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RealityNewsOnline: Hello, Shambo, and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at RealityNewsOnline!

Shambo: It's just a beautiful morning here in L.A.!

RNO: We saw you getting a little nervous before Tribal Council. Heading into that vote, did you still think you were going to be safe?

Shambo: I didn't think I was going to be safe because I knew those guys very well. It was stunningly clear to me when I approached Jaison talking to Russ that when he saw me coming, he turned and swiftly walked away. I was like, oh boy, I knew right then and there. Out of Russ' own mouth, he had told me he would lie, cheat, and steal. I said, "Dude, seriously, what's going on?" and he just backpedaled. I asked him the same series of questions three times that day and he gave me three different answers.

I was incredibly confident I was going home and I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was important to me that Foa Foa stayed together and had unity. Galu was so discombobulated with their disloyalty that it was disheartening to me because it was so against the way I've lived my life.

If Brett would not have won immunity, it would have been a different situation, but I was absolutely okay and a little proud of the Foa Foa for standing fast.

RNO: What you just mentioned echoes some of what you said in your final words, where you seemed to indicate that the Foa Foans were correct to be loyal to each other and vote you off - so does that mean you were okay with being used and thrown away?

Shambo: There is absolutely no part of my mind that feels used. What people don't understand is that the way I was encapsulated and taken in as a foster child of Foa Foa on the sixth or seventh day, whenever I first went over there. I spent six out of the first 13 days in the game with the Foa Foa and I had a blast with those guys. I helped them rebuild their shelter, I taught the girls how to make fire, I was showing them how to get kindling out of the trees. There were just endless resources I had to offer people who did not have a skill set to survive, and it was my privilege to share with them.

They shared their hearts, their kindness, their stories, their food. Those friendships will last a lifetime and it was awesome. I was so happy I got to see them again at the merge and learn about their families. They were real human people.

Were we playing a game? Yeah. But the kindness and compassion within the final four... I would have loved to have met Betsy and Mike and Marisa. I'm looking forward to the finale to give those guys a hug. All we did was see each other from afar and we never got to speak. It was a great experience human-wise, though not deprivation-wise.

RNO: When I interviewed Laura, she said that she and the others had not done anything to exclude you or to earn the ire you directed at them. What is your side of the story - what did they do that turned you against them to the point that you were calling Laura "the viper queen" and similar things?

Shambo: At this point, with everything being said and done and having the last five months to really review facts and what happened and didn't happen, there is absolutely no one and nothing at this point and no amount of money that I could say anything disparaging about anyone. I'm going to take the high ground here. Everybody out there knows what role they played, who they alienated, who they made not a part of, and I think there's been a fair depiction of personalities and people really going into a primal state of people thinking with the back of their brain instead of the front of their brain.

There was plenty of stuff I did that I'm not proud of, like saying I wanted to puke on Laura's face - I owe her an apology for that. It was being a social outcast from Day 1 and I never gave in to the bitterness that I felt on a daily basis to treat people poorly or disparage anyone. If I had something to say, I said it to their faces.

There was junior high cliquist behavior that was insurmountable to anything I'd ever experienced, being the outcast or the target. I know there was a lot of jokes made about my hair or jogger bra or tattoo or saying I was full of crap - "she probably wasn't even in the Marines." It just rolled right off me like water on a duck because I know who I am and I have an outstanding life, family, friends, career. God has blessed me in more ways than I can even assimilate.

RNO: It did seem like you were not really up for playing the social aspect of Survivor. From what we saw, you had your way of doing things and that was that, whether it was making the fire or cooking the chickens or working around camp. Did you consider toning it down a notch to make yourself less of a target?

Shambo: There was nothing I could do to tone it down any more than I did the first three weeks. It was by the grace of God I got sent to Foa Foa because out of sight, out of mind. Just not being in their environment, whether they would admit it or not, I think they were struggling a bit to keep their fire burning and firewood collected. Chief Russ, Erik, and I were the worker bees.

Shambo continues: I think my absence was probably a relief from the social aspect but I took myself out of the main hut that we had built because there was so much juvenile behavior at night with games and gossip and talking about restaurants - it was incredible the things these people would talk about that had no relevance to my life. I created the Shambo shack probably 300 yards from main camp. I found a beautiful tree and would keep wood dry there by reinforcing it every day.

Things like that that I did, they could have disliked me all they wanted - maybe I wasn't part of their clique but by God I was one of the hardest workers. I knew as long as I was needed- you cannot change a person's human nature after living 45 years on the planet. You can tone it down and evade and sidestep, but you cannot change the inherent nature. I'm over the top, what you see is what you get.

The best thing I did was living independently from my tribe. The second best thing I did was going out there knowing I need to have one skill and every morning I was building the fire. In addition to other things I tried, I tried to work through issues or problems if there was drama, to get people to get it off their chest and use my outside selling skills to find a path forward. I think that's playing the social game. Maybe it's not what the viewers have seen but it was in the forefront of my mind every single day, or you'd have seen me just rip someone a new one within the third or fourth day.

RNO: Going back to the beginning, what was your strategy coming in to Survivor?

Shambo: My overall strategy was to try to align myself with at least one to two people that were going to be workers because I knew there would be a respect level of the can-do attitude. Erik from Day 1 was my guy because he was an athlete and we thought a lot alike. He was a nice guy, and Chief Russ too - he's a powerhouse with nonstop rippling muscles. He was a little passive but he was a genuine sweetheart.

Looking at those two guys, I wanted to align myself with them. Even prior to the game, I knew that music and food would be two great subjects and being a former chef of 15 years, cooking, recipes, anything that would keep an upbeat outlook was one of my very strong strategies - and being a really good listener.

And not going over the top. I was emphatic about not building the shelter and I waited for Chief Russ to ask me for help because they went on for hours about the floorplan and where the posts should be. Then we jumped into action with those guys helping me while the girls were chatting and getting to know each other and weaving baskets.

You can't go in there and be all things to all people. Keep your mouth shut and hide some of your strengths and try not to show your weaknesses and don't get hurt! That was my greatest fear going into the game, was to get injured.

RNO: With the benefit of hindsight, what would you do differently?

Shambo: (pause) Wow. You know what, I don't know that I would do anything differently, honest to God. I was absolutely, positively 100% true to my own personal convictions. I gave 100% every single solitary day. My family is proud of me, my work is proud of me, I think the military is proud of me. I set out to be honorable and be uplifting and put my best food forward and that's what I did.

If I had one thing I could change I would say it was probably to have not challenged Jeff at final Tribals to the extent that I did because you're not going to win against Jeff Probst. A couple times he would make remarks to get me fired up and I would just go. Some of that is seen on TV.

RNO: I'm being told we're out of time, so do you have anything else you'd like to tell us about your time on Survivor?

Shambo: I made some lifelong friends. I was pretty wounded out there during the game and I stuck it out. God bless America. Hoo-rah! Semper fi!

RNO: Thanks again, Shambo!