The game master also reveals the moment the switch flipped as a host.
Monty Brinton/NBC
Its normal to be a bit daunted when you first meetJoe Manganielloup close in person.
He loves to just be himself.
‘Deal or No Deal Island’ host Joe Manganiello.Credit:Monty Brinton/NBC
He loves cracking jokes.
He’s witty, he’s funny, and he has a really kind heart.
He is so not superficial, Lete continues.
‘Deal or No Deal Island’ host Joe Manganiello.Monty Brinton/NBC
He’s so over all of the glitz and glam and different people trying to use and abuse.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How would you describe your hosting style?
It does feel different to me from some of the others out there.
Boston Rob Mariano on ‘Deal or No Deal Island’.Monty Brinton/NBC
It’s likeMy Octopus Teacher.
I’m not here to interfere with nature.
And also, this is just a random weird fact, but I was a compulsive math nerd.
Joe Manganiello and Anna Paquin in ‘True Blood’.© HBO
My whole life, numbers are very comforting.
I was great at math.
I almost had it perfect on the math SATs.
Boston Rob Mariano, Jordan Fowler, Amy McCoy, Stephanie Mitchell, and Joe Manganiello on ‘Deal or No Deal Island’.Monty Brinton/NBC
So there’s a math brain mixed with a theater brain mixed with a documentarian mixed with aSurvivorjunkie.
So that was in the gumbo pot when I got here.
And I think from there it was just figuring out what kind of host I was going to be.
‘Deal or No Deal Island’ host Joe Manganiello.Monty Brinton/NBC
I’m out there high-fiving the players because I just can’t believe what I just watched.
And so I’m a bit more interactive maybe than the other hosts.
I get to ride the roller coaster.
I’d gotten to a place in my career where I didn’t care what anybody else thought.
It was just telling a good story.
I would love to run this.
I know how to run this.
I can’t think of anybody else who they should hire instead of me.
And all I want is to make the best show possible for people at home.
And I knew that this could absolutely be something that could take people’s mind off of life.
I want to have fun and then have these really poignant moments.
And I think it does have the capacity to do that.
I don’t think that I’m being a crazy person for saying that.
I don’t know if it’s the stigma coming off of hosting for actors.
And then HBO happens and we start rethinking what TV could be.
And I was part of that wave.
And so that got de-stigmatized.
And being on a TV show is actually more prestigious than being in movies.
I mean, it was likeMagic Mike.Are you going to doMagic Mikeor not?
IfSteven Soderberghis directing, I’ll do anything he says.
I don’t care.
Am I going to do this vampire-werewolf show?
IfAlan Ballis writing it andAnna Paquinis acting in it, I’ll do whatever they want.
You were doing on-the-job training in season 1.
What did you learn while doing it that you took into season 2?
The greatest comeback in Super Bowl history.
Forget about what you just did.
Get your head out of that time penalty.
You’re going to get in that maze.
You’re going to make up that time.
This is going to be the greatest comeback in game show history.
And you realize that the role as host shifts constantly.
You have to enforce the rules, you have to crack back, sometimes you have to be dad.
But then in other times we’re having a good time and we’re laughing.
Tell me your strategy on dealing with those situations.
I just shut my mouth.
I think it’s knowing when to hold em, and knowing when when to fold em.
In those moments, there’s a lot of stress in this game.
People can build relationships that last a lifetime in a matter of weeks.
They can build relationships in which they want to murder each other within hours of meeting each other.
And I think it’s just allowing everybody to be who they are.
And I love directors like Steven Soderbergh who really don’t say anything to you.
They want to see what you’re going to bring to the table.
Now, with that said, I’m also going to give them a forum.
If they need to say something, say it now.
And sometimes people are hesitant to say that.
And I’ve got your back if you want to say that.
What was that adjustment like?
I think in that moment, all the guests realized I was on their side against the Banker.
And so there’s a relationship between me and the contestants where I want to see them win.
I want to see them take the Banker’s money.
What makes you most excited about season 2?
I just think it’s season 1 times 10.
It’s everything that they love from the first season, just improved.
We’ve tightened it up.
And we knew that from the submissions.
We couldn’t wait to see these people in action.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
