Years after Howie Mandel gave up money to leave the game show to the surprise of many, Deal or No Deal Island became a hit. In fact, the reality show hosted by Joe Manganiello became one of Peacock’s best shows for many reasons. One reason that Deal or No Deal Island great is that it stars reality TV greats like Parvati Shallow and Dr. Will Kirby. After all, Parvati is a Survivor Hall of Famer and Dr. Will is Big Brother‘s most iconic player.

During Deal or No Deal Island’s second season, those reality TV legends sometimes took the backseat, like when Dickson Wong blindsided Storm Wilson. After his stunning exit, Storm exclusively spoke to TheThings about his stunning blindside.

DONDI‘s Storm Wilson Was Shocked By Dickson Wong Blindsiding Him

During the fourth episode of Deal or No Deal Island’s second season, fans witnessed several of the best moments in the show’s history. One example of that is the fact that it was incredible to see Dickson Wong take a huge risk to end up with the $5 million briefcase when he played Deal or No Deal.

As amazing as that moment was, what happened next was what really got fans talking. To the surprise of virtually everyone, including the people in the game and those watching from home, Dickson blindsided Storm Wilson and eliminated him from the game.

After seeing an obviously heartbroken Storm leave the game, it was easy to imagine him experiencing a myriad of emotions about his elimination. As a result, it was fascinating when Storm exclusively told TheThings that he was shocked by Dickson blindsiding him.

In January 2025, TheThings journalist Matthew Thomas interviewed Storm Wilson about his Deal or No Deal Island experience.

When Storm was asked if he was mad at Dickson blindsiding him, he revealed he was much more shocked than angry.

It is very safe to say that Storm wasn’t the only one who felt shocked. On top of their castmates looking confused and surprised when Dickson eliminated Storm, many viewers also didn’t see that coming.

After revealing that he was shocked that Dickson targeted him, Storm went on to explain why he was taken so off-guard.

While talking exclusively to TheThings, Storm revealed that he wouldn’t have expected Dickson to want him out for a very simple reason. As Storm explained, he was on Dickson’s side and rooting for him in the game.

“Because, generally, that whole entire time, I was happy for Dickson. I was going crazy for Dixon. You know? Because you guys kinda had heard in the first few episodes or his upcoming, sorta his whole, his life.”

When Storm referenced Dickson’s backstory, he was partially referring to a story his co-star revealed in Deal or No Deal Island Season Two.

As Dickson explained, he was brought up by a couple that his parents chose to raise him.

“This is when I was three months old. [My parents] asked this older white couple, who they didn’t even know, to start babysitting me. So they just transitioned to me just living with them. So my parents used to own a really popular Chinese restaurant, and whenever they saw this older couple who was in their seventies that came in with their own kids, they saw how they treated them, and they wanted me to have something just like that. It started off as babysitting, but they fell in love with me, and it just turned into me just living with them. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I think this was one of those things.”

Dickson revealing that story made it very interesting when Parvati Shallow and David Genat began treating him as their adopted son.

While continuing to talk about being blindsided, Storm reiterated how shocked he was and brought up some of the ways he’d helped Dickson throughout the season.

“So the first thing that hit me was not anger. It was shock and a little bit of a surprise because throughout the season, I sorta had Dickon’s back on a lot of things. Like, I helped him in Sandcastle Challenge when I didn’t have to. He had a low dollar value case. It did not benefit me to have him pair with me. I helped him dig at Sandcastle. Right? I had been his biggest fan. I was just really close with him.”

Storm then reflected on what he thought Dickson’s motivation to turn on him was. “I don’t think the reason that he took me out was just because he saw only a physical threat. I think that he was just feeling really good in that moment, and he just was like, ‘F*** it. I’m gonna do something crazy.'”

To his point, when Dickson was playing Deal or No Deal, Storm notably could be regularly heard offering him emotional support.

After being asked about that, Storm exclusively told TheThings how he felt while seeing how supportive he’d been of Dickson just before the blindside.

“I was looking at that. I was like, man, ‘This is making me look stupid at the very end telling him, like, you have done great this entire game. You really should go with that case. Like, ‘It’s gonna be good, man. I really believe in you. You got this.’ And then right afterwards, it’s like, ‘I’m glad you believed in me. You get to go home.'”

Storm Wilson Thinks Dickson Wong Was Smart To Eliminate Him

During Deal or No Deal Island Season 2 and in his interviews after the game, Storm Wilson came across like a great guy. As a result, it was a shame that he left the game early. That said, there is no denying that seeing Storm get blindsided was an exceptional TV moment. Putting aside emotion and how entertaining the moment was, TheThings asked Storm if he thought Dickson Wong blindsiding him was a good strategic move.

To Storm’s credit, he was able to put aside his emotion and explain exclusively to TheThings why he thought it was a good move for Dickson. First off, Storm explained that he felt he was a threat during the excursions. “It was a good move. Right? I can’t say that I was not a physical threat to a degree.”

Furthermore, Storm revealed that he would have been even better at the excursions as the season progressed.

“I’ve been kind of sandbagging some of the competitions. Honestly, some of them I just was messing the rules up… Once I hopped in alliance, [I was going to] start winning for that alliance and then at the end of the game, you’re just gonna win. So I was following my plan that I wanted to do.”

From there, Storm argued that Dickson was smart to eliminate him because he was starting to exert more influence in the game.

“I was starting to kind of puppet master a little bit at the end there, you know, trying to manipulate Dickson and thinking CK wanted to get rid of him and get Dr. Will.”

It is always refreshing when an eliminated player like Storm can give credit to the person who got them out.