Parvati Shallow ‘Cannot Shake’ Black Widow Reputation (Exclusive)

• Parvati Shallow earned the nickname “Black Widow” after creating a women’s alliance called the Black Widow Brigade on Survivor: Micronesia
• Shallow competed on The traitors season 2 and showing now Deal or No Deal Island season 2, which premieres on Tuesday, January 7
• The reality star tells PEOPLE about Deal or No Deal Island, “I’m very adaptable and this game is the most unpredictable game I’ve ever played”

Parvati Shallow made a name for herself Survivor to put together the all-female Black Widow Brigade alliance that helped her win Survivor: Micronesia in 2008.

After competing in five seasons of Survivor and season 2 of The traitorsShallow, 42, tells PEOPLE that her reputation as the Black Widow who blindsides male contestants to get further in the game kept her going when she entered Deal or No Deal Island season 2.

“I can’t shake my reputation as the Black Widow no matter what or how I operate,” Shallow says. “People will always think of me as the girl who brought the women together and cut all the men and made Erik (Reichenbach) give up the immunity necklace. It was like 15 years ago, but it feels like it was yesterday in people’s minds.”

At this point in her reality TV career, Shallow doesn’t think she could do anything to change viewers or her co-stars’ perception of her.

“I can’t play timid,” she says. “It’s my role that I’m playing. I’m like, ‘I’m definitely going to come in here and shake things up’. And it’s not that I want to do it on purpose. I’m not a Dr. Will (Kirby), that comes and wants to create chaos. I just have a way of relating to people and maneuvering people through human emotions and psychology. I’m a catalytic force, and I’ve come to that accept.”

On Deal or No Deal Island Season 2, which premieres Tuesday, January 7, saw Shallow compete alongside other reality stars including Big brother wins While Kirby, 52, and Australian Survivor winner David Genat, who she says “no one knew” except her.

“I knew who he was immediately when we hit the beach and I thought, ‘This is my guy. This is going to be my partner, and if I keep his secret, then the trust between us is cemented,'” says Shallow . “So I was willing to be the forward threat and just let him be in the shadows and work the other end of the beach.”

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Shallow decided to see how the Black Widow was doing Deal or No Deal Island season 2 because dude Survivor Boston alum Rob Mariano competed in Season 1, and “we have a little competition between us,” she says. “So I’m thinking, ‘If Rob did it and he went really far, I could do it. I could win this thing and I could take the crown and it would make me feel like I was on top of ​the world.”

The mother of 6-year-old daughter Alma asked Mariano, 49, for advice before heading to Banker’s Island — but he didn’t arm her with much of a strategy.

“He said, ‘The whole game was luck. It’s not social, it’s not strategic. Just play the Banker every chance you get and take your destiny into your own hands,'” Shallow recalls. “But I think Rob had a very different experience than me. He was targeted No. 1 and really couldn’t shake it.”

Shallow believed that her love of competitive gaming, as well as “my enthusiasm and passion for adventure” would serve her well in Deal or No Deal Island.

“I’m good at challenges,” says Shallow. “I’m very adaptable and this game is the most unpredictable game I’ve ever played. I see the comparison between this and Survivor in that there are challenges and it is set on a beach. And there is the social dynamic. But what makes it really different Survivor You don’t want to blindside and backstab your friends. You want to build relationships and have people you really trust on your side, and you don’t want to cut them off at the end because you need their help.”

But Shallow also recognizes the truth in what Mariano told her. “There’s no real plan that you can put in place,” she says. “It’s like, ‘Okay, let’s see how the deck gets reshuffled after this challenge, and then I’ll play with the cards I’m dealt.’ It really is a gambler’s paradise out here.”

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Deal or No Deal Island season 2 premieres with a two-hour episode on Tuesday, January 7 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.