“Deal or No Deal Island” star Dr. Will Kirby reacts to being immediately disliked

“I am reality television show disrupter.” So said Will Kirby on Tuesday’s episode of Deal or No Deal Island, and the reality TV legend definitely disrupted things with his belated arrival on the Banker’s Island.

Dr. Will showed up in typical ridiculous fashion — wearing a tuxedo on a yacht after the other contestants had just completed an excursion. And he then proceeded to tell them exactly what — and who — they were dealing with. “For those who don’t know, my name is Dr. Will,” he proclaimed. “And I’m the best Big Brother player of all-time.” To make sure they knew exactly where he stood, the doctor also boldly informed the group, "You all aren’t good at this!”

Will was merely a bystander during his first visit to the Banker's Temple, but he no longer has any form of immunity moving forward, putting him at the mercy of players who may not have been very happy to see him in the first place. Here, Dr. Will explains to Entertainment Weekly how “I leaned into that and just went full-in dislike.”

Related: Deal or No Deal Island host Joe Manganiello reveals unaired rules violation (exclusive)

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: At this point, it was a long time ago when you won Big Brother and did All Stars. So when you showed up in your tuxedo on the yacht, did you get the sense of how many people knew who you were and how many were like, “Who the hell is this guy?"

WILL KIRBY: Yeah, totally fair. I thought that there would be a smattering of people who knew who I was and that it would spread pretty quickly. And that's exactly what happened, because they're super-fans and so they knew what was going on. I came in a little bit late, and in knowing that, I turned my producer brain on.

What does that mean, exactly?

I knew that they weren't going to bring in the exact equivalent of a Boston Rob. I think that I would be the red herring. If I came on early, I would've been the Boston Rob. I predicted that there was going to be a female superstar here. So when I arrived, as soon as I saw Parvati [Shallow], I was like, “Hello, Black Widow.” And then I wanted her to know that I was here to really play.

How did you do that?

I had memorized all of her life stuff, so I knew her date of birth and when she graduated high school. And so at the very beginning she's like, “What's my sign?” And I'm like, “Virgo.” And she's like, “Wow.”

So I wanted to give her some secret nods to know that “Hey, we've never met. You have history, I have a history. We've never worked together. We've met briefly on The Traitors. Maybe we have some synergy here and we could work together.

 And how did that go?

Me being late, she had already kind of picked sides. Parvati was very appropriately reticent to work with me, which is understandable. I think if I had arrived on time, there would've been a level playing field. But whenever you're the new guy, you're always going to be at a disadvantage.

Related: Deal or No Deal Island star Sydnee Peck is engaged (not to David)

You think showing up late was a disadvantage for you in the game?

People will argue and fans will say, “Hey, you showed up late. That's an advantage.” I get that argument completely. I'm not trying to counter that. But by the same token, when everyone has already kind of picked their domes and their teams and their people and then you show up, you are going to be disliked. So I leaned into that and just went full-on dislike. I didn't think it would be believable if I was like, “Let's all sit around and sing Kumbaya and hold each other's hands.” No one was going to trust that. So maybe coming in hot and having a rough landing would allow me to sort of play different sides for a while.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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