It’s the middle of The Circle Season 4. The Spice Girls have come and gone, catfishes have been rooted out and alliances are pretty much solidified. Just when The Circle needs some way to, ahem, spice it up, a familiar face comes walking down the hallway: Trevor, the husband behind wife DeLeesa’s Season 2 catfishing con.
The Saints, as they’ve nicknamed themselves, are notoriously competitive — it’s evident on their YouTube channel, which is filled with pranks and roasts. Naturally, after DeLeesa won Season 2 playing as Trevor (albeit, a single version of Trevor), Trevor began to wonder if he could do better. So with a little friendly competition on the line, Trevor decided to prove he’s not just the ghost of catfishes past. And throughout the rest of the season, Trevor — or, as he’s called in the game, Imani — successfully integrates his way into the cast without a soul suspecting he’s not actually a 35-year-old sales manager/“wine aficionado.” Clearly, catfishing runs in the family.
“We’re so competitive,” DeLeesa says from the couple’s new home in Atlanta, which they were able to put a down payment on thanks to DeLeesa’s Circle winnings. “I don’t know why he thinks he can beat me, because he never can beat me in anything ever, especially in stuff around... What?”
Trevor has been pointedly staring her down during this entire answer. “Nothing,” he says, laughing. “Are you done?”
With this couple? Never.
So, Trevor, did you really go through the entire audition process like everyone else? No one from production reached out to you? DeLeesa: He actually went on the website and he applied. Nobody reached out to him, despite what a lot of people think. A lot of people think he got a free ride to just get on the show and then make it to the finale, and that’s completely not true. Behind the scenes, it was a lot of work. He went through the interviews, he did an audition video — he did the entire casting process that I did when I first applied. At the end of the day, I think people need to remember, it’s still a TV show and the players have to be interesting.
Why did he choose to portray Imani? DeLeesa: Obviously, he can’t go in as Trevor. I’m like, “Well, I played a guy. I think it’s only fitting, if you’re competing with me, to play a female.” Well, what female? And I’m like, “Well, if I played him, I want a female that’s closest to me-ish.” So, the pictures that he’s using are of my friend from high school. She portrays kind of what I used to portray when I was in my 20s — really hot girl, really cute.
DeLeesa, for your season, you made a “Catfish Bible” full of notes. How did you guys prep for this season? Trevor: The exact same thing. I feel like there was a lot more practical stuff that needed to get done. When it comes to being a guy, there’s not really much you have to practice doing — you just have to know stuff. When it comes to being a woman, you gotta know how to do makeup, you gotta know how to do hair. DeLeesa made me do her makeup, I don’t know how many times. She had a wig that I was practicing on and learning how to braid. And then she wrote down so many different things that I needed to know, from nails, nail types, heels, women’s menstruation. It’s so, so, so much information. There’s still a lot that she couldn’t even put in.
A lot of catfish have trouble nailing the tone of their characters, but no one figured you out, Trevor. Did you practice how to speak as a woman as well? Trevor: When I was on the show, I was like, “This isn’t going to be hard. All I hear in my head is her voice.” I’ve heard the same voice for the last 15 years of my life. When it came time to actually have those conversations, I knew the tone, I knew exactly what I wanted to say, how I should say it, funny little hashtags to use. It was just like, “What would DeLeesa say in these situations?”
DeLeesa, what was your reaction to watching him on the show? Anything you would’ve changed? DeLeesa: He’s still my husband. Even though we’re very competitive and I am always going to say I did a better job than him — because I always do — I’m very supportive of him. When I saw his profile intro, I was obsessed. I watched it probably 375 times because he just looks so good. He got a lot of good feedback on his flirting and everything, which was absolutely the funniest thing to watch. But I would’ve flirted a little bit differently. I feel like girls use a lot of emojis and kissy faces and hearts, and I didn’t see that. If I was there, I would’ve known. Where’s the girly, girly part? Being from New York City, I feel like the girls are a little bit tougher in general, but there’s still a soft, flirty, girly side to us. There’s still a soft side that I think he kind of missed out on. Sorry, babe. Trevor: I 100 % disagree. I think she also has to remember that you can only react to what you’re given. And I think Eversen has that type of personality, where the back-and-forth is always playful. It’s just his nature. A lot of times, I was just kind of reacting to the things he said, as opposed to really just driving the conversation.
What’s the key to successfully catfishing? Trevor: Do your research. Know your character inside and out. You have to live it. So many people come in and think they can just get by with the bit of knowledge that they know. But you just never know what somebody’s going to ask you in a chat or what The Circle’s going to throw at you. Personally, I feel like the one thing you don’t prepare for is the one thing The Circle somehow knows to give you. DeLeesa: Obviously that, of course, but also when you have these chats, you still need to give a little bit of yourself. Even though the face is different, the conversations are still you. So be genuine and really form those connections as yourself. Even if you’re a catfish, you don’t need to lie about everything. At the end of the game, that’s how people are still cool with you, because not everything was a lie.
What’s next for both of you? DeLeesa: A lot of people don’t know this, but when Trevor did the show, he actually was let go from his job because he had to take that time off. As parents, we have two little girls we have to take care of, so we work really hard. We have mouths to feed, and we’re going to do whatever we have to do to make sure our family is good.
We’re working towards a family show. Everybody saw us individually, but I think people really want to dive in and see us interact together, see the trials and tribulations that we go through. How are we able to maintain our lifestyle and how are we able to raise our children, while also providing a positive look into a Black family?
Trevor: That’s who we want to be. That’s who we are. It’s important that people see a positive, young Black family, just trying to do the best to raise their kids and have a healthy relationship.
If you both played The Circle again, who would you want to catfish as? DeLeesa: I would love to be able to go in as myself, but that’s obviously impossible. So I would like to catfish as me, but with a different face. As [someone like Imani], I can still talk about makeup and girly stuff without worrying about anything else. The only thing different would be my face. So that would be cool for me — to finally be myself. Trevor: It would be really nice to go in as a guy. Very similar to her — it would just be so much easier. DeLeesa: A lot of people don’t like catfish. Maybe it’s changing now — they have more respect for catfishes because they see how hard I worked in my season. But I remember, in my season, it was very much like, “You were deceptive, and you lied, and I don’t like to see a catfish win.” Now I think they’re respecting it, like, “Trevor has a catfish Bible. How come you didn’t do your research? Why don’t you know what a memoir is?”
I feel like catfish should win more money if they win, because we work so much harder and there’s so many targets on our backs. If you come in as yourself, you don’t have to think twice to respond to somebody. But when you’re a catfish, you have to stop and be like, “Hold on. What are they saying? How do I respond properly so that I’m not targeted?” It makes the game more interesting, too. What would The Circle be without catfishes?
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
