‘The Circle’ Star Chris Embraces Newfound Stardom After Becoming Fan-Favorite on Hit Netflix Series (Exclusive)

Chris Sapphire was recently making a quick stop at a CVS in his hometown of Dallas. He had a pounding headache and just wanted to get some medication. What he expected to be a quick two-minute trip turned into a scene as a few of the pharmacists who were working that evening recognized him from The Circle — the hit Netflix reality show that debuted this past January. He ended up taking photos and chatting it up before getting on his way, and eventually ridding himself of the nagging pain in his skull.

This has become a fairly common occurrence for Sapphire after becoming a fan-favorite on The Circle. While in conversation with PopCulture.com, he even mentioned a time when he was at a restaurant and about to put some chips in his mouth before being interrupted, though it’s never a disruption to him because he “genuinely loves people.”

Though he didn’t walk away as the winner — he’s very happy to place where he did — Sapphire is extremely thankful for the opportunity he had on the series’ first season.

“It’s been so crazy, my life has changed completely,” Sapphire told PopCulture.com. “I go out to the stores, to the mall, to the clubs, people like run up to me, they want photos, they want pictures. It’s just been the coolest thing.

“I was really hoping and praying I was going to win this coin so I could help my family out but hey, I didn’t win the pageant, it’s O.K. I always wondered what it felt like to be in a drag pageant,” explained Sapphire, adding that he wasn’t mad about being a “lovely fourth alternate.”

The Circle left Sapphire with much more than the $100,000 grand prize ever could have; though, he truly did want to use some of his winnings to help fix his mom’s teeth as he shared multiple times in the season. He built some strong relationships with the cast, including those who made the top five with him. As fellow contestant Shubbham Gael mentioned in his interview with PopCulture.com, the crew remains actively engaged in a group chat they set up and has already set up various trips around the country.

“Being on The Circle was absolutely fabulous,” he said. “I had a wonderful time. It just feels like I swiped right on my dream guy and he swiped right, right back at me. It was love at first sight. What an amazing experience, I’m so thankful for it.”

Sapphire doesn’t want his run on television to come to an end after his debut on The Circle. As he explained, being in the entertainment industry is something he always felt destined for. He said he was told growing up that he was “always told he was going to be on T.V. one day” due to his charisma and personality.

He has big ideas what’s next for him in his career. Admittedly he is taking this newfound celebrity status day-by-day, Sapphire someday wants to turn this into something else. After all, he went from having about 4,000 followers across social media to now boasting 297,000 on Instagram and 31,900 on Twitter.

“Blue check marks everywhere, people from all over the world writing you…it’s amazing,” Sapphire said.

He mentioned he’d love to have his own line of makeup one day, and even get into the hot sauce business. He even offered himself up to be a candidate if an All-Star version of The Circle ever comes to fruition.

Moreover, Sapphire wants to put something else into the universe. “You heard it here first, the Chris Sapphire Show will one day be a real syndicated national T.V. show,” he boldly predicted.

The first season of The Circle can be streamed on Netflix.