The Circle star Manrika reveals death threats have taken a toll on mental health (Picture: Channel 4)
The Circle star Manrika Kharia has opened up on the toll on her mental health after receiving death threats and her address leaking online since appearing on the Channel 4 series.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Circle series three was filmed back in September 2020 and aired on Channel 4 just last month, ending with Natalya Platonova – who catfished as Felix – being named winner.
After The Circle aired, the cast made a video urging fans to be kinder to reality stars and now Manrika has revealed just how petrifying the abuse from trolls can get.
‘You’ve had so many threats you don’t know if somebody is going to do something… It’s been very scary,’ she told Radio 1 Newsbeat.
‘My address has been leaked on Twitter, my address has been posted on Instagram pages.’
At one of her lowest points when The Circle was being shown on Channel 4 for three weeks, Manrika couldn’t get out of bed for three days.
Manrika’s home address was leaked on social media
(Picture: PA)
‘I just didn’t have the energy or the life in me,’ she said. ‘I ignored my phone.’
Manrika said her father told her: ‘”You’re a woman of colour. It makes a difference.’”
While the 24-year-old stressed Channel 4 and The Circle have provided plenty of support since the series was filmed, and access to a psychiatrist 24 hours a day, there ‘isn’t much that they can do about trolls or fake accounts’.
‘This is why I spoke to my management, and we wanted to make a difference,’ she added.
Following The Circle finale, Manrika said she asked Channel 4 to stop posting footage of her on social media because the abuse was getting worse.
‘It’s not a reality TV show, it’s a game show and people seem to forget that. You wouldn’t go after a contestant on the Chase, and go after them because they’d beat the Chaser,’ she said.
‘It’s a prize fund at the end of the day, and it is a game of survival. You don’t know in there who’s real and who’s fake, who’s playing a game, who’s playing you behind your back. You don’t know.
‘So you’ve got to look out for yourself because it’s a game of survival. I think if I’d played it any differently, I wouldn’t have got to where I got to.’
The Circle is available to stream on All 4.
Credit: Original article published here.The post The Circle: Manrika ‘unable to get out of bed for three days’ after receiving death threats as home address leaks online appeared on My Celebrity Life.
