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Deal or No Deal Island's Jordan Talks Winning Strategy, Feeling the Love & That Surprise Reveal
The first winner of Deal or No Deal Island explains her winning strategy and what she's doing with the money.
This story contains spoilers for Deal or No Deal Island Season 1, Episode 12.
Deal or No Deal Island came to its dramatic first-season conclusion last night, when one player proved that staying under the radar and not poking your fellow reality competition players with an emotional stick can be a winning strategy.
Jordan Fowler Bull was one of the few players to not make enemies during the inaugural season and she ended up $1,230,000 dollars richer for it.
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In our winner's Deal or No Deal Island exit interview, Fowler Bull revealed to NBC Insider how she really feels about Amy's high-wire shenanigans, the challenge of playing both sides, and the big baby news that came at the end of the episode.
Was your "play it right down the middle" strategy a plan or did it just evolve as you were in the middle of the game?
The beauty of being part of the first cast of the first season of a show is that there's no exact character that you can copy. You really have to come up with your own strategy. You have to pull from your toolkit of your own experiences and things you've seen across other shows, but nothing mirrors one-to-one. That's the beauty of this is a totally new format.
So I was like, based off of the rules, I think there are two things that will keep me in this the longest. One, kill it in excursions. Never be in the bottom two, give it your all. And then number two, never be anyone's number one target. There's always somebody that's ahead of you. That'll get me far enough and then I'll pivot from there. I ended up not having to pivot as much as I expected to because there was always a line of fire in front of me. But it was still a very active strategy. You definitely had people hanging out on different sides of the beach, and you had Rob in his area and the Night Owls over there. So it was very intentional and quite socially stressful. It ended up paying off in the end.
I wanted to play a game that I can be proud of, and hopefully show my future kids. It ended up working out on so many levels.
Making sure no one is mad at you feels like a much more exhausting game to play?
It's hard. I love these people on the message board that are like, "She's just getting along with everyone." I'm like, "Heck, if it's so easy to get along with everyone, this world would be a lot better place." It is hard to come from a genuine place. But I honestly credit my mixed background to that. There were just so many areas of connection that I could pull from and that really allowed me to develop authentic connections.
You weren't in the edit a lot until the back half of the season, so there wasn't a lot of chatter about your pick to go to the end with. Was it a fixed choice?
It's so interesting about who you want in your final two. I went back and forth with this quite a bit. On the one hand, you want it to be someone who if it's a physical challenge, you can beat. Honestly, if it was a mental challenge, I did not want Amy. She can like, see through cases and her numbers game and her mental game are so strong. I was like, "I don't know if I could beat her if it was the final excursion."
But then on the other hand, you want it to be someone that you have really, truly connected with and has that amazing story. I went back and forth. Do I take the selfless approach and try to take someone to the end that I think I can win against? Or, do I really try to befriend someone and have my best friend standing there at the end? I'm glad I was never put in that position because every day I would wake up and I would switch which one I was feeling.
RELATED: "Mom Doesn't Care": Watch Amy Sabotage Boston Rob in Final Deal or No Deal Island Challenge
In the final maze challenge, you really made it look easy and took your first win. Was it particularly well suited to your skills?
I think it was a combination of two things. One, shout out Orange Theory. I was like a die hard, multiple classes a week cardio queen. I think that definitely helps. But number two, I had never been in the bottom of an excursion but I hadn't won an individual excursion. I came really close with that swamp rope one and then Nick beat me in that one. I feel like I had this pent-up energy to like prove to myself, moreso than being worried about elimination, that I could be number one in an excursion.
Let's talk about Amy going for the jugular by trying to wobble you off the high wire. Did you see that coming?
I don't fault her for it because that is how high-stakes the gameplay is in Deal or No Deal Island. You are fighting for insane, life-changing amounts of money. And she did it...doing anything it takes to put herself in the best position.
But the beauty of it is that it's up to me and how I handle that. I can't control what she's gonna do. It's kosher with the rules, so then it's up to me to get mad and fight and let it get in my head — or to block it out. And honestly, I completely blocked it out. I'm like, "If that's gonna be her strategy, great. I'm on this rope by myself." Little does she know that when she was tapping the rope, it made it only go up and down. Whereas when she's standing on it, it would also go [left and right] so it's actually a lot easier for me.
Could you look her in the eye afterward?
It was a laughter moment. And I will say like, that's so challenging. I grabbed that red rope and I was bawling. It was like an emotional moment. The mind-body connection, and all the things. I had never really shared the miscarriage thing publicly and I shared it right then. I was going through a lot and she could not have been more supportive. And even to this day, could not have been more supportive. It's a game, you do what you got to do. She doesn't have to be as kind as she's being to me now, so I'm grateful.
RELATED: The Banker's Identity Is Revealed on Deal or No Deal Island
When you went to The Banker and the whole cast was there, it hit me that you actually played an ethical reality TV game, which is almost shocking. Did their praise of your game put some wind under your sails?
For sure. And thank you for calling that out. Because I think people give reality TV a certain rap.
I'm super diplomatic. I'm very rational so that's the approach that I took in the game that worked for me. If that's not you, then you got to do you. When it came to that final game of Deal or No Deal, I wanted to do right by everyone. I would not have had the most amazing game board if people didn't retrieve those high-value cases. I'm not gonna have this whole season come to an end and I walk away with a penny; that doesn't do anyone justice. I wanted everyone to feel proud and excitement and celebrate all the hard work that we put into every excursion. To have everyone's support and them calling out numbers, it felt so collaborative.
And goodness, Howie, you are sassy, but I think we gave it right back to you. People put away their emotions for that game of Deal or No Deal and I really felt like they had my best interests in mind, which I'm grateful for. They didn't have to be and I totally would understand if there was some animosity. But it didn't feel like that. It really felt supportive and for a reality show to end like that is unbelievable. So go us! I think that's record-breaking.
Can you talk about the reveal that you're pregnant at the end. Congratulations!
Yeah, it's not like Survivor where I guess they tell their families right away. Everybody found this out yesterday. This is like a whole new chapter and journey and I feel immense relief. I can celebrate all these exciting wins with all these amazing people in my life because no one knew anything. Like that was a pregnancy announcement, plus, I won a TV show, plus I won $1.3 million on a show. It was just a lot all at once. So we're soaking it all in. We'll take it one step at a time. And I feel great.
Catch all of Deal or No Deal Island on Peacock.
