Chrissy Teigen explains why she is the new ‘Deal or No Deal Island’ banker

Host Joe Manganiello announced to both contestants and viewers on the season 2 premiere of Deal or No Deal Island that there was a new banker hosting the players. Season 1 banker Howie Mandel was out, and not only was a there a new banker, but it was a she.

Now the full identity of the season 2 banker can be revealed, and it is none other than Chrissy Teigen. The move is a full circle one for Teigen, who was Deal or No Deal’s original case number 12 briefcase model when the game show first launched in 2005. However, instead of opening briefcases, now Teigen will be facing off against either David Genat or Alexis Lete during the final Banker’s Temple… with more than $10 million on the line.

Entertainment Weekly was on set for filming of the Deal or No Deal Island finale (which airs March 25 on NBC) and spoke to Teigen about why she signed on as the season 2 banker. It turns out that many factors drew Teigen to the Temple. “My history with the show, obviously, NBC is family in our house, coming to Panama with my friends,” Teigen says.

It turns out she was also a big fan of season 1. “I love the show!” she exclaims. “I watched the first season — riveting, amazing, incredible. I’m a TV junkie. I was addicted from the first episode.”

Teigen was also drawn to reconnecting with her past. “Obviously I was on Deal or No Deal, and that was such a big part of my history,” she recalls. “It was one of my first jobs in entertainment ever. And I really learned so much. It was my first time on a big stage and just having an [ear piece], all the little things — it’s what started everything. And I got to work with really incredible women that I saw, I really looked up to, and they were just so good at what they did.”

In fact, Teigen believes her affinity for her time on Deal or No Deal is what kept her in the business: “I don’t know if I would’ve continued on in entertainment if I didn’t have such a good experience on that set. And I really did.”

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As for the players, they were given small clues throughout the season as to the identity of the banker — a box of swimsuits, the name of her cookbook, etc… — and while many pieced together it was Teigen, not all of them cracked the code.

“I think it could be Kelly Clarkson,” guessed Dr. Will Kirby before the reveal.

“There was some speculation of Heidi Klum, just because she is on America’s Got Talent and that’s an NBC show,” wondered Maria-Grace Cook.

And then there was Rock Carlson’s guess: “I think it is going to be Barbara from Shark Tank. Just because of the way she’s pretty snappy. Either that or that lady from The Weakest Link, man.”

Incredible, yet sadly, incorrect guesses. At least for this season. Because as showrunner Matt Kunitz told EW while on location in Panama, the franchise plans to keep switching up its banker. “We feel like there’s this secret society of bankers,” he explains. “It’s fun to meet a lot of these different bankers, so I feel that probably there will be a new surprise banker every season.”

And this season’s surprise is now out of the bag.