Caress Russell Is Playing 'The Circle' as Her Younger Brother — Who Is He?
Caress Russell is playing Season 6 of 'The Circle' as her younger brother Paul, a rapper and singer best known for his 2023 hit single "Lil Boo Thang."
Published April 17 2024, 10:54 a.m. ET
Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Episodes 1-4 of Season 6 of The Circle.
In this day and age, social media reigns supreme — so why not leverage its popularity by developing a reality show centered on it? Enter The Circle, a wildly popular competition series where players engage in chat-based challenges and compete for a huge cash prize.
The ruthless game has officially returned for Season 6, featuring a cast brimming with cunning catfishes. Among those ditching their real-life persona is Caress Russell, a motivational speaker who has assumed the identity of her younger brother, Paul. Curious to know more about him? Read on for all the known details!
Caress Russell's younger brother, Paul Russell, is a singer best known for his hit song "Lil Boo Thang."
Who is Caress Russell's brother? She's playing 'The Circle' as him!
When introducing herself to the viewers, Caress reveals that she's going into The Circle as a catfish and will play the game as her younger brother, Paul. She makes note of the 11-year age gap between them and acknowledges that Paul knows a lot more about social media than she does, boasting well over 300,000 followers on Instagram.
So, how does Paul have such a large social media following? Is he venturing down the influence path like many of his peers? Not quite — he's actually a rapper and singer! Paul is best known for his 2023 hit single "Lil Boo Thang," which peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and catapulted him into the realm of music stardom.
After the song went viral on TikTok, he inked with a deal Arista Records to officially release it as a commercial single for the label. Riding on the wave of the song's success, Paul scored live guest appearances at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
For those of us with a nagging sense of déjà vu, here's an interesting fact: "Lil Boo Thang" samples the 1977 track "Best of My Love" by the Emotions, which was written by Earth, Wind & Fire members Maurice White and Al McKay.
And although Caress is playing Paul as a bachelor, he's actually a married man! He tied the knot with Meghan Russell amidst the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020, culminating in an official ceremony in October 2021.
Who is Caress Russell outside of 'The Circle'?
Since she's playing The Circle as her famous brother, Caress Russell remains a mystery to everyone — but we're here to answer any questions you may have! First things first, Caress is a 37-year-old motivational speaker from Dallas.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she obtained her bachelor's degree in mass communications from Wiley University in 2011, followed by a Master of Fine Arts at Arizona State University just a few years later.
At the time of writing, Caress currently serves as the creative director at Neon Entertainment. Within this capacity, the reality TV personality researches, writes, directs, produces, and assists in developing "new shows and special events for collegiate and corporate organizations."
Caress is also a touring performer, having traveled to over 200 colleges and universities in the United States with her beatbox poetry show under the stage name "Lady Caress."
Season 6 of The Circle is now streaming on Netflix.