And then there were three. Deal or No Deal Island was down to the final trio of contestants. Alexis Lete, Courtney “CK” Kim, and Survivor Australia star David Genat moved on to the final excursion after Parvati Shallow lost to the Banker at Temple.
The final excursion brought back some familiar faces to the game. These six eliminated contestants played a big role in how quickly the competitors could complete their bridge and lock in their cases. There were three platforms, and each had two former players. One knew the value of the cases, while the other could help assemble a bridge. However, they could also sabotage the contestants or refuse to help.
And that is where CK ran into trouble. First, Seychelle Cordero told her to get on her knees and grovel, and then she sabotaged her. And Dr. Will Kirby refused (at first) to help CK with her bridge. In the end, CK had the longest time to complete the challenge and was eliminated.
Courtney joined Reality Tea writer Kim Stempel to discuss why she played the game alone, how she felt about being a villain, and if she had any regrets.
Courtney Kim was part of a secret alliance on Deal or No Deal Island Season 2
Kim Stempel: When you reached the final five, how difficult was it to play both sides when it came to the Family and High-Five alliance?
Courtney Kim: Honestly, not that difficult. I probably should have sat there and said nothing. They hated each other so much. I probably didn’t have to do as much as I did. But there’s actually an alliance that no one talks about called The Charlie’s Angels. You’ll hear Parvati in uncut footage that NBC posted talk about it one time, and one time only. Yeah. It was me, her, and Lete.
Kim Stempel: Oh my gosh!
Courtney Kim: It was all my doing. I wanted to work with Lete and Parvati, so that’s why I’m in the middle. It looks like I’m flip-flopping alliances, but it’s really because the alliance I want is one from each side. And that’s really how that all kind of played out, but Lete and Parvati could never truly work together because they just didn’t trust each other. But they both knew that I wanted both of them at the end. I just wanted Phillip [Solomon] and David out.
Why Courtney outed everyone’s game at Temple on Deal or No Deal Island
Kim Stempel: Why did you decide to expose everyone’s game at Temple? Did you think that it would kind of reset everything?
Courtney Kim: Yeah. 100%. This cast was very much about getting no blood on their hands and taking out low threats to begin with, as you see like Luke [Olejniczak] go home, Rock [Charles “Rock” Carlson] go home, Sydnee [Peck], Maria-Grace [Cook]. The really heavy hitters and the strongest players, even Storm [Wilson] … like Storm was not that good of a player. So I don’t know why Dickson [Wong] took him out.
They started getting those guys out first, right? That’s kind of how this cast was playing it. So, now that I’ve done this whole you know scandal and everyone’s mad at me, it was like both sides, to not get blood on their hands, would take me out if they got a chance.
So, there was just no survival for me after that, unless I made everybody mad at each other so that I’m just one of many. And it worked perfectly.
Kim Stempel: It did. Who were you closest to on the island?
Courtney Kim: La Shell [Wooten] and Parvati. Definitely.
Why were the eliminated Deal or No Deal Island players so salty toward CK?
Kim Stempel: The final excursion was a tough one for you. Did you expect Seychelle and Dr. Will to be so negative?
Courtney Kim: It’s just … I mean, not that negative. And honestly, Phillip was pretty bad, too. They just didn’t show it. Everybody was – even Parvati. She yelled at me. The only person who was nice to me obviously was La Shell.
I don’t know. To me, I’m just like, Why? I still don’t really get why. Like, David did so many of the moves that I did. Will did so many of the moves that I did.
You know, I don’t know if it’s because they’re a guy and I’m a girl. I don’t know if it’s because people trusted me and then they didn’t. They just never trusted them. But something about what I did was pretty on par with what a lot of the other characters did. I happen to just be a lot more hated for it.
Kim Stempel: What did Phillip do?
Courtney Kim: He told me I was like the worst person and everyone on the island thought I was awful, basically. I was just like, Okay, Phillip. Thanks. Can I have this case now?
Kim Stempel: Do you have any regrets about how you played the game?
Courtney Kim: Seeing it in reverse, you know hindsight is 20/20. Honestly, I regret not being more of a villain. If I’m going to be the villain, and y’all are going to hate me this much, I could have given you so many more reasons and played a way better villain. So, I think that’s the only thing I regret.
I was very straight-forward in their face about what I was going to do, and how I was doing it. I really don’t feel like I was very manipulative – I was more like, just going to head-to-head war. So, yeah, next time I’d be a lot more manipulative, which to me is a lot more deceitful, but again, if you want a villain, let me give you a better villain.
What Courtney is most proud of from Deal or No Deal Island Season 2
Kim Stempel: What are you most proud of when it comes to how you played the game?
Courtney Kim: I would say starting in Episode 3, everyone was like, CK’s going home next. CK’s going home next. She screwed up her game. So, knowing this entire cast wanted me out after the third episode, and I still made it to the final three, is probably what I’m most proud of.
Kim Stempel: Are you still in touch with any of the other cast members?
Courtney Kim: Yeah. Most of them, I would say. You know, I probably talk to La Shell and Dickson the most, and then Parvati and David after that.
Kim Stempel: How cool! What are you taking away from this whole experience?
Courtney Kim: That what we see on TV, even for reality TV, is not always the truth, you know? Because again, you don’t even see my and Parvati’s relationship. You don’t even see a lot of my and La Shell’s relationship, and we were so close on the show. I don’t know, I feel like I just learned a lot about reality TV.
I’m not a huge reality TV fan. I don’t watch a whole lot of it. But you know, I think now I feel like I’m a little seasoned, and if I ever play again, I’ve learned a lot from my mistakes, and I think I could play a lot better if I ever got the opportunity.
Kim Stempel: Would you like to be on another reality show?
Courtney Kim: I think so, especially if there’s like a lot of money involved. I mean I’m a poker player, right? I love to play games for money. So, I would love the opportunity to do that again.
Courtney said that there were two groups on Deal or No Deal Island
Kim Stempel: I’m sure, as a poker player, you could read people on the island.
Courtney Kim: That’s what was so easy and difficult for me because I saw so many things as clear as day, but I wasn’t, you know, in a strong enough position to gather the troops to see it, too. It was really obvious to me from Episode 3, we were in two camps: Will’s camp and Parvati’s camp. That’s it.
And I’m just like looking at everybody and I can kind of see who in the game … it was important that they just are on TV, and they’re trying to get like Instagram famous. Versus the ones that were actual gamers and trying to play.
But everybody was in such different positions, even though I could see it all, and kind of read what their games were. I’m like, How do I put these together to get what I need? I tried. Didn’t work for me. So that’s when I was like, I’m going to play this game completely by myself then.
CK made moves that she didn’t want to make on Deal or No Deal Island Season 2
Kim Stempel: You did an excellent job, being in that position and then still making it to the final three. And then having to straddle both sides of the fence.
Courtney Kim: Thank you. You just kind of play people’s emotions against each other. Again, you can kind of read people. I mean, there were some things I had to do that I didn’t want to do. For example, when we came down the mountain, and Lete put up Dickson to be the one. I didn’t want to vote that way. But I knew if I did, then Lete and Phillip might actually believe that I’m 100% with them and not with the Family. So, it’s like, Alright. Let me do that. And not that I really wanted to, you know?
And then other times, like when we were on the mountain, I could have sent Parvati down. It would have been so easy. I was sitting there with La Shell and Phillip. I know they would have voted, but I’m not going to throw her under the bus right then either, because I needed to be with them.
So, I always just made kind of like small moves here and there. You could tell from the show everyone was kind of confused. Like whose side is Courtney really on? Or CK. And that’s why I was like, That’s the exact position I wanted to be in.
Did Courtney cheating during a name draw seal her fate on Deal or No Deal Island?
Kim Stempel: When you looked at the tile as you pulled it out of the bag – is that when a lot of the cast members turned on you?
Courtney Kim: Yeah. I think so. I mean, you know I was upset to begin with, though. Like, to me it happened before that. Because it’s like, I’ve been trying to work with Lete for a couple [of] weeks now. We were even going to be in that sandcastle one together.
She told me she would hook up with me in the end, and then she ended up working with Rock. And told me that before we walked out there. So, I was like, Okay. And then, here we are again, you’re telling me you’re going to work with Phillip.
And so, I’m looking around. Will doesn’t really like me, but you guys want me in your alliance. Lete, you’re telling me right now that I’m not a priority for you. And you and Seychelle are also closer. So, if you and Phillip are closer, and Will hates me, out of this alliance, I am on the bottom.
So, you guys are going to use me to take out the Family, and as soon as they’re gone, there will be no one here that can stop Dr. Will. And he will win the game, and I will be his first target because he knows I’ll be the biggest threat to go after him. So, as soon as Lete told me that, I was like, This alliance is dead anyway. Like, I’ve got to work with the Family at this point, you know?
Kim Stempel: Yeah.
Courtney Kim: That’s why I drew Dickson’s, though. Just in case. I’m like, We’ll see how this works out.
I was just kind of thinking of the numbers. There’s four and four for who you can save and who you can target. But yeah. To me, I didn’t have a choice. I was never in a good alliance to begin with.
So, I’m either on the bottom of Will’s, or I’ve got to play it with Parvati and David, which also sucks because David is massive. But like, it should have been the newbies versus the veterans, but this group of people was too dumb to do that.
This interview was edited for clarity.
Deal or No Deal Island is streaming on Peacock.
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