All her life, Sophia Layne considered herself the odd one out. As a gay woman growing up in a church-filled town and the self-proclaimed “ugly duckling” of her family, she chose to catfish in The Circle as her sister Isabella. Unfortunately, even with a different face, Sophia still stuck out, pinging people’s catfish radars throughout the season. Luckily, her tight bonds with her “Band”-mates got her to the finale, where she ultimately landed in third place. As a fan of The Circle and reality TV writ large, Sophia hit the ground running, ready to backstab. She built a quick bond with Nick Uhlenhuth through their mutual flirtation, much to her chagrin. But she also made more personal connections, namely with “Ashley” (aka Matthew Pappadia), bonding over their mutual involvement in the LGBTQ+ community. Nick brought the two of them into an alliance, which was incredibly pivotal for all of their successes in the game. Though Sophia sat in the influencer’s chair once (deciding to get rid of Calvin Kiing Crooks), she bottomed out in the ratings after that. As sides were developing, players in the opposition were suspicious of her, believing her profile was too good to be true. Luckily, Sophia’s flirtations paid off, as Nick used his role as influencer to keep her safe until the finale. She walked into the finale riddled with guilt about her reveal to Nick, as well as surprisingly at peace for whatever happened in the end. Read on to hear Sophia’s thoughts on her 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 watch a lot of reality TV; that’s pretty much all that I watched. So I have that strategic mindset when it comes to games. And my whole life, I just love people. Since I’m the youngest in my family, I’ve been a listener, someone who just sat and listened to people talk and how they react. So watching The Circle season one, every time somebody did something, I was like, “God, they should have done this. They should have done that. They should have talked to this person or this thing.” I remember sitting there and being like, “I could win this whole thing.” So as soon as I saw auditions were open, it was a done deal. What made you decide to catfish as your sister Isabella specifically? I definitely thought about all of my siblings. I have a brother Cody, who’s also bisexual. I was like, “I could try and go in as him, so I could play that ‘best of both worlds’ thing.” But my brother’s a lot like Matt in the sense where he’s like a manly man, but he’s bisexual. So I didn’t feel confident taking on that man role. And then I have another sister Kaylee who’s also a bombshell, like absolutely beautiful. And she was so pissed off when I didn’t choose her. I literally told her, “Kaylee, you’re so pretty. You look like a catfish! You would be the type of pretty that would get voted off first.” That’s what happened with Ava; people judge a book by that cover. My sister Isabella is also gorgeous, but she has a different type of look. Pictures of her were a little more downplayed, especially compared to Kaylee. So what has Isabella’s reaction been to watching you play on a reality show using her picture? It’s so funny. When I asked permission, she didn’t know the show. I was a super fan. I had watched all of the seasons, including the U.K. seasons. She had no idea. So when I asked her the beginning, she’s like, “Okay, sure, yeah, whatever.” And now that she’s watching, she’s like, “Oh my God,” absolutely freaking out. She feels like a celebrity herself, as she should. It’s been really cute to see her reaction. It’s been so exciting for both of us to get to do this together. Were you surprised when you found out that you finished third? Absolutely. Honestly, it got to a point in the game where I totally just wasn’t even thinking about the money. I remember sitting at that final dinner and thinking, “Oh my god, there’s a chance that I could win money,” because I had totally forgotten about it. It got to the point where this game is so hard and crazy, and you’re meeting so many amazing people. I think what’s also special about our season is all of us have some sort of connection. I didn’t necessarily lose focus of the prize but definitely lost focus of the prize money. Getting to that finale, I remember feeling at that dinner I’ve already won no matter what happens. I already won because of this experience. And I learned so much about myself along the way. I was amazed I got third. I was like, “I can’t believe I got it this far.” I really just swapped from playing strategic to playing with my heart. What were your final ratings of the other four players? So Ashley was obviously number one. You see it in the very first batch of episodes with our connection and talking about our sexuality. We had so much in common without realizing who each other was behind the profile. I would have been so happy with Ashley/Matthew getting the money at the end of the day. James was second. He’s an amazing person. Though we never got to talk about anything, in every group chat he had, I was like, “What a [expletive] badass.” I feel like anybody with such a great sense of humor, that just speaks volumes. So having him second just made sense. Obviously, I couldn’t have played this game without Nick. I’m sure I could have gotten as far as I did. But he definitely did a lot for me. He was there from day one for me. And that’s why I had to keep him at number three. And, of course, that leaves Kai at fourth. I wish Kai and I could have talked more. Outside of this game, she’s one of my favorite people ever. So my voting went from strategic the whole season to more personal at the end. As you mentioned, you came in wanting to play cutthroat. That tune changes by the end of the season. How surprising was it for you for that switch to flip? It was definitely a struggle. As I said, you’re playing a game, so you want to keep your eye on the prize. But then you have somebody opening up and telling this heart-wrenching story. And it’s like, I get you; I’m with you. It sucks so badly to not be like, “Ashley, I’m a lesbian! I’m there with you.” It’s so amazing to meet people from all different backgrounds. But it’s so hard to find a way to go about it to where I was as genuine as I wanted it to be. I’m thankful that I was playing as my older sister, so I wasn’t lying when I was like, “I do have a little sister who has been through this and is gay.” It was definitely difficult, but it was such a special moment in the same way. One of the most difficult parts of catfishing for you was flirting with Nick. Talk to me about your dynamic throughout the season. I’m going to get so real here. The very first night when Nick and I had that first chat, he slid into my DMs, and I was like, “Oh hey, you up?” It was so hard for me because I realized there are so many emotions and repressed feelings from when I was in the closet that I hadn’t dealt with. Forcing myself to talk with him pushed me back to when I was 17, flirting with boys because I didn’t even realize I was gay. I had to go back into this feeling of forcing myself to flirt with a boy when it didn’t feel right. There was even that part where I was like, “I’m straight. I’m straight. I’m straight,” and I’m shaking my hands. I was like, “Sophia, this is a game. You’re doing this for your family. You’re doing this for college.” So I had to snap myself out of it. But it was also such a cool thing, because those were feelings that I didn’t know that I had left unresolved within me. It was so hard to navigate that because of those emotions. And boy was it cringy. What was it like dealing with the mounting guilt of him eventually finding out you were not Isabella? It was so nerve-wracking. I was horrified that it was going to be the worst-case scenario. There was a point in the game where I was like, “I think I’ve gone too far.” I think that I should have probably stopped with how heavy the game was going and how realistic I was making it. Because you don’t know who’s behind the other side. He could have been absolutely excited to see me and declare his love. As silly as that sounds, it happens, and some people are like that. So it was the biggest relief to have Nick be there and be the coolest about it. I’m so thankful because it was really nerve-wracking. I feel like there were times where I maybe did cross a line or two. I was horrified to meet him and just have him crushed. One of your main “rivals” in the game was Kai. Despite admiring her initially, you went after her until the end, where you admitted that because you hadn’t talked, you had gained a negative perception of her. Why did you feel that way? Kai and I didn’t really talk to each other too much. And I remember going into the game, when I first saw her profile, I was like, “We would vibe together.” Which is why I invited her to the flashback party. Unfortunately, the way the game unfolded, we didn’t have time to talk to each other. When you’re in The Circle and you’re there with nothing but your thoughts, you start to get paranoid. I saw Kai was doing well, and we’re still not communicating. So it was like, why am I on the back end, and she’s in that front runner position? What is she thinking? Does she not want me to be in this position with her? We had no sense of relationship. So it just got to the point where I was like, “Okay, as long as she’s in here, I don’t have a chance of winning.” And that’s all it was. She was killing it; Kai had an amazing game. People just love Kai for Kai. But I thought, “If she’s in this game, as long as she is, there’s no way that I can make it out in front of her.” So what caused you to reach out to her and apologize for not connecting? I don’t really know. At the moment, I remember being like, “God, I shouldn’t have done it.” I remember the next day having a chat with Nick and him being like, “Oh, Kai wants a word with me,” and I was like, “Are you kidding me?! This is exactly what I thought was going to happen.” But I absolutely wouldn’t change it for the world. I adore Kai, and I’m so glad we made that final five together. The moment I met her, I saw that she is an amazing, incredible person. I was like, “I wouldn’t want to be here with anybody else.” Was reaching out her strategic at all, or strictly personal? Oh, it was in no way strategic. I knew at this point we were nearing the last day. Everything’s done; there’s no way you can just make moves and then actually work. And later in the game, you have a lot more downtime because there are not as many players, so there’s not as much conversation. I walked through my thoughts, and my dad had written me a letter for every day that I was there. In one of the letters, he basically said, “Sophia, you’ve made it here. You’ve made it this far. I just want to say the only reason you’ve made it is because of your heart and who you are. Because your whole life you’ve gotten far because of your heart.” And I just lost it. I just started sobbing. And I was like, “Oh my God, he’s right. I’m not being greedy. I’ve made it this far. But I could be doing better if I would have stuck to my heart this entire time and not gotten so involved in the strategy.” The whole time reading that I realized I had to talk to Kai. I didn’t care if it was aired; I don’t care who knows about it. I had to speak to her to clear the air for my heart and let her know that this game really got to me and why I felt that way. It had nothing to do with the game at that point. After being an influencer once, you consistently finished on the bottom of the ratings, with James in particular constantly calling you out as a catfish. What was your reaction to that? t’s extremely nerve-wracking. However, I had the dopest alliance in Circle history. And I knew that as long as these people were in the game, I was solid. It was nerve-wracking when people brought up the catfish thing. It’s scary and horrifying. But I had Ashley and I had Nick. And I was like, “There’s no way that these people are gonna let me go down without a fight.” So I felt safe. Not extremely safe, but I felt safe. Because I knew that my alliance was tight no matter what. Daniel comes to visit you after his blocking and gives a bunch of intel. How much did you use that as ammunition moving forward? So when Daniel told me about his alliance, it definitely gave me an insight of, “Oh, there are for sure split sides.” Kai and James were so pro-Daniel and then just sent him home. So it gave me a sense of confidence that there were some cracks in the system, so maybe they won’t go so harsh against us. And Daniel really wanted me to tank Nick. He said, “Put Nick on the bottom if you want to be on top.” And that was something that I never thought about because my heart was in the alliance the whole time. I could never do that. Was there anything you took from The Circle into your real life after the game? I feel like going into The Circle, I was so ready to play a game. It’s $100,000; do whatever it takes! And then you meet people, and you hear their stories. And it is absolutely insane how so many people from so many different walks of life have something in common no matter what. We’re all just humans. At the end of the day, we all go through [expletive]. We all go through hurt. And there’s just something really beautiful about being reminded that humans are humans. Towards the end of the game, I didn’t really care about the money. I’ve met some amazing people, and it was just something really great to take away. I faced a lot of things I didn’t know I needed to face. I’ve come out such a better person and proud of my sexuality. Not that I ever wasn’t, but definitely a lot more than just comfortable with who I am pretending to be someone else. Being there and seeing my sister’s picture every day, my whole life, all I ever wanted to be was like them. And it just hit me one day that I didn’t need to be them. I am exactly what I’m supposed to be. Although my siblings will forever be my superheroes, I am me for a reason. I don’t need to be like them. I can be me and be okay too. Next, read our interview with The Circle season 3 second-placer Matthew Pappadia (AKA “Ashley”).
