During the first two seasons of Deal or No Deal Island, the hit reality show stood out so much that it became one of the best things on Peacock. There are many things about Deal or No Deal Island that are special, including the fact that Joe Manganiello does a great job hosting the show and that it became harder over time. Another one of the things that really took Deal or No Deal Island to the next level was how great Dr. Will Kirby’s rivalry against the “Family” alliance was.

While talking to TheThings, the “Family” alliance members David Genat and Dickson Wong have discussed many aspects of the show. For example, David revealed that Dr. Will made him “more flustered” than ever and Dickson explained what starring in a reality show is really like. Then, when the two DONDI allies were interviewed by TheThings together. Dickson and David revealed the shocking truth that the “Family” alliance actually “started as a joke.”

Deal Or No Deal Island’s David Genat And Dickson Wong Revealed That The “Family” Alliance “Started As A Joke”

In May 2025, TheThings journalist Matthew Thomas interviewed David Genat and Dickson Wong together about their Deal or No Deal Island experience. As the resulting conversation began, Dickson and David were asked to describe how the “Family” became an alliance. In response, David instantly stated that the “Family” alliance began as a “joke.”

Without missing a beat, Dickson agreed with David’s statement by stating, “Yeah.”

While talking about their group’s alliance, David revealed what their mentality was about naming themselves. Then, David explained that they realized their jokes about being a “Family” were a good opportunity to name their alliance. “I think, especially for me and Parv, having done this a couple of times, you do look for those little moments where you can potentially name an alliance. And we knew we were all working together. So that had kinda been established. And I think it was just one of those things where it just was good synergy, you know, because we kinda had mom and dad, and then we had our son.”

Importantly, David also told TheThings that their alliance’s name was also influenced by Dickson’s very real admission.

“It was kinda just like this little joke that Parv and I had, and Dickson was in on it. I thought it was really funny. And we were kind of bonding on that level. He told us that pretty personal story, and it just worked.”

After bringing up how the “Family” alliance name played into what Dickson told them, David explained how much fun they had joking about their group. “You’re just trying to have fun, man. Like, I think a lot of those competition shows can get really, really heavy really quick. And so I think anything you can do to just keep it light and fun and have fun with it. And we had so much fun with that, joking about the ‘Family’ and who’s in the ‘Family’, and, you know, bringing in a stepdaughter, it was just funny.”

During the same TheThings interview, Dickson explained that he, David, and Parvati bonded for a really sweet reason. After he had an allergic reaction the first night of the game and got sick, David and Parvati helped take care of Dickson, similar to how parents do.

“David sat there with me on the couch the entire night, and, you know, that meant something to me because you could tell he was just a big physical threat in the game. So for me, he was risking that time he could have been building connections with other people, to sit on that couch with me the entire night. And then part of, like I said, Parvati tucked me in bed that night.”

Deal Or No Deal Island’s David Genat Revealed That The “Family” Came Up Less Than It Seemed

When fans watch a reality show like Deal or No Deal Island, they think they know what happened during filming. In reality, however, viewers get an incomplete and skewed view of what really happened in the game. When David Genat and Dickson Wong spoke to TheThings in May 2025, another example of that was revealed.

While watching the second season of Deal or No Deal Island, it seemed like people were constantly talking about the “Family.” Most importantly, it seemed like David, Dickson, and Parvati were always joking around about being a “Family.”

In reality, David told TheThings that they joked about the “Family” far less than they seemed to on the show.

“We were joking about it, but I don’t think we realized it would end up being a thing they really latched onto in the edit, but they really latched onto it. Probably every time it was mentioned, you actually saw it on screen, and we were there for, like, twenty-five days.”

To the credit of DONDI’s editing team, their decision to play up the “Family” discussion in the edit created one of the most memorable aspects of the second season.