Each week, Deal or No Deal Island host, game master, and executive producer Joe Manganiello will weigh in with Entertainment Weekly regarding the latest events on the Banker’s Island. This week, he reacts to CK’s epic wipeout, David’s big gamble, Lete cutting Dickson loose, and the absence of any personal offers from the Banker this season.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell me your reaction when you saw CK take that brutal fall in the excursion — hitting the beam, flipping, and then face-planting into the mud?
JOE MANGANIELLO: I yelled out loud. She was vertical, feet above head, and pile-drove head first into the mud. Thank God that quicksand wasn’t hard. It’s the kind of thing where you don’t want to react until you see that the person is okay… similar to when a boxer gets knocked out. But then once you realize they’re okay, you can’t help but let out a maniacal belly laugh while looking around to see the reactions of the other guests and cameramen because you know you just saw something wild.
Parvati Shallow, David Genat, Courtney “CK” Kim on ‘Deal or No Deal Island’. Monty Brinton/NBC
So many mind games this episode centered around the trifecta of Dickson, Lete, and David. Let’s start with David’s decision not to put Dickson up against the Banker even though his “son” asked him to. Do you think that’s because he believed Lete was bluffing and would take out CK, or that he was willing to sacrifice his alliance-mate to take a shot at getting Lete out of the game?
You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t in that situation. It seemed at that moment like David was under the impression that Lete might take out CK because of their strained relationship and the fact that it would probably, logically, be better for her game because Dickson had been trying to work with her. But Lete repeatedly refused him. Either way, David wanted Lete gone, so he chose to put her up and hoped for the best.
Alexis Lete, Dickson Wong on ‘Deal or No Deal Island’. Monty Brinton/NBC
On the flip side, that was a cold-blooded move by Lete to take out her island boyfriend Dickson instead of CK, someone she does not even like. Have we been distracted too much by all the verbal fireworks this season from CK, Phillip, and Seychelle to notice that Lete is an absolute assassin out there?
I think that at the end of the day, eliminating Dickson comes down to strategically chipping away at the Family. But yes, that was cold-blooded to Dickson, who clearly had a crush on her.
Dickson Wong on ‘Deal or No Deal Island’. Monty Brinton/NBC
Finally, this is kind of random, but it struck me there have been no personal offers this season to tempt people to quit the game in pursuit of guaranteed cash. Why that big change for season 2?
This season, we made a concerted effort to keep the players on their toes. After last season, I assumed that they’d all come in expecting to be able to take an easy and arguably safe way out by accepting an offer. But as I always say: Beware, because you never know what the Banker has in store for you on the island…
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Deal or No Deal Island airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.
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