C.K. Talks Parvati Rivalry & Friendship, Dr. Will's Shocking Influence: "I Should Have Gambled More"
"I played my own game as everybody saw, but that p---ed everybody off," C.K. said in our exclusive DONDI exit interview.
After an intense game defined by bold moves and strategic prowess, Courtney "C.K." Kim was eliminated on Deal or No Deal Island just short of the finish line.
C.K., a competitive poker player and corporate banker, embarked on an unforgettable Season 2 journey after arriving at Banker's Island ready to win it all. C.K. quickly emerged as a threat due to her dedication to keeping a pulse on the competition, but that same zealous strategy and affinity for control led her to flip-flop between alliances in hopes of coasting safer tides. After going up against the Banker twice — once due to the guilt of cheating during a challenge — C.K. eventually landed in Season 2's final three. But the road to the finish line was anything but smooth as she continued to lose allies with her no-nonsense gameplay.
After hopping aboard "The Family" alliance led by Survivor champs David Genat and Parvati Shallow, she rode that wave until DONDI's March 18 episode, when those burnt ally bridges returned to haunt her. During the Banker's final Excursion, recently eliminated players were able to help — or hurt — the finalists in their quest toward the finish line, and, well, C.K. didn't get much support, leading to her instant elimination.
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In our exclusive NBC Insider exit interview with Courtney Kim, she talks about that explosive final challenge, her gameplay on Banker's Island, and what she'd change if she could do it all again.
Was C.K.'s social game her downfall?
C.K.'s game ended in the eleventh hour, and while she had her eyes set on that final game against the Banker, her lack of strong alliances led her to struggle in the final Excursion. C.K. couldn't catch a break, telling NBC Insider she knew she was toast from the moment she learned players had returned.
"I knew it was gonna be bad. Like, before they told us the rules, what was gonna happen, and I was just like, 'F me — I'm probably dead in the water," C.K. recalled. "But a part of me, of course, still held on to hope. Like, maybe, maybe I can get them to help me in the end, and we'll just see how it goes... You can't ever give up hope at that point. And then when I started realizing I wasn't gonna win, I was just like, 'You know what? Don't be a little b---h, just get through this.'"
C.K. told NBC Insider that when it came to the Banker's Island dynamic, there wasn't enough mobility to get the reality TV veterans out of the game, a suggestion she was vocal about among the players. However, C.K. says the DONDI players were a bit starstruck by Parvati and Big Brother star Dr. Will Kirby. Bringing Will into the game "created a shield for David and Parvati."
"I'm the only one, really, that was like, 'We shouldn't be playing the game this way,'" C.K. recalled. "It shouldn't be Will's camp versus Parvati's camp. It should be newbies versus veterans, but they were too dumb... A lot of them wanted to work with Will because Will was promising them to get them on Big Brother or to hook them up in L.A., and he had all these connections, right?"
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C.K. added, "He really leveraged that to gain a lot of power over people, that group... Meeting someone like Will, they're like not even thinking about this money. They're like, 'I may win or may not, but I need this connection.'"
So, would C.K. change up her social game if she could return to Banker's Island and do it all over?
"If there was not going to be a jury, no," C.K. shrugged. "I don't give a s---; I made the final three. With a jury, then yeah, that changes everything. I played my own game as everybody saw, but that p---ed everybody off because I didn't go with the flow and what everybody else wanted."
Parvati & C.K.: Friends or frenemies?
It always gets cutthroat during the DONDI end game, and after C.K. and Parvati both landed on the chopping block, their alliance quickly shifted. Parvati and C.K. are both powerhouse players, which helped form a beautiful friendship between the two women. When asked who she connected with most on the island, C.K. named Parvati one of her dearest Banker's Island friends.
"Parvati makes me laugh so hard,' C.K. said. "She's so childlike like me, and we just giggle a lot together and just, like, I think everything's funny."
But their shared tenacity and hunger for victory eventually drove a wedge between them as the game approached a gripping conclusion. After Parvati was eliminated from the game after making it to the final four, she didn't give C.K. much of a hand in the final Excursion. C.K. had expected that from the other returning players — but not Parvati.
"No one really did help me... I think the only person I'm disappointed in is Parvati," C.K. revealed. "I did a lot of stuff to a lot of other people. But I sacrificed part of my game sometimes just to help [Parvati's] a--. And [she] can't even help me right now?"
C.K.'s "poker friends" commend her gameplay
C.K.'s daring nature and fearless gameplay should come as no surprise for anyone privy to her Poker game; as the winner of two World Series of Poker championship rings, you can bet C.K. knows how to navigate being dealt a bad hand, and that skill carried her all the way to the final three. C.K. may have made a few enemies, but she — along with her poker pals watching at home — stands by her game.
"You know what, even if people think I'm like this villain or blah blah blah, my poker friends are like, 'Dude, you just played that like a poker player,'" C.K. said. "There's no friends in poker; you bluff, you lie to people, and you get them to fold. And sometimes you even show them their bluff just to p--- them off and get them on tilt so that you can have an emotional edge over your competition."
"I just played like a cutthroat poker player," C.K. shared. "So most people in my community are just like, 'Yeah, good job, I would have done the same thing.' I should have gambled more."
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C.K.'s favorite DONDI memory
C.K. led a chaotic but incredible run on Season 2 of DONDI, where she gathered a few cherished memories from Banker's Island.
"I would just say a couple of the relationships that I made, 'cause, you know, I'm not — I don't love the game. If manipulation and emotional torture is fun for you, then yeah, it was a great time," C.K. teased. "What was actually fun was meeting the story producers, and they're absolutely amazing people... They're really great, and becoming friends with them, you know, and just kind of seeing how shows are made. It's not anywhere close to my world."
When asked if she'd ever return to Banker's Island for a hypothetical All-Stars season, C.K. says she'd likely have much more fun the second go-around.
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"I think I'll enjoy it more next time, so I won't be so in my head about it, and I can just play a lot more freely," C.K. said. "DONDI has the most amount of money, like that's the only reason I'm here. Like, people torturing themselves for 90 days in Big Brother? I'm like, yeah, right. For $750,000? No way. Even Survivor, a million dollars to be like out there for 30 days? Not enough money, Survivor. But DONDI, it's like, that's real money. So yeah, I would totally come back for All-Stars."
Watch the Season 2 finale of Deal or No Deal Island on Tuesday, March 25, at 9/8c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.
