Big Brother was on life-support. A disastrous first season had flopped each critically and commercially in the summertime of 2000, failing to return even remotely near duplicating the moment success of CBS’ different new actuality competitors program, Survivor. Considerably inexplicably, CBS determined to provide the present yet another probability, and that call proved to be one of many wisest the community ever made.

Season 2 of Large Brother was as wildly entertaining as the primary installment was painfully boring. And essentially the most entertaining amongst that season 2 forged was a brash 28-year-old doctor named Will Kirby. Dr. Will grew to become enemy No. 1 in the home, after which one way or the other managed to make all of it the best way to the top and persuade a jury of his friends handy him the $500,000. Will was much more audacious when he returned for the franchise’s first All-Stars season, at one level daring his fellow houseguests to vote him out. (They didn’t.)

However whereas Dr. Will has made a number of actuality appearances since then — internet hosting Big Brother jury roundtables and making a visitor look on The Traitors — he has not truly competed since that Large Brother: All-Stars look in 2006. That every one adjustments when Will makes his grand entrance on this week’s episode of Deal or No Deal Island (Jan. 14 on NBC). Host Joe Manganiello, showrunner Matt Kunitz, and the DONDI forged have already weighed in with their, let’s say, sturdy reactions to Will’s gameplay, however we additionally spoke to the notorious persona to get his tackle what we should always anticipate when he makes his grand return to actuality TV.

Deal or No Deal Island is your next reality TV obsession

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Break it down for me: How is that this sport much like or completely different from Large Brother?

DR. WILL KIRBY: Whenever you have a look at any of those video games, there's actually 4 features, proper? There's what you may name the kinetic dynamic or athletic quotient. Then there's the social quotient, there's the technique half, and there's luck — and each single present has these. In order a lot as I joke round, if somebody pretends they're an exceptional actuality participant, they may very well be actually good at three of these, however there's nonetheless an enormous quantity of luck concerned and that's simply the reality.

This sport has an incredible quantity of luck as a result of you must play the Banker and both beat the Banker or lose to the Banker, which is mostly a completely different factor as a result of you may't management luck. So the social facet of the sport actually isn't crucial till close to the very finish. The producers did an exceptional job layering in social on the very finish, which I like.

Technique is vital, however solely to the extent that it could actually enable you to get immunity. It will possibly't actually, so it's laborious to strategize. And the opposite part is the athletic part. So the athletic part, you must have some command of that on this sport particularly. So I felt like I had a very fairly effectively balanced sport, however I additionally got here in weapons blazing. I used to be not going to only fizzle out on the finish of my profession and wished to make a huge impact.

Deal or No Deal Island first victim Luke Olejniczak reacts to playing 'worst game ever'

Let’s discuss that slightly extra. How would you describe your gameplay this season? We haven't seen you compete on a actuality present for a very long time, so what ought to individuals anticipate?

I knew that the man contestants had been going to return in and shortly choose me by my earlier fame, and I wished to lean into that. So I wished to return in as a actuality present villain. However I'm a really completely different particular person than once I performed 25 years in the past. There's phrases and there's actions. My phrases, I attempted to play as ethically as I might, however my actions, sarcastically, had been as moral as you may see.

I had a highest stage of integrity of rectitude, of morals, of ethics. And once I made a take care of somebody, I one hundred pc saved that deal, and I knew that different individuals weren't going to maintain the offers with me, and I used to be okay with that. I wished my character arc to return in, be an enormous goal, be a villain, after which slowly morph right into a hero. And I feel I achieved that.

Did you play any reverse psychology, like on Large Brother: All-Stars the place you threatened to place everybody on slop if they didn’t vote you out?

As quickly because the second problem was defined, I reverse engineered it in my mind after which tried to govern the principles of the sport to my benefit. So what the followers are going to see is any individual who goes 180 levels from what you anticipate with the video games.

Joe Manganiello reacts to 'the worst game of Deal or No Deal Island ever played' (exclusive)

Who else from Large Brother would do effectively on this present?

Large Brother is an enigma as a result of the skillset of Large Brother doesn't translate to some other present. And we now have seen that time and again and over. Large Brother individuals go on The Wonderful Race and do poorly. I imply, there are people who find themselves Large Brother legends who’ve misplaced 10 exhibits at this level. So it's actually, actually troublesome to extrapolate the Large Brother skillset and convey it into different exhibits.

I feel there's individuals who've achieved effectively on Large Brother and so they can at all times do effectively on Large Brother, however they're merely unable to work effectively on different exhibits. And conversely, there's individuals who can simply go from one present to a different seamlessly. And that's Boston Rob, that's Parvati. There's a subset of true professionals — and I embody myself in that on the danger of self-aggrandizement — who can enter a present it doesn’t matter what the setting is and be agile sufficient and evolve shortly sufficient to outlive.

This interview has been edited for size and readability.

Deal or No Deal Island airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

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