To put it bluntly, Courtney “CK” Kim is a gamer. The moment she stepped foot on the Banker’s Private Island, CK came to play. Her journey on Deal or No Deal Island Season 2 was a divisive one. Was she too cutthroat? Did she have a social game worthy of victory? Did she toe the line between game and personal? No matter who you speak to after the fact, everyone’s opinion about CK and her game differs. And that’s what made her such excellent reality television.
Bogged down by a cheating scandal that continued to catch up with her, CK’s time on Deal or No Deal Island was marred with questions. Nevertheless, she made it to the final three, where her past came back to bite her. On the show, she said believed in karma. Well, karma had some choice words for the season’s wildcard. Her advice to the next batch of players to visit the Banker’s Private Island: “I would play it the best you could, but at the same time, yeah, maybe not try to piss off everybody as much as I did.”
CK Discusses What We Didn’t See About Her Game on ‘Deal Or No Deal Island’

COLLIDER: There was no one quite like CK. Congratulations on an incredible run on Deal or No Deal Island. How are you feeling?
COURTNEY “CK” KIM: Oh, pretty good. It’s interesting, you know, to have lived it six months ago and reliving it now.
COLLIDER: Let’s start simple. If you could describe your experience in three words, what would they be?
CK: Draining. Exciting. Emotional.
COLLIDER: Fair enough. What was it like being out there on the Banker’s Private Island?
CK: It was a lot. I kept thinking about how I was aging between the sun and the stress, because it was so sunny and hot. And I was like, ‘My skin.” That’s the one reason I actually liked Dr. Will [Kirby]. He had some really good products. He really does. I think that being out there, it was a lot of fun, but I never looked at it really as a fun experience. It was always a stressful experience for me because I just went out there to win. I have a pretty private life. I didn’t really want to be in the spotlight, and that’s what terrified me every single day that I was like, “Oh my God, this is going to be on TV. Oh my God, how are they going to cut this?” Like that part I hated. But my head, I was like, “I’m playing for millions of dollars. You’ve got a job to do, CK. Go get it done.”
COLLIDER: What inspired you to go out on this adventure?
CK: It truly was just that me and my wife are expecting, and we’ve been trying to have a baby for a while. Hopefully we’re finally pregnant.
COLLIDER: Congratulations.
CK: Thank you. When I talk to my friends, they all tell me that babies literally cost a million dollars. So I was like, okay, let me go on the show and win a million dollars. And that really was the motivating factor was just my family supporting them and having more money for our growing family.
COLLIDER: My favorite thing to do each week is ask everyone about CK. And now I get to ask CK about CK. You were such a fascinating character this season. You were portrayed as a very divisive character. You had a target on your back. You were a wild card, yet you made it to the final three unscathed. Messy, maybe, but a gamer, absolutely. What, what did we get wrong about your journey?
CK: I think they didn’t show enough of my strategy. So you’ll hear other contestants like La Shell [Wooten] and Dickson [Wong] and Parvati [Shallow] all talk about CK and her strategy. I think it really kind of just shows me as an emotional player out there, and I can see why I was divisive. But if there was more time for the edit, I think you would see the type of conversations I was having with everybody and kind of how I was just ducking and diving when people would be upset, using other people’s emotions against them. Having high emotions to bring that out in others was kind of part of my strategy. Making people feel like I was a little bit out of control because of my emotions and that they could control me. I’d be like, “Oh, thank you so much.” Parvati thinking she could help me. [Alexis] Lete thinking she could help me. Even I went to Dr. Will a couple of times. Anything I had to do. But again, you don’t see a lot of that. I think the one thing that I like to talk about the most strategic move I made in the game was the Captain’s Case. You guys only see it as me being selfish and protecting myself. Okay, fine. People think that’s a good move, when in reality, we got to pick like old school schoolyard picks our team. And I think, strategically, how I chose my team was the smartest thing I could have done. I was working really closely with Parvati, which most people don’t see or know on the show. So even the story producers were like, “We turned to Parvati as soon as it was your pick.” And I picked David [Genet]. My number one pick was the biggest, strongest guy for two reasons. Either he’s going to help me win, or if we lose, he’s a bigger target. But when I chose David, Lete and Philip [Soloman] were like, well, let’s take one of hers, and they took Parvati. And so I was like, well, this makes it easy, I’ll take Will. And then immediately I was like, I need to throw this comp because now I can get David or Will out. So there’s so much more strategy. And then the DONDI gods gave me a gift and were like, “Here, you can be safe and still make them not safe.” So I was like, please, give me that case as soon as possible. But, of course, the edit’s more like “She has no integrity. She’s selfish,” when they don’t really see that I’m trying to keep Parvati and La Shell safe, which, by taking the Captain’s Case, they automatically win, and I automatically get David or Will out. And so I think it was a brilliant move, and it worked. I got Will out.
COLLIDER: The season was all about a big majority alliance of The Family. How did it become so successful, and why was it so hard to penetrate these two Survivor legends?
CK: Well, NBC made it really easy for them because they brought Will in. You can beat maybe one, you can beat maybe two, but to beat three of them, it’s impossible. The game was really set up for one of them to win. I really believe that because Will came in like a wrecking ball and created this shield for Parvati and David, and that was all like, “Let’s get Will out.” And, and so them two just got to skate by. Cause if not, you know, the other option’s to work with Will and to get David and Parvati out. But Will’s such a better player. If he’s left alone in that game without us, Will wins. So you’re damned if you do, you’re damned if you don’t.

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CK Calls Out Dr. Will’s ‘DONDI’ Cheating

COLLIDER: You said you believe in karma. Were you ready for karma to catch up to you in the final excursion?
CK: I guess. I mean, I do believe in karma, so I guess I have to just sit there and take it. But at the same time, what did I really do? Okay, Seychelle [Cordero], I got you out. My only options were you, La Shell, or Dickson. Lete’s your number one. Lete just let me know that she cares more about Phillip. You all want to work with Dr. Will. What choice did I have? I’m never gonna take La Shell out. And I just pissed you all off, so I need Dickson with this whole Family thing, because they’re probably the only ones that are gonna work with me. I really didn’t have a choice. It wasn’t personal against Seychelle, it’s part of the game. She just took it very personally. And then, yeah, the rest of them, I don’t really know. Like, Dickson’s so funny. To this day, Dickson’s one of my really good friends, and he’s like, “I’m so sorry, CK,” and I always give him sh– for not giving me the highest case. But like, how we played the game, Dickson I understand the most. I really went after Dickson more times than I needed to. So that karma, fair, Dickson. But Dr. Will, give me a break. He was cheating the entire game. So for him to talk to me about cheating, it drove me nuts.
COLLIDER: Let’s talk about the cheating. Obviously, it’s on camera. It’s talked about. What had happened? What did we as viewers miss?
CK: I mean, at the end of the day, you know, if you’re staring at something at eye level that you can see, it’s kind of physically impossible. Everybody else, a little bit bigger, taller. My purview is directly in it. I’m the smallest player out there. And honestly, when I picked it up, and I could see letters, I was like, “Oh, I can see this.” So I dropped it. And then when I picked one up, it’s when I couldn’t see it anymore. And then, in my head, I started thinking, “Well, this has to be David, Will, or Lette because I can’t see their names.” And then I chose it. Happened to be Lete. I was like, “No f–ing way.” And then I saw it. She was like, “You can see it.” I was like, technically, I can see it. I didn’t really think it was a big deal. I was like, “I could see it.” So the ones I put back, I could put back, and so I couldn’t see it anymore once I could see the letters. But they were like, “Oh, it’s the cheating scandal.” I’m like, “It’s a random draw. I’ll just redraw.” It really had zero effect on the game. I think the most I get out of it is, again, I think of other players that were “cheating” in the game, mainly Will, because production, as a strategy was against the rules, but him coming in as that player, he kept being like, “Oh, the producers told me to do that.” Oh, the director said.” At one point, he even told us he wasn’t a real contestant. That he could not win the game. And literally, you’ve seen how smart this cast is. Half of them believed him. So I actually had to pull the story producers in, tell them to stop doing this. And he kept doing it because some people in the game, as you can imagine, probably which ones, just were so gullible. They just believed in what he said. And I was like, “He’s not playing by the rules.” ‘So for him to have the audacity to talk to me about playing by the rules, I was like, get out of here. But again, of course, he gets a pass because he’s Dr. Will. And, and the rest of the cast knew that. So that was where I was just like, “Why are you guys so hard on me and not saying sh– to Dr. Will about this?”
CK Shares Advice to Future Players

COLLIDER: You and Phillip had a very interesting rollercoaster situation. In the end, he did offer you the highest case, which you didn’t take.
CK: So I took the high case originally from him and then Parvati looked at me like this, and I looked at, and then I went and put it back actually, and then I grabbed another case. So that’s why I did it. I did actually grab the first case he gave me, but I don’t know if they show it like that on TV.
COLLIDER: How are the two of you now? I know he has been in his exit interviews saying some things.
CK: I think Phillip’s a great guy and wish him nothing but the best. We don’t talk to each other, but I have nothing negative to say about Phillip.
COLLIDER: Fair enough. Now, this jury twist. I think it’s pretty damn cool. It does throw a wrench in the game for future players of Deal or No Deal Island. What would your advice be to future players should this kind of twist return?
CK: You think it’s cool, Michael? Do you think I thought it was cool? No. Okay? You think that was fun for me? You think? I mean, yeah, I played a cutthroat game, thinking maybe we’ll have a puzzle. Maybe me being 5’2 and 110 pounds won’t matter. And then it’s just a big whole game. I was like, “No way.” When they told me there was a jury. Oh, I was like, what is this Big Brother? I was so mad. I mean for other contestants, it’s so tough. Because this game is silly. I would play it the best you could, but at the same time, yeah, maybe not try to piss off everybody as much as I did. But also do whatever you got to do to get to the final three, because who cares. So much of this game is luck when it comes to playing the Banker. And you know what? It all depends on your castmates. My castmates are insane. Think about it. Phillip. Lete put her neck on the line for Phillip. With the ring challenge with me, she was like “No, I’m gonna help Phillip instead.” They played the game, the whole game together. And then David sent him home after he told him he wouldn’t. For that $75, 000 and Philip still helped David. Yes, he helped Lete, too, and then he helped me, and he doesn’t even like me. Who knows what kind of game you can play? As long as you’re just not like people have been vindictive behavior towards you, like they did me. For the most part, David really screwed someone over and they still helped him. Lete really worked with someone really hard and he didn’t. So, who knows? I really don’t know the answer to that question, what I would tell them to do. Just get to the end, figure it out then.
COLLIDER: What made this season so good is the chemistry between this cast. This cast was a breakout cast. Every single one of you has become a star. I’m ready to see CK on another show. Any other reality TV aspirations?
CK: If my wife will let me, I would do another one. Yeah, I think they’re fun. I guess it depends on which one. I am too skinny and too hungry to ever play on Survivor, even though I think it’d be a fun game. Unless they want to sneak me some Snickers, like I don’t know if I could do that one. Big Brother is like 90 days long. I got a job. But some of the other ones I think would be really fun. Of course, I want to do The Traitors. Everybody wants to do Traitors. I want to be a faithful, but with my reputation, everyone’s going to think I’m a Traitor anyway, so I might as well be a Traitor. But yeah, of course I would love to do another show if it works with my time and schedule and family.
COLLIDER: My final question, let’s end on a positive. Finish the sentence. The best moment of my Deal or No Deal Island experience is blank.
CK: Is getting to meet both La Shell and Parvati.
COLLIDER: I love that. That’s amazing. See, listen, we didn’t get to see your relationships, but I know they were there because you got as far as you did.
CK: Right. Exactly. But yeah, it was fun. I’m glad you guys enjoyed it. If nothing else, I would say at least CK made the show interesting. There’s no doubt about that. Stirring that pot.
COLLIDER: You sure did. Congratulations on an amazing run.
CK: Thanks, Michael.

Deal or No Deal Island

Release Date

January 13, 2024

Showrunner

Matt Kunitz

Directors

Joe Guidry

Franchise(s)

Deal or No Deal