'The Circle' Season 6 Spoilers! Autumn Ann Nielsen Says She Was Never Given a Fair Chance to Play
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Autumn Ann Nielsen
Warning! The interview below contains spoilers for episodes 1 through 12 of Netflix's The Circle season 6, which aired in April. Please do not continue if you do not wish to be spoiled on who was blocked in those episodes.
At 21 years old Autumn Ann Nielsen is only a few years removed from a not-so-pleasant high school experience. And unfortunately, she was thrust back into it upon entering The Circle. Entering the season halfway through gave her some catching up to do, and she was almost instantly thrown right in to partner with Lauren LaChant. Unfortunately for Autumn, enemies "Olivia" (AKA Brandon Baker) and Myles Reed were forced together as "Ride or Dies," and chose to agree on a common enemy in Autumn. This culminated in the "Circle Scenarios" game, where they pinned some unkind superlatives on her.
The most surprising and hurtful shot, though, came from inside the house. Lauren had thrown her Ride or Die under the bus, thinking she wouldn't take it personally. Unfortunately for Lauren, that's exactly what Autumn did, as she was confused by her partner's logic. Despite Autumn becoming an easy name to say, she was able to scrape by being blocked. Unfortunately, that safety only lasted so long. The next round brought Ride or Dies Quori-Tyler "QT" Bullock and Jordan Staff to loggerheads. Jordan went to bat for his fellow newbie, insisting Autumn stay and asking QT to go after her closest allies. Unfortunately for Autumn, QT didn't bite, and overruled her Ride or Die to end Autumn's season in The Circle.
Read on to hear Autumn's thoughts on her time in the game. And check out Parade.com throughout The Circle season 6 with the various players and catfishes alike.
Related: The Circle Season 6: Everything You Need to Know
What's your history with The Circle? How did you end up getting on the show?
I watched season one, thought it was a hoot. I was like, "Hey, why not for [expletive] and giggles? I'll apply." Didn't expect anything of it. And then they took me through the process and still thought nothing of it until I was literally there. And I was like, "Oh, okay, this is actually happening. Cool."
Did you have any idea you were going to be entering late? How did that affect your gameplay?
I had no idea until I was walking in and saw a bunch of profiles already there. And they were talking about what happened the day before. And I was like, "Excuse me?!" I was a little confused. But I definitely had to change the game a little bit. I felt like I had to go ham. I was like, "Okay, I got a lot of ground to make up. "But other than that, I mean, deal with the cards you were dealt is what I say.
As someone who watched from the first season, did you ever debate going in as a catfish?
No. I was like, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
Well let's talk about where things broke apart for you. When you visited Jordan, as well as in your goodbye messages, you talked about how you didn't understand why you were blocked, considering that you had no power. Talk to me about that.
I mean, I was just kind of like, "It is what it is." I didn't want to be too booty heard about it. But at the end of the day, I didn't feel like I had a very good fighting chance from the beginning. So it was kind of like, "Well, dang." I didn't feel done. I felt like nothing was complete. Where was the clarity? I was very confused. But I mean, it was so fun.
Did you find any clarity when Jordan reveals to you that he was in the influencer chat with QT, and that he tried to stalemate with you? Did that make you feel better or worse about your blocking?
Probably a worse state. [Laughs.] Because I was still like, "Where was my chance to build connections, though?" I had people coming at me, especially during the Circle Scenarios game, that I had never been able to talk to yet. And they were going at me like we had some beef or something. And I'm like, "Where was this beef? You don't know me!" So it was kind of hard to watch.
Talk to me more about that. Because when you visited Jordan, you said you felt like Olivia, QT, and Myles weren't giving you a fair shake. Can you elaborate on that?
Honestly, I just felt like from the get-go, they saw me as the new person. So they're like, "We don't need to get to know her. We'll just try our best to get her out. Because then we don't have to try to get to know her. And then guess what? That's an easy target." So I kind of felt like from the very beginning they just had it out for me because they just didn't care to get to know me. They didn't care where I stood in the game because I came late. I was just a roadblock. So they booted me out.
So you do try to get a foot in the door when you get the chance to DM with one player right off the bat. You choose Paul, who gives you a bunch of information on other players. Talk to me about your reaction to that, and why you chose to then use that against him, telling Lauren that's an example of how quickly he can throw others under the bus.
So I accepted his DM because I thought honestly, from the look of it, I actually thought QT was a catfish at first. Her photo, although beautifully stunning, was just like, "Okay, stock image. Alright, fine." And then Cassie, I just felt like that would be the easy choice. The two country girls going out with each other. I just thought that'd be stupid of me to put that already what people are expecting in reality. So I chose Paul. And then Paul came in hand with a bunch of information, which kind of turned me off a little bit. Because there's that part of me that's like, "Okay, this could be truthful." But there's also that part of me that thinks, "He wanted to talk strategy. It kind of makes me not trust everybody going in." And I wasn't okay with that, necessarily. So when he threw Lauren's name under the bus, and she ended up being my Ride or Die, I was like,
"Well, it's my sole duty to tell her, 'Hey, this has been said about you and stuff like that.'" So it just kind of turned me off a little bit.
Well, let's talk about Lauren. Before we get to the Scenarios game, what was your initial reaction to being partnered with her as a Ride or Die? Did you fear for your safety after what Paul said about her?
I mean, I guess I would have feared for my safety with anybody really, because I was still so early. I didn't know enough about anybody. But no, I mean, I thought it would be a good choice. I thought we could connect and find a way and everything would be okay. So I wasn't too concerned about it.
So then we move into the Scenarios game. You get voted most likely to stab someone in the back by Olivia, most likely to catfish someone by Myles, and, most shockingly, most likely to buy likes from your Ride or Die Lauren. You had a clear visceral reaction to all this. Talk to me about it.
It was shocking. It was confusing, completely caught me off guard. I went in thinking, "Nobody knows anything about me. So what's the big deal? I won't be put down for many things. Because how can you assume that?" I think it was more so the back to back to back to back fire that really just...[Moans, then laughs.] It got in there. It hurt.
Now you have some context into Olivia and Myles making the deal as Ride or Dies to throw you under the bus, which is why they put you down for those superlatives. What was your reaction to that?
It didn't really help. I kind of felt like I went back to high school a little bit. And some people liked high school. I did not. So I didn't want to go back. And I was back that whole time. And so no, it didn't really make it make it much better. Because it was kind of like a "lamb to the slaughter" type of thing that I did not want to be a part of.
So you're obviously feeling a certain way about Lauren. And then, on top of that, she tries to explain her logic, which you openly say at one point does not make sense. Talk to me about piling that on top of all your emotions at the time.
I just couldn't wrap my head around it. I'm like, "If you're tied to somebody, you want to do whatever you can to make them higher in the rankings to make them seem like the angel child." Well, she came in saying, "Oh, she'll think it's funny. It'll be okay." But what about everybody else? And no, I did not think it was very funny. Where was the thought process, when you're literally tied to me? If I was down to the bottom, you're down on the bottom with me. So it wason. I was very verbal about it. It was not a smart decision at all.
On the other side of that, you have Olivia messaging you after to apologize for what happened in the game, explaining her own experience with bullying and trying to empathize. And you leave that chat with mixed emotions. Though you're appreciative of her reaching out and apologizing, you weren't happy with how she made you feel. Talk to me about your reaction to that chat.
When Olivia slid into the DMs, I kind of was ready for one of them to slot in the day. But I didn't know who it was gonna b. And of course she's gonna tug at the heartstrings. I unfortunately let that stuff get to me a lot. So I was trying really hard to accept the information she was giving me, feel for her in the event that it was true. But also have deep in my mind that there's a possibility that this is a game. This could all be a lie too, you never know. So it was kind of like she was trying to save her. But then at the end of the day, right after that chat, she still went in and just kind of threw me off the cliff. It was like, "Okay, we had our talk. Loves, kisses. Alright, now throw you off the cliff." [Laughs.] So it was okay. But I understand why she did it strategically.
What was your reaction when you found out Paul had finished last in the ratings instead of you. Did you think this had given you new life in the game?
I knew I was screwed. Now I was gonna go fightin'. I had my claws ready. But I wasn't gonna have high expectations and be like, "Oh, no, I'm gonna be the comeback kid." Let's face it. When I didn't get blocked that first time, I was like, "Yeah, I got lucky. The angels saved me here. But not feeling too good moving forward still."
Talk to me about your relationship with Jordan. That really felt like the one person you could connect to as a fellow newbie. Were you aware he was playing as hard as he was?
Oh, my gosh. [Laughs.] So I honestly looked at Jordan as just a set alliance. We both came in late. It just made sense to me. And I thought he was very sweet. Now, obviously, I can't see what's going on besides with me. So watching his actual gameplay blew my mind. Because yeah, he's a he's a player. He's good at what he does. But I was a little shook! [Laughs.]
You talked a couple of times this season about how you're someone to not beat around the bush and give it to people straight. Do you feel that helped or hurt your game more?
I don't know if it helped me. But I just thought that honesty is key, especially with alliances and stuff. I was trying so hard to just build at least one solid alliance. And I feel like honsty will get you that. I just don't feel like I was able to actually solidify a strong enough alliance in my short time coming in late in everything.
You are the youngest person this season to play at 21. At an impressionable age like that, I imagine there are things you could take out of The Circle to your own life. But, as you mentioned, you had far from the typical experience, feeling like you weren't really given a chance to play from the beginning. So is there anything you took from your experience?
Yes, I do not take certain things for granted like my privacy no more. [Laughs.] I can walk my butt outside. I can sleep naked. That is all I care about right now. [Laughs.] I do not take my my privacy and my solitude and my me time for granted. [Laughs.]
