, but I feel like a lot of people think that you have so much down time, but I did not. It was like, "You're going to go from here to this chat, and then I'm going to talk to this person, and then I'm going to squeeze in the gym, but no, I can't squeeze in the gym." I was just always so busy.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
