Season one of Netflix‘s The Circle introduced us to the unforgettable Joey Sasso. In 2020, watchers met a host of personalities, including the exuberant Joey, who ended up winning the reality show.
The Circle is a popular reality show that follows a number of participants living separately in different apartments in the same building. On the show, they can only communicate with each other using the titular social media platform. The group of apartment dwellers rank each other and the most popular contestant becomes an influencer, earning the power to eliminate other players.
Through his good looks, big heart and charming personality, Joey was the first person to bag the grand prize of $100,000. He earned the trust of his fellow competitors and made it to the end without being eliminated. So, what happened to him after he won The Circle?
Updated September 2024: One of the biggest things that Joey Sasso did after “The Circle” was go on “Perfect Match”. He and contestant, Kariselle Snow had great chemistry and ultimately got engaged on the finale. However, that was not meant to be and the two went their separate ways in 2023. The two are cordial and have no bad blood with one another.
8 How Did Joey Sasso Spend His Earnings From The Circle?
Joey Sasso put some of his $100,000 away in savings while doing a little splurging as well
$100,000 is a lot of money to anyone, especially to a self-proclaimed “broke bartender.” This is why Joey revealed he planned on saving at least half the money, putting “at least a big chunk away.”
“I’ve always lived day-to-day, week-to-week being broke, bartending, waiting, so I’ve never had [this] before.”
Joey also spoke about splurging a little bit on things he wasn’t always able to previously indulge in. Joey also had his eye on an acting career as he didn’t want to be a “broke bartender for the rest of my life.”
7 Joey Sasso Pursued His Dream Acting Career
Joey Sasso starred in a film he co-wrote, Young Lion of the West
Before appearing on the Netflix show, Joey Sasso was living in Los Angeles pursuing his acting career. He left his Rochester, New York home to chase his dreams of Hollywood stardom. He knew at a young age that acting is his calling but only had a few acting gigs when he applied for the reality show.
Joey starred as the lead role of Nick Donato in the film Young Lion of the West. The film was co-written by Joey, and follows a local club promoter who goes against his boss’ orders and opens up a club of his own.
Joey is proud to be able to achieve a dream of his, revealing there is “no greater feeling than when hard work and dedication meet in accomplishing a life goal.”
6 Joey Sasso Returned To The Small Screen
Joey Sasso appeared on Perfect Match and The GOAT
Joey Sasso wasn’t away from the small screen for very long.
Joey appeared on Match Me If You Can, an MTV show in collaboration with Pepsi in 2021. The dating show tried to match well-known reality stars from different shows. Joey appeared alongside The Bachelor stars Eric Bigger and Onyeka Ehie, Too Hot To Handle star Harry Jowsey, and more.
Additionally, Joey appeared on Perfect Match and The GOAT.
Related
What is the most disappointing part of The Circle?
During each season of The Circle, everything leads up to the moment when the surviving players all get to meet in a room. Throughout the seasons, the show’s producers try to create similar moments for viewers to be compelled by. The producers do this by allowing the people who’ve been voted out of The Circle to meet and/or confront one of the other players. These moments should be great but most of them are disappointing since everybody almost always plays nice, even if they’d previously spent episodes expressing their frustrations for each other.
Joey had a role playing himself in Girls5eva. Joey’s episode was about about Wickie wanting the high of breaking up with famous people.
5 Joey Sasso Had A Line Of Merchandise
Joey Sasso’s line of merchandise was The Sasso Fam Collection
Joey Sasso has his own line of merch called The Sasso Fam Collection.
When it launched, his website sold out of Joey’s apparel with his signature phrase “Family Over Everything” and his catchy nickname, “Broey Joey.”
4 What Happened Between Joey Sasso And Miranda Bissonnette After The Circle
Joey Sasso and Miranda Bissonnette remained friends after The Circle
Despite the pair having a real connection while competing in The Circle, Joey Sasso failed to save Miranda Bissonnette from going home while in the influencer position.
Miranda paid Joey a visit when she was eliminated from the show and realized their connection translated beyond the screen. After asking for permission, Joey gave Miranda a parting kiss.
Speaking to Esquire in January 2020, Joey confirmed that the pair had gone on a date.
“It wasn’t a $100,000 winner date, because at this point, the show had just ended. We weren’t allowed to follow each other on social media, but she came out to LA to stay with me.”
“Everyone wants to know, ‘Are you together, are you not together?'” Joey revealed, not long after winning the show. “The truth is that it’s kind of neither. We are in each other’s lives. We are incredibly close. I love that girl to death. We have an amazing friendship that is unlike any relationship I’ve had with anyone else except my ex-girlfriend, who I’ve been best friends with since I was a child, so this means so much to me.”
“For both of us, we just know that the love we have for each other — we know relationships can change that.”
Related
Who is the most lovable catfish to compete in The Circle?
Throughout The Circle history, there have been several people who were catfishes that viewers loved. However, in terms of who was the most lovable catfish, one player stands out among the rest. During the second season of the show, fans were introduced to a catfish named Lee Swift. A man who was 58 years old at the time of filming, Lee pretended to be a 24-year-old student named River. Between Lee’s enthusiasm for everything he experienced in The Circle and his attempts to figure out what someone three decades younger would say, he was completely lovable.
Joey went on to say, “She has a life in Tahoe; I have a life in LA, but we see each other all the time. We talk all the time. The love there is so genuine and real.”
3 How The Circle Prepared Joey Sasso For Quarantine
The isolation experienced in The Circle helped Joey Sasso while in quarantine during the pandemic
Fans watched The Circle and wondered how the contestants coped all cooped up, unable to leave their apartments and speak to each other face-to-face. Joey Sasso admitted his time on the Netflix show really prepared him to be away from everyone.
“My time in isolation during “The Circle” prepared me for this quarantine in so many ways. I feel like it really gave me an understanding of what it’s like to be completely cut off from society and have to rely on your own mental strength to make it through each day, to become comfortable living a similar pattern every single day and have to hold it together without losing my mind.”
2 Joey Sasso Was A Boxer But Film Is His Passion
Joey Sasso was a boxer when he was younger
Joey was an athlete from a young age. Boxing was his main love as he was never afraid of getting hit.
“The funny side to this though is I’m not a sports guy at all. I don’t watch any sports.”
Boxing was never a career ambition for him as it’s difficult to make a living.
“Had I not had film, I’m sure that’s all I would’ve been able to do. I was never good in school, I’m very ADHD.”
Joey went on to say, “I knew that film was always going to be my escape, and when I was 18, a month after graduating high school, my parents let me go. I’ve been out here ever since chasing my dream, man.”
1 Joey Sasso Gave Advice To Fellow The Circle Contestants
Joey Sasso taught contestants how to connect with one another on different levels
Shubham Goel re-entered the competition series, this time as a catfish, for another shot at the money and asked Joey Sasso for advice.
“What I really liked about the first time is that Joey was able to connect with different people on different fronts, so I tried to do that as well,” the software engineer told E! News.
“Joey was always able to stand by his truth and when he felt like he had to do something, he did it. So I tried to carry that with me.”
Fan-favorite Shubnam revealed he and Joey still talk, years after the show ended.
“Joey’s my brother—we were actually hanging out in New York a couple weeks ago. I have so much love for Joey,” Shubham explained.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot just playing the game with Joey, with him by my side.”
Shubnam continued, “You learn a lot just by being around someone. So I think there were a lot of like tangibles just being around Joey and my friendship with Joey outside The Circle that I brought into this time subconsciously and consciously.”