BLACKBURN high school teacher Shabaz had to watch last night's final of Channel 4's The Circle from the sidelines after leaving the show.

The 28-year-old secondary school teacher had been eliminated from the show, in which players must choose to enter either as themselves or under a fake identity and then play online game tasks and chats to find out who is really themselves and who is not, the night before after fellow contestant and 'super influencer' Andy decided to block him.

Instead victory went to 30-year-old military police officer Natalya, from Surrey, who triumphed in Friday night’s final after adopting a fake identity as a man called Felix, known as “catfishing”, for the duration of her time on the show.

Speaking about her win over fellow finalist Manrika, she said: “How I felt back then was sick. I literally felt like, ‘What?’ I honestly did not expect it would be me.

“I think you can see by looking at me. I was like, ‘You have got this Manrika, you have absolutely got this’.

"When I saw Felix’s bloody weasel face (on the screen) I was like, ‘Oh God, this is it’.

“Obviously it is an amazing feeling but you do have a bit of guilt that comes with it as well. I feel good now because I have had seven months to process it. I feel a lot better now than I did then.

“Back then I felt like this fake character had won it but now I feel like I won it. It is good that I have had that reflection, that time to sit on it, because it has really helped.”

The Circle is a Channel 4 game show where players must choose to enter either as themselves or as a catfish, then as they play from their own circle apartments, must take part in online game tasks and chats to find out who is really themselves and who is not.

Shabaz meanwhile had adopted the fake identity of 23-year-old chemistry teacher 'Alice' during his time on the show.

Speaking to tellymix about his time on The Circle, he said: "I thought it was such an interesting concept.

The minute I saw it, I knew I’d want to play this girl, I’ve been on social media for so long and this girl has always sort of been my competition.

"She’s the type of person that everybody hangs on her every word; everybody buys her merch; she gets millions of views.

"I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to live in this type of person’s shoes and see what it’s like having the world treat me completely differently."

However, the Blackburn high teacher's disguise was not enough to see him through to the final.