Once Courtney “CK” Kim was out of the running, only two players remained: Alexis Lete (aka Lete) and David Genat. Lete was only one case away from facing the Banker, ending her time just shy of playing for the giant cash prize. Her journey on Deal or No Deal Island Season 2 was filled with highs and lows, but having the power quite often in the game, Lete’s control dictated the trajectory of the game. Having experienced the pageant world and the WWE, Lete was prepared for what this game was about to throw at her.
As the opposition to The Family, Lete led a crusade to infiltrate their bond through her connection with Dickson Wong, but the friendship bracelet ended up meaning nothing. While relationships have changed in and out of the game, Lete regrets nothing. “Oh, I have no regrets. I mean, obviously, if I could go back and play something differently, I would, because I want to win, and if I would have played the same game, it would have been the same outcome. But no, absolutely no regrets,” she said.
Lete Has Been Bitten By the Reality TV Bug

COLLIDER: She is a force to be reckoned with. It’s Lete! Congratulations on an amazing run!
ALEXIS LETE: Thank you so much. I’m excited for what’s next. I’m excited for where I just was. I’m grateful for the opportunity and experience.
COLLIDER: Let’s start simple. If you could describe your experience in three words, what would they be?
LETE: Oh, badass, betrayed, fun.
COLLIDER: I’m here for it. What was it like being out there on the Banker’s Private Island?
LETE: There’s so much to say about what it was like. It was beautiful. It was gorgeous. We got treated like kings and queens. The dynamics of the people was interesting. They really found different walks of life. And you kind of had to be a chameleon, to talk to everybody, because, you know, you have a banker, CK, and then you have Parvati [Shallow], who’s won other shows. And you have a Dr. Will [Kirby], who is an egotistical but lovable dermatologist. You have Seychelle [Cordero] from the Bronx, who’s giving you all this different lingo you’ve never heard. It was like being at an adult summer camp. It was the best time ever.
COLLIDER: What inspired you to go out and do this journey?
LETE: I’ve always wanted to do a competition show since I was little. I grew up watching Survivor. I don’t remember what day of the week, but with my parents, thinking how cool it is to be out there and competing. And at the time, I was young and playing soccer and swimming, and I knew that I was destined to be in athletics. And I eventually went on to play division one volleyball and play overseas in Switzerland for a little bit. And after that journey was over, I missed the element of competition. And that’s why I entered Miss Indiana USA. I got to compete again. I loved competing and training for Miss USA. It felt like it gave me a purpose. And then after that, I was lost, and then I found the WWE. Found out the WWE isn’t so much competition, but politics. So I determined that wasn’t for me, and I was on the hunt for what can I compete for next? What can I do to challenge myself and see how I come versus other people? You know, I did this all the time, even in school. Like, “What’d you get?” “Oh, I gotta B.” “Oh, that’s crazy. I got a B+.” I just love the competition aspect in a healthy way, but sometimes unhealthy. Let’s be real. If you’re a really competitive person, sometimes you have perfectionism, and you have different elements of yourself that you need to look in the mirror and be like, “Okay, chill.” But I was very excited for the competition aspect of Deal or No Deal Island, and to get out there and compete again.
COLLIDER: Does that mean you’ve caught the reality competition bug? Would you do another show?
LETE: I’ve been bit five bajillion times. Oh my gosh. I was chatting with Boston Rob [Mariano] on the way back to America from the island. He happened to be on my flight. We had the same layover, had dinner together, and I was just picking his brain. “How did you make this your career? How many shows have you been on?” Asking him all sorts of questions. And he was telling me, he’s like, “You can really do this, you know? You can go on other shows, you can compete, you can be a personality.” He said usually you have to be a villain, though. Not a ton of people that are the heroes make it on reality TV. And I’m like, “We’ll see about that, Boston Rob. We’ll see about that.”
COLLIDER: You had a strong social and physical game, something that we do now know is very essential for DONDI. What was your strategy going into the game, and how did it change once the game was underway seeing the people you were out there with?
LETE: The way I went into the game is pretty similar of how I continued to play the game. I knew people looked at me as a six-foot-tall, athletic, muscular woman, and say, “Oh dear lord, she needs to go.” And so my goal going in was to be someone that is still a physical threat, because I’m not going to downplay myself, but more so be a physical threat for them. So my pitch to people was keep me, and I’ll help you. Keep me, and I’ll do whatever I can to keep you safe tonight. Because it makes people depend on you, and when people depend on you, they want to keep you there. So I wanted to make sure I was dependable. And through being dependable, I had to be honest. I couldn’t be dependable and lie to people, because then they tell other people, “Hey, this person’s not dependable.” So I went in with the idea of having a very physically impactful game, a very loyal game, and a very trustworthy game. And I was able to accomplish all three of those throughout. I was open to lying somewhere in there, but I didn’t really need to. You know, this isn’t a competition where I think lying is necessary. I think some people could have been more upfront, but it takes more to do the game honest. And I was willing to go the extra mile to play the honest game because I’m cocky, and I thought I could, and it makes me feel like I’m better than people, to be quite honest. And I’m not. I’m fully aware that I’m not better than anyone. We’re all equally under God’s eyes. But it is an ego boost, and I have an ego. I’m trying to work on it, but I do want to feel self-righteous.
Lete Talks About Where She Stands With Phillip

COLLIDER: When it came to the Temple, you had control more than anyone this season. How crucial was it having this power for your game?
LETE: DONDI is tricky, because you think you have the power when you have the highest case and go up to choose who faces the Banker. The true power really comes though whenever you beat the Banker because you can do anything without telling anyone. And I wish they would have put it in the show. After I beat the Banker, I had a speech, and I was on such a high. And before that, David said that Phillip [Soloman] and him made an agreement that I did not know about. So I won the banker. I come up, and I just get overwhelmed, like the power that I could do anything. And I sit there, and I say, “You know, these past three weeks, I’ve been told by Joe [Manganiello] that I have the power. But after winning and beating the Banker and standing here now being able to send home any three of you, I have the power. I can do whatever I want right now, and none of you can do anything about it. Phillip, I don’t know why you made a deal with David that I don’t know anything about, because you’re my number one in this game. And so this is really hard for me to say, but tonight, I made the decision to send Dickson home.” So, you know it was in that moment where there is all this power that you have, and you really could do whatever you want with it. But I decided to stick with my word, because at this point, that’s the way I was playing, and it makes sense for Dickson to go home over a CK, because Dixon was lying to me. He proved that by choosing his dad to go after him and save his dad, even though I was his island girlfriend!
COLLIDER: Well, when it came to The Family, it was tough to break them apart. Did you trust Dickson at all after the friendship bracelet?
LETE: I was hopeful. I knew that I can’t listen to what people say in this game. I have to watch what they do. So I was waiting for the challenge to see how Dickson performed. If he was performing to back me or to back them, and that would show me where his true intentions are. And the moment that he chose David, I knew Dickson is not with Phillip, and I. Dickson is still with David and Parvati. And this is an issue because we can’t be out here two against four. The odds are not in Phillip and I’s favor. And I wanted to get Phillip and I to the end. So Dickson had to go because that was the only person up for elimination that was in The Family. And, yeah, it was the tail of the snake, but at least it was part of the snake.
COLLIDER: When it came to CK, she was a big wild card. Did you ever have hope that she would be someone you would be able to rely on to get to the end?
LETE: 100%. So CK and I actually sat on the bus together, going to every excursion and going to every Temple. And the hardest bus ride was after the Temple that she sent Seychelle home. I think for that one, I said, “Hey, I’m gonna ask you somewhere else today.” And she’s like, “I get it.” And the thing I respect about CK is she’ll do something, and she’ll own up to it. And so that, for me, was okay, kind of a cuckoo bird. I don’t completely trust you, because you just did this whole wild card thing, but I do want to see if we can somehow work together. Because she was so against David, so against Dicksob. She loved Parvati, but I figured, you know, at least we have a common ground of people that we want to send home. So I was trying to work with her there. But, she was in love with Parvati, and I was not.
COLLIDER: Let’s discuss this final excursion. The jury twist was brilliant. When you realized that karma was likely going to catch up to CK, did you feel confident that it was going to come down to you and David?
LETE: Oh, as soon as it explained the rules, I said, “Okay, so it’s me and David.” Like, not even a second thought in my head, like, “Oh, I wonder what CK got.” No, it was okay, I need to make sure that I get higher cases than David. And I’m like, “How can I do that?” I hope I go first, which I drew first, so that I could tell people, “Hey, please help me win.” “Hey, Phillip, please. You know, they show it in there. And I’m like, “Philip, you know you have the potential to screw everybody else over please help me out.” And then I went one more time, when I grabbed my suitcase or my briefcase, I went to him, and I said, “Phillip, you have the potential to help me win this.” And he looked at me. He said, “Don’t worry, babe, I got you.” And after that, I was like, “Amen, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Let’s go on to the next little raft.” So with that, I kind of had an assumption. I remember talking to the camera, which they didn’t show, but I was like, “I think Dickson either gave me the highest or middle. I think La Shell [Wooten] gave me the middle because she’s in love with David, and I know that Phillip gave me the highest case.” I said, “So I’m really hoping that Phillip gives David the lowest, because that’s the only shot I have to win this.” Because I knew, I knew knew knew knew that La Shell gave me the middle there wasn’t even like, “Oh, maybe she’ll give him the highest.” And then she did this whole, like, “You choose.” And I’m like, “Okay?” and I got it. I already in my head sorted it all out. And like, okay, so this would be the outcome if this, this would be the outcome of this. This would be the outcome of this. And it really relied on my only alliance member that had the briefcase. The briefcase to pull through for me, because I was going up two against one, right? Like two of David’s people verse one of mine, and they have the game in their hands. So I’m like, “Wow, the odds are not my favorite here.” But I was hopeful, still hopeful.
COLLIDER: I mean, it was interesting because Phillip seemed to give everyone the high case.
LETE: Yeah.
COLLIDER: Did that shock you?
LETE: I’d like to say yes, but after being off the island and experiencing everybody, no. My issue with Phillip, and something that I hope that he works through, is he’s a people pleaser. He doesn’t do things for himself. He doesn’t do things for the people he loves. He does things so everybody will like him and think he’s a nice person. But the brutal reality of being nice, the definition of nice doesn’t mean that it’s good. The definition of nice is doing things for other people to make them satisfied with your actions. And really, when you’re being nice, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being good to yourself. And someone who’s willing to stand for everything and with everyone is willing to fall for everything. And my downfall in this game was having a partner to the end that is a people pleaser, that is essentially spineless, and wanting to be liked by everyone. I’ve seen him in all of his interviews brag about, “Oh, I talk to Parvati and David all the time.” Like, he just wants to be liked by everybody. And so he wasn’t able to, you know, do something, do a game move that would have gotten him any notoriety. He just wanted to make sure people liked him. And I don’t like him now, because of it.

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Lete Kisses and Tells

COLLIDER: Are there any other regrets you have from your experience on Deal or No Deal Island?
LETE: Oh, I have no regrets. I mean, obviously, if I could go back and play something differently, I would, because I want to win, and if I would have played the same game, it would have been the same outcome. But no, absolutely no regrets. I’m incredibly proud of the way that I played this game. I am a true Indiana girl. Morals and values. I believe in God. I believe in following God. Yeah, I got a sailor’s mouth, but like me and Jesus are still homies. And I try to live in the way that he does every day. I fail every day, but I’m very comfortable with my actions, and I’m very comfortable if people don’t like me, because at the end of the day, I have an audience of one, and the outside noises don’t affect me. But if you know I’m doing something that makes me feel like I’m not close with God, that’s an
issue.
COLLIDER: My final question, finish the sentence. The best moment of my Deal or No Deal Island journey was blank.
LETE: SENDING DICKSON HOME!
COLLIDER: I love it. And listen, we’ll talk about it for one hot second. The kiss that made it to the Deal No Deal island After Show. Kiss and tell. What happened?
LETE: This was right after Davi5 got the 5.4 million. We’re all in the bus heading back to the hotel. We’re on a high. We’re all part of history, the greatest winnings in the game show history. And we’re waiting for them to move us along. And, you know, I think Dr Will was like, “You know what? I think tonight Dickson should get his first kiss.” And I’m like, “Oh my gosh.” And then everyone’s like, “Yeah!” So we’re in the back of this bus and Seychelle’s like, “Come on, just do it already.” Everyone’s like, “Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” We had the chants going. And so I was like, “Dickson, we gotta do this.” I just grabbed him, I give him a little peck on the cheek. We call it a day. But yes, I think that’s Dickson’s first kiss. And, like, shout out, Dixon!
COLLIDER: Not a bad first kiss to have.
LETE: Not a bad first kiss! Yeah, the guy’s balling. And when we were there, they didn’t use it a lot in the show, but we called him Big Dickson Energy. “Chicks dig the Dickson” was another punch line.
COLLIDER: I’m here for it. Well, congratulations on your run on the show. I know there’s going to be more Lete in our reality TV futures.
LETE: Yes, there will be. I’m excited about it. I feel like I’m meant to do this.

Deal or No Deal Island

Release Date

January 13, 2024

Showrunner

Matt Kunitz

Directors

Joe Guidry

Franchise(s)

Deal or No Deal