The Circle's Season 2 cast is far more media savvy than the show's first round of contestants. This season includes a certified reality star (Chloe), a social media commentator (Courtney), and maybe even a pop star (Lance Bass, is that really you?). But that's not all, there's also a prolific writer entering The Circle: Lee Swift, who has written more than 50 novels under various pen names as a 58-year-old from Dallas, Texas.
In the season's first episode, Lee reveals that he's made a career out of writing romance novels under female pen names, which he believes will help him win The Circle since he has plenty of experience crafting unique personas for himself — which is admittedly a handy skill for anyone trying to wow their fellow contestants on a social media-based reality TV show competition. But let's circle back to the fact that he's published at least 53 books. Arguably, this might make him the show's most famous contestant, at least in the world of romancelandia.
The unassuming Lee's most notable pen name appears to be Kris Cook. As Cook, he's written romances about everything from a cowboy falling for an artist to Cupid's grandson. Some of his most popular titles include the fantasy/thriller Morvicti Blood about a dead Navy Seal who returns 10 years after his death to save the world (look, it's complicated), his Mockingbird Place series about men from different walks of life finding love in an apartment complex, and Three to Play, a standalone erotica novel about an adventurous threesome in Dallas.
While Morvicti Blood marked a bit of a departure for the author — it's the first book he's published under his real name — his primary focus in recent years has been on writing steamy gay romance novels. According to his Goodreads page, he moved on from straight erotic romances after his muse had a long overdue awakening. "My muse finally came out of the closet. Isn't it about time?" he said. "I've been out since I was twenty-five."
In the Season 2 premiere, Lee shares that he's not super comfortable with hashtags and internet slang, but his career as an author has given him plenty of experience navigating social media. Not only is he active on Instagram, in 2016 he co-hosted the Romance Out Loud podcast, which focused on discussions surrounding LGBTQ+ romance novels.
He may not know what LMAO means, but Lee's career as a romance novelist certainly puts him in a unique position when it comes to navigating the drama his twentysomething costars bring to the table. And hey, in this post-Bridgerton world, it also gives him some serious cool points — and we all know there's nothing more important than being cool in the world of The Circle.
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Image: Netflix