While Alexis Lete didn’t win Deal or No Deal Island season 2, she took a lot away from her time on the series. It’s also not put her off the idea of doing another reality show. In fact, she has the reality bug.
We chatted with Lete about her time on the series, including the strategy she went in with and the decision to go up against The Family alliance. She also shared some truths about how she felt knowing her own alliance went against her in the end.
Lete talks her strategy and more in Deal or No Deal Island season 2
Hidden Remote: Let’s talk your strategy going into Deal or No Deal Island first. What was it?
Alexis Lete: To downplay my physical threat and up-play the ability to help others. I wanted to be a force to be reckoned with, but I wanted people to want me on their side to help them get to the end.
HR: There were obviously times you had to manipulate, but you played mostly a clean and honest game. Was that important to you going in?
AL: I figured if I started lying to people or backstabbing them or turning on them, then that wouldn’t really make sense for someone to depend on me to take them to the end. I knew the minute I ended up lying to someone or betraying them, they weren’t going to trust me, and my gameplay was built on people trusting me.
In society, people look at someone that looks like me and thinks I’m a physical threat. People automatically do not like me out in society when they see me, so I knew that that was going to happen coming on the show. I just wanted to downplay the threat aspect of myself.
HR: What was it like going into the last challenge and seeing the castmates who were there to help or hinder you?
AL: When Jos said what the last challenge was, I was like “okay, it’s between me and David.” Instantly, CK’s out, I knew that. She played such a game of lying and manipulation that it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, especially the cheating aspect.
I think I was really worried about who would be on what part of the challenge. I knew that the most important aspect of the final challenge was who held the cases. Unfortunately, I only had one of my alliance members with the case holding position, and David had two. So, seeing that made me nervous. I didn’t know what Dixon was gonna do. I thought he would give me the medium case and Phillip would give me the high case, so I was really hoping that Phillip would pull through and give David the low case, because really that was the only shot in hell that I had to win this thing, since there’s two against one.
When it came to the cases, unfortunately, that didn’t happen. And the betrayal in my heart has been running deep ever since.
HR: I think La Shell was fair to both of you by only telling you the lowest case. She let you both choose from the top two.
AL: I think she was the most fair out of everybody. When I watched it back, though, she definitely gave a wink and a huge smile to David. I was like “girl, that’s not being fair. You literally told him which one it was.”
HR: What was it like for you to have Dr. Will come in two eliminations in. Was it two? Three? The episodes are running together in my mind now.
AL: It was after the first one! Dr. Will is the most loveable psychopath I’ve ever met in my life. He is someone who is so unapologetically himself. He knows he comes off brass, and he knows he gets on people’s nerves, but he owns it. That is what I love about Dr. Will, because he’s not afraid to be himself and so many other people in this world are. I think a lot of us can take lessons away from Dr. Will.
Of course, some people don’t like us. Some people don’t like the way I do something, but that is the way I do it. That is what makes me, me, and if you don’t like me, that’s fine! I know there are people out there that will like me.
HR: His gameplay was insane. Did it force you to change your gameplay at all?
AL: Yes, because he entered our tent, and I was working with everybody in our tent. So, at first, I’m like, “screw this guy. This guy sucks. He’s so arrogant.” Then the lights shut off the first night and we started talkinga bout our real life a little bit more. Dr. Will is a cool guy. He was putting on a little extra pizzazz for the cameras. You’ll see him out there doing double takes to the camera, giving them directions, but Dr. Will is actually one of my favorite people that was on the island with me.
HR: Everyone needs an alliance in these types of shows. How did you go about creating one, and then why was The Family alliance the one you wanted to take down?
AL: Going into the show, I did a lot of research on other shows. I watched a lot of Big Brother and Deal or No Deal Island, and I noticed that people that made the alliances the fastest were people that had the strongest alliances, because whoever you’re loyal to first and longest is usually who you’re loyal to the most.
So, Day One, I got in the tent and I said “hey, let’s create the High Five alliance. Let’s work together.” Luke didn’t really back that up because the first day he was going to send Seychelle home. I don’t think he would have really supported the alliance that we were building.
And the opposite was the Parvati, David, and Dickson alliance, because within the first three days, all of them had lied to me, and I clocked it. To me, if so early in the game you’re comfortable lying, that was an issue for me. That’s something I saw as a problem, because I’m able to clock it but other people weren’t and will fall for it.
Then I found out Parvati had won Survivor and was the Black Widow an master manipulator of men. Everything made sense about how I was feeling about her gameplay early on when I didn’t know she was the Black Widow. I saw them as the biggest threat because they were able to manipulate the most people.
HR: David kept his success in Survivor Australia a secret. What was it like learning the truth?
AL: I suspected it, because he knew someone that I knew when I was in the WWE, Grayson Waller. One day, David was saying “Oh, you should look ingot the WWE,” and I said I wasn’t sure because I hadn’t disclosed to everybody that I was in the WWE. They didn’t show it on the show, but at my Temple, everybody found out because I was choosing cases with wrestling moves. I was like “that’s right, I was in the WWE.”
After that, David said he knew someone in the WWE, and Grayson’s not from a huge town. It was weird to me that David knew someone that was in the WWE, so at dinner, I looked at him and asked if anyone wanted to disclose something that they were hiding. Maybe David was on Survivor Australia, and he kept denying it. It didn’t really matter at that point because there were only the five of us and just two challenges left, but hearing Phillip help David after Phillip found out David had won Survivor Australia was more frustrating than David not admitting that he won the game.
HR: If you could do any other reality show next, which one would it be?
AL: There are so many that I want to do. I got the bug bad. I had the time of my life. I have been watching Traitors. I think it’s so cool, but I’m physically fit right now. I think The Challenge might be something that I’ll look into, because I’ve heard about the excursions they go on and the dynamics living with people. I’m also single and open to finding love, so I feel like that might be a good match.
I eventually would love to go on The Amazing Race. I grew up watching that and dreaming about going on The Amazing Race with someone. Eventually, I would love to be like a Boston Rob. I didn’t know people had a career out of this, so that’s super enticing to me.
HR: As you mentioned The Challenge, there were many challenges on the island. Which one was your favorite?
AL: The sandcastle challenge. They didn’t show it, as they need to edit it in a certain way. David ended up winning, so they had to put every situation in favor of making David look as good as possible. Editing, we get that.
But, I busted down four sandcastles in that challenge. I remember sitting down and watching it with my family, and I’m like “guys, this is the episode where I become Wonder Woman.” I was doing the absolute most, and none of it made TV. That was my favorite challenge.
HR: As my last question, we got the reveal that Chrissy Teigen was The Banker. Did you have any idea while on the show, and what was it like to see her walk out?
AL: What they didn’t show is that they were giving us clues every week about who The Banker was. The first clue was that she was a bathing suit model, and we got a bunch of bathing suits and did a runway. At that point, I thought it was Heidi Klum.
Then we got a clue that was about a cookbook and Thai food. This is my heritage, and I know Chrissy Teigen had a cookbook, so we put it together that night with the food spread.
I was so excited, because I want to be a Sports Illustrated model, and I was like “I’m so closer to bein gin the final. Me and Chrissy are gonna talk.” I didn’t get to talk to her because I didn’t win, but I was still super excited. I’m eager to talk to her about similar goals and dreams we have.
Deal or No Deal Island season 2 is available to stream on Peacock.
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