The Circle will not be commissioned for a further series, Channel 4 has said.

The reality TV programme, which has seen three series and one celebrity special in aid of charity, sees players compete with each other online while housed separately in a block of flats where they communicate via The Circle, an app designed for the show.

The third series was won by military police officer Natalya, who adopted a fake identity, known as “catfishing”, and won masquerading as a 29-year-old soldier named Felix.

Natalya and Emma Willis (Channel 4/PA)

The celebrity series, which aired earlier this year in aid of Stand Up To Cancer, was won by musician Lady Leshurr.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: “The Circle has been a huge hit for young audiences and has grown successively over three seasons on Channel 4, consistently outperforming slot averages.

“We’re incredibly proud to have worked with Studio Lambert North and Motion Content Group to invest in such an innovative show and to have given it a springboard for its international format success.

“In much the same way as when we originally commissioned The Circle, Channel 4 has a responsibility to continually look at how we reinvent and create space for new ideas, and so we have decided not to commission the show for a fourth season.

“We’d like to thank Studio Lambert, Motion and all those involved for The Circle’s huge success over the last three series.”

The Circle Live Final – 2019
Paddy Smyth with host Emma Willis as he is crowned the winner of the second series of Channel 4’s The Circle (Peter Powell/PA)

Emma Willis has hosted the last two series of The Circle.

Two series of the American edition of The Circle have aired on Netflix.

A spokesperson for Studio Lambert said: “The second season of The Circle US is doing very well on Netflix and we are in talks with Netflix about the future of the show in both America and in the UK.

“We are grateful to Channel 4 for all they did to help launch this innovative and entertaining format.”