The stakes are getting higher on Deal or No Deal Island. This show is an entertaining mash-up of Survivor and the old-school Deal or No Deal. In this new show, The Banker invited 13 guests to his private island.
Host Joe Manganiello guides the contestants through challenges concocted by the Banker. The final player standing will go up against the Banker and compete for $200 million. Unfortunately, Jamil Sipes was eliminated during the second episode.
During that episode, players teamed up for a hunter-and-gatherer challenge. One player would shoot arrows from a crossbow at targets attached to cases. Sounds simple, right? But first, the gatherer had to climb a tall tree to retrieve arrows.
“Boston” Rob Mariano shot down the $1.5 million case. So, Rob and his partner, Aron Barbell, had to choose whether to send Kim Mattina or Alyssa Klinzing to face the Banker. Kim was sent to face the Banker, and she won. So, she decided to send Jamil home.
Jamil joined Reality Tea writer Kim Stempel to discuss the show, his reasons for competing, and why Kim M. is dangerous.
Jamil shared why his job was an asset in the game
Kim Stempel: How do you think your professional experience as a healthcare recruiter helped your game on the show?
Jamil Sipes: So to be able to be successful at this job, I have to, you know, navigate around and figure people out and like just find a hot button with them. So I can create a relationship with them. But when you’re a recruiter, you have to be friends with everybody from all walks of life.
So, I figured going into Deal or No Deal Island, there would be an eclectic group of a bunch of crazy people. You just figure out people and kind of find out what makes them tick and be cool with everybody.
Jamil’s sweet reason for playing the game
Kim Stempel: What was your reason for going on the show?
Jamil Sipes: A couple of reasons. You know I love game shows. I love challenges. I’ve been on game shows before. This is like the next step to me.
But my main goal was, you know, I was married. I married my high school sweetheart. Me and my high school sweetheart got divorced. We had three amazing kids, you know early 2000s, we were young. And I wasn’t really the best husband. I was kind of naughty.
What I..what I was wanting to do…you know, we are still friends. She is a writer, but she is working full-time at a job. I have experience of winning on game shows. You know what, I can win this game. And it’s not just $20,000 or $40,000. This is a life-changing $1 million, $2 million, potentially $4 million. So, I want her back.
I’ve been kind of hinting at this for the last four or five years, maybe six or seven years. For a long time. But she’s like whatever, whatever, whatever.
How different would it be with like, Hey! Guess what? I’ve got $4 million. So, I’m here. I’ve known you since I was 13 years old. We’re best friends. Let’s get the band back together again. Let’s finish the story. Quit your job, and you know and I’ll fund you to be a full-time writer. And let’s put the family back together. So that was kind of like my main motivation for the show.
Kim Stempel: I thought it was a very heartwarming moment when you talked about your family on the show.
Jamil Sipes: Yeah. I wish they would have shown more, but it’s okay.
Kim Stempel: Is there any good news to report in that department?
Jamil Sipes: (laughs) Well, I didn’t win the $4 million, but that’s still kind of a progress thing. We’re still working on that.
Kim Stempel: Well I think the fact that you went and tried should count for something, right?
Jamil Sipes: You know, that’s priceless.
What surprised Jamil about the experience
Kim Stempel: What surprised you most about the show?
Jamil Sipes: How emotional I became. I’m not the biggest reality show guy. But I’ve watched it. Like if I like it, I’m all in. Sometimes when you watch it, people start crying, and they get emotional. I always thought that was kind of weird, or strange, or kind of wacky. I didn’t realize it. You know, when I got eliminated, I damn near almost cried. And I was shocked at how emotional you can get. And that’s probably the biggest thing that I took from the show was how emotional I got.
Kim Stempel: And [your elimination] really came out of left field.
Jamil Sipes: It kind of did. I kind of knew it was happening. I still had like a sliver of hope maybe she goes another [route] and she didn’t, and like I said, I just kind of put my head down. And it just unleashed a whole bunch of emotions that I didn’t know that I had. And like I said, I almost teared up on TV, but I would have never heard the end of it from my friends, my co-workers, my cousins. They would have roasted me forever.
Kim Mattina is the most “dangerous” player
Kim Stempel: Were you surprised about how dangerous Kim was in the game?
Jamil Sipes: Yes. At first glance, you just kind of look at her as an old lady, like a babe in the woods. And at first glance, you’re like Okay. You’re going home first. This is easy.
But then when she made her move on the first episode, and she said, Hey. You know what? Who has that high case? As soon as she said that, that moment to me, was like, Okay. You’re a good… you’re a pretty solid player. And then I had just found out after that… she was an avid reality show watcher. And then, maybe an hour or two later, we’re in our first elimination and she kind of made that bold move. I said, Okay. She can do something. She may lack on the physical side, so I didn’t think she was gonna last that long.
[Kim] was very dangerous. She went from a cute little old lady who watches reality TV shows all day and doesn’t have any money to, you know, pay for her dentist. She went from that to owning the million dollar case and you know, and being…at the forefront of the game and being in control of the whole game, you know, from the first episode. [In] the second episode, she beat the Banker, which I knew she would, and she controlled the game again. So, she turned into quite the dangerous player. It will be interesting to see how far she takes it.
Jamil isn’t done competing yet
Kim Stempel: So, who do you want to win it all? If you could choose.
Jamil Sipes: That’s a good question. Who do I want to win? You know what, I wouldn’t mind…I wouldn’t mind Jordan [Fowler] winning.
Kim Stempel: Yeah?
Jamil Sipes: She was cool. I liked her. You know, we…we bonded. You know, she made a comment to me…we were having this nice conversation. She said, You remind me of my father. She is a good, pure person. I hope she wins. I..I could see her winning.”
Kim Stempel: Do you think you’ll go on any game shows like this in the future?
Jamil Sipes: One hundred percent. One hundred percent. After this episode, I have unfinished business. I went too early. My goal…I would love to get on The Amazing Race. That’s kind of like my ultimate goal. I will definitely see you again!
This interview was edited for clarity.
Deal or No Deal Island continues on Monday, March 4 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.
TELL US – ARE YOU WATCHING DEAL OR NO DEAL ISLAND? WHO ARE YOU ROOTING FOR? IS KIM THE MOST DANGEROUS PLAYER?
