First impressions are everything in life, and it’s no different in The Circle. Calvin Kiing Crooks holds many job titles, including chef and trainee firefighter. And he wanted to add “Circle kingpin” to his resume. He started the game off hot, making connections with Keisha “Kai” Ghost and the “Wolf Pack” of Nick Uhlenhuth and Daniel Cusimano. Unfortunately, Calvin’s popularity and straightforwardness were catching on with the others, making him a big threat early on. So when it came time for influencers “Ashley” (aka Matthew Pappadia) and “Isabella” (aka Sophia Layne) to block, they looked at their lack of connection with him, his connections with the other players, and his conflict with their alliance member “Jackson” (aka Rachel Ward). So they got Calvin out of the Circle kitchen, but he dropped by Kai’s suite on the way back to get some one-on-one “Kaivin” time before his departure. Read on to hear Calvin’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? The funny thing is, years and years ago, I watched The Circle in the UK. And I was really, really intrigued because it was a good concept. However, I never thought to myself, “Oh, I could do that.” But literally, by the grace of God, I got a DM on my Instagram saying, “Hey, do you want to try out for this show?” And then it just snowballed into me being on the top eight. So that’s God’s blessing. Did you ever contemplate coming in as a catfish? I wanted to give just myself. I felt like it would be too difficult to catfish. I’ve seen previous seasons like with Lisa and Seaburn; I’m thinking, “How the heck did these guys keep this up?” Because I couldn’t keep that up. They’re masterminds because I wouldn’t be able to keep up the lie. I would have slipped up easily. So I mean, you got to give the catfish credit because it’s not easy at all. Other players said you would dominate Circle chats, which they found threatening. Was that a strategy on your part? I don’t like dominating chats, but I do have a lot to say. With the grace of God and of The Circle, they blessed me with talking more than once. So sometimes, I would talk twice. I was answering a couple more people a bit quicker than others. But that is my personality. I do tend to ask questions and find out about people, especially in this game. Going in as myself, I didn’t want to say, “Oh, let me hold back.” I want to get to know people because, at the end of the day, these are the people who are going to help you get that 100 grand. A review about you claimed you were fake because you had too many jobs on your profile. What was your reaction to that? I played soccer professionally before. I’m used to having people hate on me and stuff. And it comes with the territory of being intimidating. I don’t shy away from people. People were intimidated by me; that’s their own prerogative, so that’s fine. It’s 2021; everyone has a side hustle! You make an immediate connection with Kai. What was it about her that made you want to work with her? The funny thing is I never actually worked with Kai in an alliance. There was something actually real. She was seeing me for me, and I was seeing her for her. So it was never working together strategically. I never had to think, “Oh, let me tell Kai this.” It kind of just flowed. So as soon as I saw her, I just thought to myself, “This girl’s beautiful. Let me pursue it. If for whatever reason, she was a catfish, it would look stupid.” But sometimes, you just got to go for it and take risks. While your bond with Kai might not be strategic, you did make a game move in creating the “Wolf Pack” with Nick and Daniel. What caused you to do that? What people need to remember, you only get an hour of chats every 24 hours. Nick and Daniel kept me laughing the whole time. These guys were really, really funny. So I just thought to myself, “Let me just start a Wolf Pack and see what happens.” I didn’t use it as a strategy. However, it did benefit me because I was able to win the respect of Nick and Daniel, which was definitely big. Daniel was probably the person who could fly under the radar straight to the finals. You were one of the people most vocal that “Orange Michelle” was the catfish, despite her being the real deal. How did you react when you found out you were wrong? I was so confused! Because when you’re in this room on your own, it’s very, very difficult to gauge anything. Even with regards to her hairstyle, I also did state that the photo quality looked a bit older than the year 2000. So, I didn’t want any sort of hate, like I’m gunning for someone’s mother. I’m a mama’s boy; I love my mom, too. So I don’t want people to think that I’m out here gunning for Michelle, or whatever the case may be. I honestly just thought because the quality of the photo looked a bit older than the 2000s. Did she have words for you once you got eliminated? Once everything got out, Michelle was fine. Michelle and I have a great relationship; we talk every day. I support her on social media; she supports me. We’re a Circle family; I could speak for everyone with regards to this. We all came through such an experience. Everyone pulled their weight and understood that this is a game. We want to win, so after it, there are no hard feelings. Before you leave, you get the opportunity to give a “popularity boost” to one other player. Why did you choose Nick? That’s a great question. When I look at Nick, he’s one of the guys that, on the outside, I will definitely be friends with. We both like sports and dogs. When I saw Nick, he just looked like one of the guy’s guys. And he didn’t disappoint when I met him in person. And when I talked to him after the show, he was the same Nick that I thought of. This game is trusting your gut and then the rest. And my gut told me to pick Nick. It was personal. I felt like Nick and myself were on a friend level, and I felt like he could use the boost. So I just gave him that care package. And I hope that he took it and ran with it. You had some disagreements with Jackson, suspecting that he was a catfish and sitting on the fence during your chats. What mad you so leery of him? I knew Jackson wasn’t real from the beginning because Jackson (or Rachel) wouldn’t say much. Or Rachel would say one or two things in the chat and then just disappear. And I’m like, “This doesn’t sound like the person that I’m looking at. I’m looking at a person who’s confident.” So the vibe I was getting from Jackson definitely wasn’t the person who I was seeing on my screen. Were you shocked when Ashley and Isabella blocked you? That really, really came as a surprise. I remember I was trying to work out who was going. But I never put myself on that list. For some reason, I just didn’t think that. And then the funny thing was when I did talk to Matt, he said, “Cal, I couldn’t go for Kai. Kai is the queen. So I had to go for the king, and you were vulnerable.” And I said, “Respect to you.” So I understand. The thing that I respect about Matt is that he said to me, “Listen, you played a great game. You intimidated us all. You were definitely going to the finals.” So with even just that being said, I shook his hand and told him I appreciated that. You go to visit Kai. Did you ever consider anyone else to see? Kai was the only girl I wanted to see. Like I said, for some reason–I guess for obvious reasons, actually–more than anyone else. Because I’m attracted to Kai, she was the only girl I wanted to see. I wanted to see if she was real. So what’s the status of you and Kai today? I hold Kai really, really deeply in my heart. We’re just friends. But again, we don’t know what the future holds. We talk literally every day. But with everything going on around the world, she’s been very, very supportive. Was there anything about your experience on The Circle that you brought back into the real world after playing?The Circle has taught me patience! Again, with regards to the small chats and talking over people. I’m very impatient. And The Circle taught me to not only be patient but not to act on emotion, which is a big thing in the world. Next, check out our preseason chat with The Circle season 3 contestants Daniel Cusimano, Michelle Rider, and Ruksana Carroll.
