“Deal or No Deal Island” host Joe Manganiello reacts to shocking Temple decision (exclusive)

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 island. This week, he reacts to a threat-level ranking excursion, CK’s surprising deal with Will, Dickson’s $5 million run against the Banker, and that shocking elimination.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Your excursion this week asked the players to rank everyone from biggest to smallest threat. What did you make of those rankings — with reality competition vets Will, Parvati, and David at the top, and La Shell and Seychelle at the bottom?

JOE MANGANIELLO: First off, Dr. Will’s chaotic gameplay out of the gate paid off in spades. He set himself up perfectly to grab power and safety in the excursion, and then used some fear and social game in order to talk other players out of besting his axe throw. He proved that when you play a strong game, it attracts other people to you who want to be your ally. Parvati smartly threw an axe at herself, securing immunity yet again because she was voted the second highest threat, but here’s where it gets interesting….

Unbeknownst to him, David, who has been purposefully lying low and flying undercover, was voted the third highest threat, and as a result was up for elimination — proving that this year’s roster is so stacked full of threats that there wasn’t room for him in the top two. So rather than take a chance throwing at himself and drawing attention to his threat level, he decided to throw at his ally Dickson, incorrectly assuming Dickson would be voted one of the two lowest threats. It was then revealed that La Shell and Seychelle were the two on the bottom, and as a result, David was left vulnerable to elimination at the Temple once again.

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Had you been in CK’s shoes, would you have accepted Will’s deal for her to not throw an axe at his target in exchange for him not putting her up?

I'm throwing at whoever I think is the biggest threat. If that’s me, then I’m targeting myself. If I think it’s Dr. Will, then I’m throwing at him. The other benefit to putting a axe closer to the bullseye than Will did is that I’d be screwing him out of safety and power, and probably at that point making some new allies as a result. On the other hand, keeping Will around would be good for me and the other players at the top because he’s a shield — but if it meant that I’d be vulnerable by not throwing at him, then I don’t care, I’m going after him.

With all of that said, I’m surprised CK trusted Will after she went after him so hard. I think in that moment she had some remorse about going after him and was trying to roll some of that back — but, in my opinion, she was already “pot committed.” She shook hands with the Devil, and as you could see from Dr Will’s confessionals, he then began searching for a Faustian solution to his promise to her and thought that in Dickson he had figured out how to keep his word and eliminate her at the same time.

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Dickson said he wanted a Super Bowl and played his game against the Banker down to the final whistle, emerging victorious with the $5 million case. What did you make of his game… as well as his knowledge of former Deal or No Deal briefcase models?

Dickson’s game was influenced heavily by Nick’s Temple battle in season 1. Nick entered the final round with both of the high cases still remaining, just like Dickson did, but Nick took the Banker’s final deal and lost because he had the final case in his possession. At the end I of the day, people at home dream about pressing that button and saying, “DEAL,” but as much as Dickson wanted to do it, he held back and rode his case all the way and avenged Nick’s decision from season 1, securing the highest value ever added to the final case in the show’s history.

On the other hand, his knowledge of briefcase models was awesome and was such a great callback to the original format’s history. Dickson is such an endearing person to be around, and the way he played at Temple not only made him a new fan favorite, it made him possibly the biggest threat in the game… this was his coming out party. BIG DICKSON ENERGY!!!

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How surprised were you when Dickson shocked everybody by taking out Storm instead of CK, and do you think Storm’s budding showmance with Maria-Grace played a part in his ouster?

100 percent. Who are any of us to come down on anyone who falls in love on the Island? The king and queen of reality competition, Boston Rob and Amber, finished one and two on their first season together on Survivor, and are happily married to this day with four kids. But be warned, you can go there, but you had better play a near-perfect game. Because if you leave yourself open, someone is looking at your romance as a team-up and will be lining up in the wings to take a shot. Maria Grace earned safety in the axe throwing challenge and Storm did not, and as a result, as soon as Dickson got power, he took him out.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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