Paddy Smyth has revealed he went to therapy after winning The Circle in 2019.
The Channel 4 gameshow is based around social media, with the concept that “anyone can be anyone in The Circle”.
Contestants live in the same building, but are never allowed to meet, and they communicate solely using their profiles on a specially-designed app – giving them the ability to portray themselves in any way they choose.
Basically, the aim of the game is to be crowned the most popular without ever meeting the other people involved – and Paddy ended up being the winning player.
The disabled activist, who was born with cerebral palsy in his legs, scooped a £70k cash prize after receiving the highest ratings from his fellow players.
Sadly, Paddy struggled with his mental health after the show, and suffered with imposter syndrome.
Picture Brian McEvoy
Speaking on our Goss Island podcast, sponsored by F&F, Fashion at Tesco, Paddy told host Alan Cawley: “It is mentally hard. I had to go the therapy afterwards. I found it really, really tough. I had really bad imposter syndrome for like a year. I really felt like I was a bad person.”
“I felt like I shouldn’t have won. I suppose I was a bit of a divisive character so I came out to so much hate in my DMs. People telling me I was disgusting, that I used my disability to win. That I wasn’t even funny, that I shouldn’t have been on the show, that the only reason I was on the show was because I’m disabled.
“I actually gave some of my winnings to other players because I felt so bad, and because some of them helped me win. But yeah for a long time, I really struggled with my mental health,” he revealed.
Picture Brian McEvoy
When asked if there was after care offered to contestants, Paddy said: “There was, but I was scared to tell them that I was feeling bad. I felt like, because I won the show, to say that it was kind of like I’m being ungrateful or something. So yeah, it was hard.”
“I don’t regret that I did it, but I was definitely naive,” he added.
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