Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing absolutely nobody can deny, it’s that the contestants of Netflix’s ‘The Circle‘ are what make it work, considering it is indeed a social media-based experiment. Therefore, of course, all the cast members are carefully selected based on their personalities, how popular they could be, and how much real-life diversity they can bring to the production. So it comes as no surprise season 7 featured 56-year-old married mom of three Debbie “Deb” Schwartzberg Levy from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, only for her to play as a 26-year-old named Rachel.
Deb Had a Solid Game Plan From The Get-Go
Although Deb admittedly doesn’t understand every aspect of the young generation’s lifestyle, she believed she knew enough through her work in higher education and spending days on college campuses. Thus, while going through menopause, she chose to turn back the clock and play the game as someone three decades younger than her, only for it to initially backfire. While she had thought playing a good, modest girl would make her stand out, all it did was make the others think she had no personality before suspecting her of being a catfish owing to her WWE knowledge.
Deb did have an explanation for it — Rachel’s elder brothers were obsessed with it — yet she never got to explain it quickly, and then came her bitter feud with Kevin Fernandez. She couldn’t stand the way the latter was playing the game and was utterly honest about it, leading the others to appreciate the fire from her even if they didn’t like who it was directed towards. All she then had was her unwavering alliance with Gianna (twins JoJo and Nicky Scarlotta), unaware the game would soon lead her to actually form an alliance with Kevin with the help of her profile swap sister Madelyn Rusinyak. She had established connections with Jadejha as well as Garret Caillouet too, yet they didn’t really pan out to the extent she wanted as they were soon eliminated, leading her to end up in 4th place.
Rachel is Actually Deb’s Niece
While Deb didn’t make it clear in the show how she knows the young woman whose images she had gotten permission to use, it turns out that it’s actually her niece, Rachel Rosinger. She is a Pennsylvania native too and graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Film/Video around 2019, only to now reside in Los Angeles, California, for her career. In fact, it appears as if this former Live Stream Editor at Sociology 119 at Penn State has been serving as a freelance film and television producer in Hollywood since she completed her studies, with one of her credits being ‘Cooper’s Bar’ (2022).
Deb’s Priority Has Always Been Her Family
Ever since Deb tied the knot with her then-long-term boyfriend Phil Levy in November 1995, she has been utterly devoted to building a safe, stable home for their little family as well as their loved ones. They actually welcomed Jonathan Levy in February 1999, followed by Jason Levy in February 2001, and then Andrew Levy in April 2003, completing their little brood with three boys. Unfortunately, with their firstborn struggling with mental health issues as well as type 1 diabetes, he ended up self-medicating and sadly ultimately overdosed in December 2021 at the age of 22.
Deb has actually never been shy about Jonathan’s story because she knows “many families go through similar struggles,” so she wants to help while also raising awareness about overdosing. She has since even admitted, “Jonathan will always be the beginning of my heart and my love growing and opening. Of learning to not just fully embrace and love my children and family, but everyone important to me.” Hence, of course, knowing the grief of losing a child, her priority these days is to spend as much time as possible with her elderly mother, loving husband, caring kids, and other loved ones. That’s why she often makes plans to travel to her kids, keep up family traditions, attend sports games as a unit and even enjoy some family vacations.
Deb is a Woman of Many Hats
While Staten Island native yet Pennsylvania resident Deb has long been serving as a consultant for higher education tech companies, she has even been dabbling in entertainment since 2022. In fact, her debut was not Netflix’s ‘The Circle’ season 7 but the romantic comedy ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ starring Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson. She was an extra in this film and can be seen dancing, eating, and simply talking in the background at the final bar mitzvah scene. We should also mention this dog mom is a pickleball enthusiast, pizza lover, as well as a proud Jewish woman — with the war as well as everything in the media, she doesn’t want to hide who she is or her truth from the world.
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