RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Russell, and thanks for taking the time to talk to here at RealityNewsOnline. I'll just jump in because I know we're short on time. Be honest - how pissed off are you that you didn't win? Because I know I was kind of pissed off and I'm not involved!
Russell: Can I cuss? I'm f@%#ing really pissed off! It is a f@%#ing shame that the bitch that jumped on my back the whole time, rode my coattails, won the game. I played that game better than anybody in history. And you tell me I can't win because I got a bunch of sore losers on the jury?!
Probably the worst jury in history. They was dumb as hell anyway because they went to the merge eight to four and they can't even keep that. It baffles my mind that I didn't win this game. I thought for sure I was winning.
RNO: Former contestant Eliza Orlins tweeted that this was the worst jury ever.
Russell: Jimmy Fallon tweeted also saying I got screwed. A lot of people are upset about this and I'm upset about this. This isn't even Amber and Boston Rob - it's much worse. I played that game with all my heart and soul. I had a feeling that I wasn't going to win - I can read read people, that's what I do. Even still ,when they said Natalie won, it broke my heart. I knew she won but I took it so serious.
This game is legit. Everybody knows I make a good living, I have a good job. I stepped into a realm of a world that is that once in a lifetime type thing where you try to go on the show; if you make it, it's an amazing thing. I made it, I played it, and I lost. It's crazy. I thought for sure I won. I thought I won until the jury started talking. Then I knew I lost.
RNO: Why do you think this particular jury voted for Natalie instead of you?
Russell: Because nobody had ever seen anybody play as hard as me. I embarrassed them so much they had to put Natalie's name down. People say I didn't play a social game. I had a huge social game - I had Natalie on my coattails. I had Mick, Jaison, and Shambo following me. That's why nobody put my name down. I'm like Jesse James - you don't want to draw your guns on him. They were scared to death of me. The difference between me and Jesse is I'm never going to take my guns off. It's crazy.
Jaison won't even talk to me now because I burned his socks. He is a Stanford grad. I had so much respect for him, even though I talked in a negative light about him. He can't get over the fact that I burned his socks. That is amazing to me that he can be so smart and so dumb at the same time. He's going to be in trouble - he's going to be an attorney but I'll never hire him. He'll never succeed because he is too weak.
RNO: You talked about possibly being the best player in Survivor history. Do you truly believe that, especially given the overall apparently weak competition you were up against?
Russell: I believe I was the best player in Survivor history by far. That's a good question because maybe not - they were so weak, it might have just been too easy. I feel sorry for all of 'em because they had to play with me.
Like Marisa was the best player out there. Marisa would have won any other season and she went number one because I had too much respect for her. She was a strong woman - I love strong women, but not in a game, so I get rid of her and I take control of the game. I keep saying this - I know that if I wouldn't have got Marisa out of that game, she would have won the entire game. It's sad she had to play with me because I messed up her whole experience in the Survivor world by having to play with me.
RNO: When Jeff Probst asked you about your comments regarding "dumbass girls" last night you said you didn't regret anything you did. OK, but what about some of the more insulting things you said? It's one thing to play the game as a game, rather than as real life, but why did you say those things, which were outside the game?
Russell: You're never outside the scope of the game. Never. When you're playing that game, if you're real and you're good, you throw your character out the window. You put yourself in that fantasy world and you play the game. Everything you say is part of the game. I don't regret a thing I said, it was all part of the game. I stepped into that game and threw away my morals and character and stepped outside who I am. I did a damn good job playing it. All that stuff I said, it just kept me focused in the game. I gotta stay strong, I gotta do this and believe this. I gotta stay focused. There was a strategic move in everything that came out of my mouth.
RNO: Why did you think sabotaging Foa Foa early in the game was wise, given that it weakened the whole tribe?
Russell: I knew that I was good enough in the game strategically that I didn't have to have numbers in the merge. Surprise, I didn't have to! Russell was right. We know that's a fact! On the other hand, getting rid of their water and burning their socks causes chaos. That's how I got rid of Marisa. She got up and she was mad. Ben was mad. She had to go. Nobody can tell me I weakened the tribe when I went to the final five with my tribe! No, it don't work like that - not when you play as good as me. I could go by myself and I'd have dominated the game.
RNO: You're being pulled out for your next media appearance, so let me open it up to you as my final question - do you have anything else you'd like to say about your time on Survivor?
Russell: It's a shame. This is probably the worst disappointment in history of any kind of reality TV, because I was so dedicated to that game. It broke my heart when I found out I didn't win. I played so hard. I was so focused. I wanted that title. I didn't get it. The girl that did absolutely nothing. She says her best move was to go talk about Erik. That was my decision - I told her to do that and she did what I told her to do. Her best strategic move was to jump on my back.
Oh, and I have a new website that was just created: Russellgotscrewed.com. Go check it out. [Writer's note: I did a brief check on it, and it looks like a place where people can get Russell shirts and the like, and a donation will go to one of Russell's favorite charities, St. Jude's Hospital.]
RNO: Thanks again, Russell!