'Deal or No Deal Island' host Joe Manganiello sits down with Parade's Mike Bloom to get in the weeds on what it's really like hosting the reality game show from Panama.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Talk about getting your feet wet in season one and so when you get the opportunity to go on to season two
00:05Was it a manner of just tweaking small things?
00:07Did you have like an entirely different way that you looked at approaching this entire job between seasons?
00:14No, I think I looked at it the same way. I think it was just more
00:17I think that a lot of times when I as an actor
00:20Especially when I when I learn a new skill or I start practicing something new
00:25there's this
00:27There's a difference between the first time I do it and there's a there's a huge jump
00:31To the second time that I do it, you know, which is great like it, you know in theater
00:35You have all those previews to you know rehearsals previews. You knock it out. So that by the time it's opening night
00:40You're ready to go. And so
00:42There was a bit of it heading into season two where now it was like, oh, I know where I can breathe
00:47I know where the moments are. I know where the you know, I I it was more
00:53Instinctual I think the second time around which meant that I could have more fun with it
00:56yeah, I mean talk to me about that relationship with the players because again, you're a huge survivor fan and it's something I am there we
01:03Go and it's something and it's something that Jeff Probst has noted is sort of like the role that changed as the show became less
01:08Of this big exciting new entity and more of like a tried-and-true
01:12Series, so did you find that your relationships with some of these people changed in terms of being a peer as opposed to the host?
01:20player dynamic
01:22You know, it's interesting it's I think I think both seasons that
01:28Early on the players thought that I was their adversary
01:32So when I come in they think that they're up against me and it's like no no, no
01:37No, I'm I'm PT Barnum. Like I'm I'm just I'm the ringleader. I'm the games master
01:43I want you to win
01:46But I also want you to fall flat on your face and I want to see drama
01:50You know, I mean like as a as a viewer as you know kind of as a voyeur
01:55so but I think that like
01:58That will change as we move on because people will become more accustomed to what my role is in it
02:04you know what that said, I mean, I
02:08Think my job is also to judge them on
02:12What they're doing good or bad as well
02:15Because you know, I'm again. I'm the conduit for the audience at home. So
02:20I'm I'm gonna be reacting the way that
02:22I'm gonna be reacting in an accentuated way to which they were would be reacting on the couch
02:28You know and a lot of times when I watch the the playback. I'm like, oh wow
02:32I'm I'm making the expression that I would be making on the couch at home, which a lot of hosts don't don't necessarily do
02:41But but for me, that's I'm riding the rollercoaster with them
02:44Yeah, talk to me a bit more about that because I know that talking with with Alan for example or the traitors
02:50He says that he's playing this big bond villain
02:53Did you found yourself instinctively stepping into like I'm the the jungle romancing the stone action hero
03:00People to the island. I mean there's a bit of it in my mind where I'm like, you know
03:04European international man of mystery there, you know, I'm stepping off of a
03:08a
03:10Boat in Venice on to st. Mark's with the briefcase the golden briefcase with the final case, you know
03:15Like there is a bit of that in my mind
03:17And of course like I'm wearing a lot of like Versace Dolce Gabbana like southern, you know
03:22The Versace of the southern Italian stuff so that it kind of lends itself
03:26I think a little bit to that persona and and that was like like my idea like I did come with
03:33leopard print lots of animal print shirts
03:36Yeah, I was like because I think that the original look was a little more Ricardo Montalban, you know, welcome to fantasy island
03:43you know and for me it was like
03:46I'm gonna put this leopard print on and you're gonna see a transformation. Just watch like it doesn't make sense right now
03:51I'm gonna go put it on and it'll make sense in a second
03:53And then I did and our costume designer Lauren Bush was like, oh you're right like
03:59Okay, so we need more Versace shirt. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we need more Versace
04:03So, I mean there's there's a bit of it in my mind that is that but um
04:08You know, I don't know if you saw that the the Peewee Herman comeback movie though
04:11He was big holiday where I play. Yes Peewee's best friend
04:16But on the day the director John Lee and Paul
04:20said came up to me and they said we want to play this but
04:25You be Joe Manganiello not Joe Mancuso, which was originally the characters name. I thought okay
04:33So I'm in this completely strange subversive weird fantasy world, but I'm playing me
04:39from reality
04:42And it was it's so absurd
04:44There's a bit of that. There's an element of that in the way that I host the show. Yeah, I'm me
04:51Well, but there's a banker and there's a yacht and there's this crazy billion-dollar game that's going on
04:59And you believe it
05:01You know, but I'm still me and I'm on this island, you know
05:06So there's there's a bit of me playing it as close to me as I can
05:11But oh by the way, I've also been hired by this banker to run this game and they're on their yacht watching
05:17Right. Yeah. Well, I'm so intrigued
05:19Could you talk about this idea of you know wanting to see players succeed but sometimes fail for the sake of drama?
05:23Yeah
05:24And I can't help but think about you know
05:25All of your history with RPGs and Dungeons and Dragons and it sounds a little bit almost like from a DM perspective, right?
05:32I'm like maybe the banker is like the end-all be-all but you're the one that's kind of setting these players up with
05:37Situations and trying to sort of play them out and watch what unfolds in front of you
05:42Did you find that your hosting skills might have translated from some of that stuff?
05:45100% and that that was part of my initial conversation with NBC and end them all about when they
05:49Describe the show to me in my first meeting. I was I understood exactly what?
05:54What the assignment was, I mean, yeah when you're when you're running a
05:59tabletop role-playing game for a group
06:03I'm
06:04Setting up the stakes. I mean, I'm I know I know where this thing is headed and
06:09And I'm laying down the train tracks
06:12But I'm also open in the moment where the players can go anywhere and they will go anywhere
06:17They'll go the exact opposite direction. I mean episode one of this season
06:22Luke winds up with a dollar and I
06:25Initially you think well, this is gonna be horrible because who wants to see a game where somebody wins a dollar?
06:31wound up being
06:33such a
06:34fantastic and entertaining episode that then
06:37altered the river of the rest of the season because from there
06:42Every single player that got up there was terrified to leave a small amount at the end of their round
06:48So they were playing the game completely differently and I knew how to run that and I knew how to amplify that type of fear
06:55in them
06:57subtly and then
06:59From there, you know, you're you're setting it up for the for the people at home
07:02This is what you need if this is in this kit if this is not that okay go ahead and open it
07:08So we're setting up the table for that dice roll where everyone's leaning over and on
07:13Which is what you do at a craps table
07:15I'm like a craps table narrator
07:17at points in the game and and and I know how to do that and I know how to run that and I also know
07:22how to
07:25Stay out of a player's way when I know that they're in the zone which people are gonna see in the finale
07:31There's a moment in the finale where again if we end a season
07:38Where someone wins?
07:40300 bucks
07:43Believe me the network doesn't want to see that. Yeah. Okay, so there's an there's there's an amount of like
07:50Make sure they take a bigger offer
07:53Okay, but that's not my job
07:55That's not my job. My job is to ride the roller coaster and hold their hands arms up
08:01For this crazy ride, which is gonna be exhilarating one way or the other
08:05So I know enough to know that my job is to give a player enough room and also kind of
08:13Shield them the way that like a catcher would shield a pitcher in the middle of a no-hitter in game seven of the World Series
08:19You see it in their eye, you know that they're on something
08:23and my job is to recognize that and make sure that they stay in that zone and
08:29Don't get thrown off by everything and play the game that they want to play because during this season
08:34I experienced very early on in some of the earlier rounds. There was one player in particular this guy rock
08:40He knew
08:42He had a big number in his case and he didn't trust himself
08:44And he was kicking himself kicking himself in a way that he knew he believed he knew and I saw that and thought
08:51Okay, you know what for the rest of the season if somebody wants to ride it out
08:57Then my job is just to ride it out with him. You're gonna see that in the finale. It's the most insane thing
09:04I've maybe ever seen and and had I not been in that place where I could kind of energetically
09:11Put that bubble up around them. Yeah, I don't know that they would have gone all the way
09:15Well, let's talk about some of these people that led to this becoming a ride to say the least
09:21Obviously have a lot to choose between but what would you say surprised you the most about this cast? Oh, I mean
09:29Sacial comes to mind
09:31You know, but I saw her casting tape her real and I thought I mean I remember I called our showrunner Mac units
09:38And I was like we need this. She has to be on the show
09:41She was so funny. She's a
09:45She's she's a flight attendant who's afraid of Heights
09:50Puerto Rican Bronx not afraid to tell people how she feels about things and
09:56So it was in those moments where I knew that she was I would notice that she was being quiet
10:01a little bit in the temples and I'd say
10:03Sasha what do you think you're being quiet and then she'd go up Joe
10:07I know and then she would let it loose. So it was a matter of just like allowing her
10:13The the freedom or at least like letting her know like it's a safe place. Tell us what you think and it was just what came
10:20out was
10:22Amazing. So she was great
10:24You know, dr. Will we all want to kill dr. Will
10:29Everyone like Ben who opens the cases want to kill dr. Will I want to kill dr. Will?
10:35Everybody wanted to kill dr. Will but he was such great television. He was fantastic and we're cool now
10:42We're gonna go hit a Lakers game when I get back home, but like in the moment want to kill him
10:46But he knew what he was doing. He's such a great strategic mind. He's such a great
10:52showman
10:53Parvati was incredible to watch Parvati up close these survivor champions
10:59It's real their superpowers are real and to watch Parvati go to work, you know
11:05I told everybody at the beginning of the season they were like, oh well she was on traders and I'm like
11:09She was in a sweater. I go
11:11Once we get her back to the beach in her bathing suit
11:14She's gonna be fine and and I told her that and she was laughing about it all, you know
11:18She's like I know and I was like I told people I was like you were back in your power
11:22Once you put the bikini back on it was like the Black Widow came to life and we all watched it and she was incredible
11:27This year. I mean she was safe the entire season which is this insane run?
11:33Until she wasn't and now she's immediately up against the backer, right?
11:37Exactly. It's this idea that I mean what's so interesting about dealer?
11:40No deal island as a show is that theoretically on a bunch of other reality shows?
11:44It's like well, I don't want to be up for elimination
11:46You know that that endangers my chances of being home what I found so interesting
11:50I don't know if you were surprised by this is how many people have been like I want to take faith into my own hands
11:55I'm like, I might directly play a hand in whether or not I go home
11:59But I'd rather have that than the powerlessness
12:01Sure, and which is odd because again deal or no deal. I wouldn't say it's a completely powerless game
12:06But it's trying to intuit what cases you're picking out of a batch sure
12:10But I think also the dynamics just the the the nucleus of that people love an underdog
12:16So one like like one moment you're the underdog you're the one on the bottom and in that next moment you've got the power
12:23So it's this incredible flip
12:26But also our game deals with luck in a way that other games don't right, you know survivor
12:32You're relying upon the opinion of your peers. So there's a lot of strategy a lot of social gaming
12:37I mean, yes, there's challenge beasts, you know that go out and win these challenges win immunity, but in our game
12:44Luck plays such a huge part and luck should not be dismissed because those people that yes
12:51The Boston Robs that aggressively want that power in their hand every time they want to if they're going down
12:56They want it to be because of something they did
12:59But if you watch the Dixon's even the Parvati's the Lachelle's
13:04They didn't want to play because they felt something in the air
13:08Which is where luck comes in like people are tuned into something. They know which cases to open
13:14They know which ones to avoid they know how to play the situation
13:18They know that somebody's gonna get knocked out this week, and I don't want to play the banker because I feel that it's coming
13:23So watching all of that play out is really fascinating too because I mean again
13:28You're gonna watch the finale and you're gonna say oh, it's just luck watch that finale
13:32And tell me that luck isn't something tangible
13:36It's real like there's something real certain people are lucky certain people are being
13:43Spoken to or seeing a bright light on the case is telling them which ones to pick
13:48It happens. You'll see it next week. Yeah, well. I mean from that perspective
13:52I mean what's so interesting about especially this season is this idea of kind of taking newbies and throwing in you mentioned poverty doctor
13:58Well sort of these these tried-and-true vets. I'll be a david. Janay David. Do you watch? Oh? Yeah?
14:04God I love Australian survivor. Yeah, so like this idea of throwing them in there
14:08I think on paper it would be a bit of
14:10Will they have a leg up because they know this these types of social strategy games over others on the other hand you could?
14:15Argue that because of this
14:17Cosmic power almost it sort of serves as a grand equalizer where we just saw with poverty right like
14:22You know while she had a great run to the end if she has a bad day with the banker
14:26That's that's all that matters look at Dixon. Yeah, I mean Dixon pulled that five million dollar case
14:31I mean he whittled it down to the biggest two. I mean
14:35Yeah, I it's it's it's it's it's it's it's an interesting thing that I think
14:42Frustrates certain players
14:43But also separates our game from the other ones that there is this randomness that that I love watching because it is a great equalizer
14:50Yeah
14:51So when it comes to mixing together these reality TV veterans and newbies talk to me a bit about the the intention behind it
14:58Especially how we saw play out rather uniquely this time obviously with
15:01David's big secret that gets revealed the fact that you have someone like poverty and dr.
15:05Will come in everyone's like I clock you I know what you're capable of
15:10Yeah, I think you see what it gives you is
15:14It gives you the opportunity to watch
15:18tried and true
15:20tested
15:21greats at these types of games and
15:24Then you you get to see their superpowers on display
15:27But because they're mixed in with newbies, I mean you get to see character arcs
15:34That you wouldn't necessarily see you get to see players emerge players get better. I mean Dixon
15:40I mean on the cutting room floor somewhere
15:42There's a there's a conversation that I have with Dixon where we're doing
15:46You know the axe throwing challenge and Dixon's having real trouble and I said, hey, man, I said
15:51You read The Hobbit
15:53And he goes no, man. I'm not a nerd. I don't read books, man
15:57I play fantasy football and bowl with my friends and I was like
16:02Okay, cuz I thought yeah, I just yeah, no offense, but looking at you
16:07Yeah, exactly you look kind of look like Aaron from last season, you know, and I'm like, okay
16:12Well, I'm a nerd but whatever. Okay fine
16:15And I said, well, you know, it's a story about this guy
16:17he comes from this little town and he's never left his town and there's a knock on the door and says wizard and this wizard
16:22With these Dwarves and the Dwarves mountain and their gold has been taken by this dragon and they need help
16:27And so they recruit this little guy and he leaves his house for the first time and goes on this huge adventure
16:32And then he helps them kill the dragon and he gets a portion of the treasure and then he returns home
16:38With the treasure and all these stories to regale his friends with in his little town
16:43And it was like not landing at all and I'm like, that's you you're that guy you're gonna throw this axe
16:49you're gonna hit that target, you know, and then he did and
16:52everybody exploded and went crazy and picked them up and we're cheering and
16:56So, you know the the idea that you get to watch like this, you know
17:01I don't know like Kimbellian heroes journey within this show
17:06While he is teamed up with poverty who he knew but unknowingly also the greatest
17:13Australian survivor champion ever and so you watch him get to grow and you watch
17:19You know that kind of rub off in the same way that Aaron last year with with Boston Rob
17:23You're watching these great setups and pairings and and dr
17:26Will and kind of like what was left from him in the game and so to really Letty Letty was his teammate
17:34And so she picked up a bit of that and then you watch like satial emerge and I don't think this is the last time
17:39We're gonna see you say Sean
17:41But also you watch like CK for example, I mean CK is a great character
17:48polarizing but it put a great character and so
17:51You know, it's it's a it was it's a it's a really fun game in that
17:55There's there's a mix of these these personalities
17:58Well, let's try to continue in their footsteps if you get a chance to you know
18:02Throw some more in the mix for season 3 I'll be it whether it's reality stars whether it's celebrities in general
18:07Do you have some dream casting in mind?
18:09I mean, you know you watch traitors this season and you see someone like like Dylan Efron
18:15Who actually came over to my house?
18:16I throw screening pride parties every week and Dylan came with Boston Rob one week this season
18:21Well, cuz yeah, he said at the traders reunion that he was watching dealer. No deal island on the plane to traders
18:25You got to watch it. Yeah, exactly
18:27So so I think I think you know, he's great
18:30You know, I'd like to see
18:33like a former poker champion play because they're good at reading people and I'm
18:38Fascinated by by reads when people know that someone's lying when they're giving a tell and and I want to then see the
18:46confessionals and get into their brains
18:49so like a Phil Helm youth who's
18:51like the bad boy of poker or a Daniel Negreanu who
18:55Notoriously knows what is in everyone's hand like I think you got a ace for and then they have an ace for it
19:01So, how did you know that?
19:02Like I wanna I want those people who have like a foot in like the invisible the metaphysical I want them on the show
19:10You know former athletes I think would be really fun. I think I think would be great
19:15But yeah, there's there's a there's a you know, a sea of I mean Wall Street. I'd like to see some Wall Streeters get in there
19:21It's interesting. Yeah, you know real bankers
19:23Yeah, well because they're also forecasting where numbers are going to go and you love to go to those people, right?
19:28They're like throw out the numbers
19:29What are the chances that it's a good deal versus a bad deal people that are good at gambling and reading people?
19:33I want those people. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. That makes a lot of sense. So, of course big survivor fan
19:39I mean, I mean remiss if I didn't have you in the room if I didn't ask you about who are some of your favorite
19:44players favorite seasons
19:47Robin Parvati for sure. So they're on big Australian survivor fan. So yeah big fan of David
19:54David you name I was a big fan of Aussie. No just zero social game
20:01Send me to Redemption Island and you know, it sent me to it and I'll take everybody out one at a time. I'm
20:08fascinated by him
20:09You know, I there was like Tom the fireman. Oh, yeah
20:14Season 10. I thought Tom played a played a wild game where he just kind of won out immunity wise
20:21And then it's like I mean I do lean towards challenge beasts a little bit like Jonathan
20:28New Era survivor just picking people up like kittens and throwing them through in the water
20:34I thought he was really fun
20:37But then of course, you know you have to give a lot of credit to the more strategic players
20:43As much as I would like ring my fist at Sandra's seasons because they're so frustrating, you know
20:48But but you have to give her credit for her game
20:51Tony obviously, you know is another great. So yeah. No, I'm I mean, I'm I'm I have lots of lots of
21:00I mean even listen, I thought Russell hands got robbed that for and that first time he should have won
21:06I don't care. I mean the every other time he was on the show. I mean you burned my socks
21:12I'm gonna like I mean, I'm gonna probably put my hands on you, you know, you throw my socks in the fire damn it, but
21:18You got to give him credit. He played a damn near perfect game that first time out
21:23Was the 18?
21:25Yeah, cuz yeah, he went the back-to-back
21:29so
21:30Again, like probably want to kill that guy but great great great for TV
21:35Yeah
21:35So let's say if you got in the air to put one person of your choice on survivor 50
21:41Who would it be and why because you could go you could go old-school legend you could go like
21:45New era you could go someone that we haven't seen in a long time. Do you want to see again? Yeah, I mean
21:50You know, I would say I've had those conversations with with the folks that are on that are on our show. Um, I
21:58mean I
22:00And I understand that this is crossing crossing universes, but but I'd like to see Davis, you know
22:08Survivor 50 I'd like to see an Australian
22:10like an Australian
22:12champion
22:13Play us
22:16I'd like to see that
22:20Rob does I don't know that Rob. I don't know if Rob wants to do it or part of it, you know, but uh
22:25But I think Tony has all the skills to compete in new era
22:30You know, he's a two-time champion. Yeah, and he won 40
22:34Which is kind of like the end of of first-year a survivor old-school survivor
22:39So I'd like to see the the champion that kind of closed off old-school era
22:45Compete in the new school and be invited back. Why not? I mean you got to bring him back
22:49He hasn't lost like I mean the last time he played he won. So bring him back. Yeah, absolutely
22:53So let's talk about you know, another role that you're getting to embody in 20 25
22:58Let's talk one piece for a sec
23:00Could you talk about getting to embrace that that your jury certainly embracing a part of that with the anime side of things?
23:05What was that process like especially embracing a character that had so many, you know canonical links to it from the original source material?
23:12Yeah, I mean, I mean it's a it's a bit similar to when I was cast on true blood to a certain degree
23:17You know, I I appeared in season 3 of true blood and it was a series of very popular novels. So
23:24the embodying a character that people love and are waiting for
23:28That
23:31Already has this like, you know
23:32Like established fan base on on our show that on a moving train basically, I'm jumping on the moving train a little bit similar
23:40but with that said it's
23:43You know, there's there's a lot to digest because of I think like the postmodern nature of it
23:48You know, you're you're in kind of this
23:50like
23:51You know kind of colonial era
23:54Pirate show but there's like neon signs and people are wearing Air Jordans and
23:59You know, so it's it's very surrealistic and dreamlike
24:04But but what I love is that there's so many there's so many different spices to put into the the jambalaya mix
24:13You know, I'm I'm missing an arm and there's other characters
24:18in the canon that are missing limbs and
24:21They have things in common with why they're missing those limbs and so it made me think about
24:27How did I lose this and because it wasn't it's never been there
24:31so there's things that haven't been explained about the character in either the manga or the anime and I had the
24:36opportunity to talk to Oda
24:39about my thoughts on
24:41Where where his scar came from where where the lost how the lost limb happened and the hook was replaced
24:51you know his new choice of profession as
24:53Casino owner and mob boss, you know
24:57Rather than pirate. Yeah
25:00the devil fruit
25:03You know
25:04I mean all of these things are
25:06Are up here and have appeared in two dimensions up till now and I have to breathe life into a three-dimensional
25:13character where all of these things have backstories and and and there's a there's a weight of that, you know that the character carries around so
25:21while also
25:23You know tipping my hat to the existing fan base and paying respect to
25:29The you know 1,300 plus episodes of cartoon that Japanese and fans, you know
25:36Japanese fans and fans around the world love so
25:39I'm paying my respects to them through my performance. Also, so choosing the right moment and it's um
25:45It's just been it's been a blast. It's been a blast
25:48I can imagine to say the least. Yeah
25:50Yeah, so you were someone who has also been very upfront about your your fitness and your journey and your nutrition
25:56I'd be inclined to ask for those who are trying to build some muscle to get on that out seed level
26:03Is there any like particular snacks or meals that you are your usual go-to is when it comes to building muscle?
26:10Yeah, that's a good question. Um, well, you know, I wrote a book
26:14About overcoming obstacles called evolution that came out back in
26:192013 it's been a while. But uh, but it is about the things that I had to overcome
26:25As a kid, you know, I I was I was really skinny growing up and you know
26:31I did have there was I had to work I had to work at it
26:34And I think a lot of people think you roll out of bed that way
26:36So I really had to work at it and the book is about the things that I had to overcome
26:41In order to get into that kind of shape on true blood and
26:44But as far as like snacks and stuff like that, I mean, you know ate a lot of protein
26:50Protein burns like if you're not if you don't use it, it just burns. So
26:55I've always got there's actually a jerky gents
26:59Is a jerky of the month club
27:02that my brother got me a subscription to for Christmas and
27:05I just I've kept it up because it's just it's great and I want a snack. I'm like, all right
27:11Jerky laying around so I'm big into that
27:14but I also work with a
27:16sports nutritionist named Chris Talley and he was a
27:20phlebotomist for NASA
27:22so his job for a while was
27:25figuring out how to keep muscle mass on
27:29Astronauts that are spending extended periods of time in zero-gravity situations and
27:34then he went into the private sector and
27:37Like Pete Carroll got him to do all the blood work for the Seattle Seahawks and
27:42Then basically like biohack them all from the inside because he you know, everyone when you eat you're guessing, right?
27:50Or you're following some fad diet. You just read about yeah
27:55Chris will take ten vials of your blood and then three weeks later you get 26 pages of results
28:00you specifically what you're supposed to eat what your genetic history tells you to eat and
28:05And then, you know a few months later you you just
28:11the flower blossoms maybe for the first time ever because you're eating the right things and
28:16So he worked with the Seattle Seahawks and then they won the Super Bowl that year
28:19So then Bill Belichick got him to do the Patriots the following year and then they beat the Seahawks for the championship
28:24And then he worked with the San Antonio Spurs when they were winning
28:26So he's got this long history of working with military pro athletes Olympians, and I got introduced to him
28:33and
28:35Through the Steelers organization, and I've been with him for like 12 years. So I highly recommend
28:40I mean if you want to change your life
28:43it's it's it's really invaluable because they'll just and then once a year I'll go back and
28:48Have everything tested and see where I'm at to optimize interesting. It's a plan. That's quite literally out of this world
28:54But it's it's our world. We have the technology
28:58Like six million dollars. It's like two grand
29:02You