During Deal or No Deal Island Season 2, the reality show became one of Peacock’s best shows because of its amazing cast. On top of Joe Manganiello doing a great job hosting and Seychelle Cordero being hilariously blunt, DONDI also starred the Survivor Hall of Famer Parvati Shallow. DONDI also became a must-see show thanks to Dr. Will Kirby increasing the show’s ratings because the Big Brother icon was so entertaining that even his deleted scenes were hilarious.
When Dr. Will wasn’t going after Parvati, he engaged in his “golden gods” feud with David Genat and confronted him about his past. After personally eliminating Dr. Will, David spoke exclusively to TheThings about what it felt like to win Deal or No Deal Island.
Deal Or No Deal Island’s David Genat Revealed That Winning $5.8 Million Felt “Magical”
Throughout Deal or No Deal Island Season 2, fans got to see what makes David Genat such a special reality show star. Almost always able to stay calm even when he was in a world of utter chaos at time, it isn’t surprising at all that David managed to win Deal or No Deal Island.
However, what David pulled off during the final game of Deal or No Deal was so stunning that nobody could have expected it. After all, there aren’t too many people in the world who would take as many risks as David did.
When fans saw David put millions of dollars at risk to win a staggering amount of money, the danger of those moments was almost hard to watch. With that in mind, it is fascinating to see what David exclusively told TheThings about how he felt when he played Deal or No Deal and won $5.8 million.
In March 2025, TheThings journalist Matthew Thomas interviewed David Genat about his Deal or No Deal Island experience.
Which Celebrities Have Played Deal or No Deal Island | |
|---|---|
Claim To Fame | Celebrity |
Survivor Hall of Famer | “Boston” Rob Mariano |
The Real Housewives of Atlanta/The Celebrity Apprentice | Claudia Jordan |
Big Brother Icon | Dr. Will Kirby |
Survivor Hall of Famer | Parvati Shallow |
Australian Survivor Legend | David Genat |
Former Miss Indiana USA/Professional Wrestler | Alexis Lete |
During the resulting conversation, the first thing that David explained was how it felt in general when he played the game of Deal or No Deal that led to his $5.8 million win.
Man, I mean, it felt out of worldly.
With that one statement, David perfectly expressed what he went through as he took incredible risks, and they all paid off. However, David wasn’t done talking about what that experience felt like for him and what he went on to say seemed even more revealing.
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When David talked to TheThings in March 2025, it had clearly been months since his final game of Deal or No Deal was filmed in summer 2024. Despite that, when asked about that moment, David’s response made it seem clear that he still found how things played out hard to believe all that time later.
During Deal or No Deal Island Season 2, millions of fans who hadn’t seen David Genat before grew to love him. There were several reasons for that, including the fact that David has such an entertaining presence on TV. While talking to TheThings in March 2025, David made a statement that explained why he is so compelling to watch. “I love television moments. And if they’re like, ‘Hey. Here’s the hard red case. Do you wanna take it?’ I’ll take it every time.”
One indication that even David was taken aback by how incredibly well he played Deal or No Deal is how he spoke about that moment in his life. After stating that moment was “out of worldly,” David went on to describe that event in many other ways. That appeared to communicate that the grandeur of that moment was hard for David to fully put into words.
“It was so it was just magical. It was a really, really spiritual magical experience. And, yeah, it was incredible, man. It was incredible. It was really special.”
Millions of Deal or No Deal Island fans around the world had similar experiences when they watched David win $5.8 million. Even though those fans instinctively wanted to see David keep going and win more, they were also sitting at home pleading with him to stop.
During the second season’s final game of Deal or No Deal, David Genat seemed to have an almost supernatural ability to read the situation. The fact that David seemed to know what to do even though there was no evidence he could point to was incredible. That said, it is worth noting that David told TheThings in March 2025 that he is very good at reading people. “I’m very good at reading people, and I kinda know the moments where they’re gonna show their true colors.”
While Deal or No Deal Island viewers likely feel like they have gotten to know David and built a connection with him, they’ve never actually met him. Still, millions of people who didn’t know David at all were rooting him on. With that in mind, it is interesting that David told TheThings that he was surprised by how invested his castmates were as he played Deal or No Deal.
“What I wasn’t really ready for was the people who really cared about me in the game were really, really concerned for my well-being. So they were kind of like, ‘Dude, you gotta take the deal.'”
With people he really cared about pleading with him to take the deal, that begs an obvious question. Why did David keep going for so long?
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Amazingly enough, David exclusively told TheThings that he just knew that refusing to take the deals until the end was the right choice for him.
“But I was so I was so sure of what I was doing. I just was never gonna take it. I, like, felt really sure about, like, where that case was. And, yeah, man, we’re here. We’re here. $5.8 million later, we’re here. “
While talking about his decision to continue turning down deals, David also told TheThings how close he came to sticking with his original case. On top of that, David described an amazing moment that fans haven’t seen, at least so far.
“What actually happened before the offer, which you didn’t see, is Joe asked me what I would do. And I said to him, I want seven. So I had just had this like, there were signs coming to me. I really felt like the money was in in number seven. The 12.2 was there. And Joe kinda played out the scenario before, he gave me that 5.8 offer.
So he says, ‘What are you gonna do?’ And I was like, ‘Joe, I was so sure about it. I was like, I’m taking number seven. That’s my case. I’m gonna open seven.’ And he was like, ‘Woah. Okay. Well, let’s hear the offer.’ The offer came in. It was huge. I wanted the 5.8, so I took it. And then he played that scenario out, and I’m sure they’re gonna release the footage at some point, but he got me to open number seven. So he switches my case. I put it on the podium. Everyone’s, like, already completely keyed up because I’d won that 5.8, and I opened the case, and it had the 12.2 in it.”
David Genat Took Much Longer To Win $5.8 Million Than Fans Realize
Since Deal or No Deal Island fans grew to love David so much, anytime they had to wait to see if he would take a deal was excruciating. On top of that, when fans had to wait to see if the briefcases he chose had the big money and cost him a fortune, those seconds couldn’t go by fast enough. With that in mind, it is mind-blowing to learn what that experience was like for David.
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During his March 2025 TheThings interview, David revealed that his final game of Deal or No Deal took many hours to complete.
“We finished filming at 3 AM in the morning. So we started at eight, and I think we finished around three-something in the morning. So it took a long time.”
David then told TheThings why it took so incredibly long for his final game to be filmed.
“There was, like, a lot of resetting. There was a lot of, like, ‘Are you sure? Are you sane? Do you know what you’re doing?’ going on.”
Knowing how long the process took only makes the fact that David remained brave enough to refuse all but the last deal even more impressive. After all, David had what must have felt like endless hours to lose her courage and take the next deal that he could.
