Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You've been a fan of the show for quite some time. Was this your first season trying out?
A. Russell: This was the first time I tried out. At first, they didn't like me and said I wasn't made for the show. I knew once I got to California, I knew that I could convince them to put me on the show.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Did you do anything to prepare yourself before going into the game?
A. Russell: All I knew was that I was going to starve out there. I went in out of shape and wasn't prepared for the challenges. They're way harder than it seems especially when your mind tells you you're still that athlete in school and your 37 year old body says, "No you're not!"

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You seemed to handle the conditions of being out there very well while other people cracked under the pressure. How did you stay so focused?
A. Russell: I just stayed in the zone. It's weird. I was able to stay focused out there. It was an amazing thing to me. I just kept concentrating on the task at hand and going over it in my head.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: One of the best things you did this season was find hidden immunity idols without a clue. Did you plan to do that or did the idea strike you while you were there?
A. Russell: I'm one of the guys that hollering at the tv saying, "Why aren't you looking for the idol? It's gotta be somewhere around there!" They have to explain it somehow. I started looking for it from day 1. At the same time, I was aligning myself immediately. That's one thing I wanted to do. I want to immediately get to somebody before somebody else got to them. It was a race.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Shambo said in her interview that she would've stayed loyal to you to the end. Do you think taking Jaison or Shambo to the end would've been a better move for you? It seems like the jury thought so.
A. Russell: They're full of crap! I wouldn't have beaten anybody. Last night, when they put their hands up… they showed the world that they were bitter. They were probably the most bitter jury ever. I was able to control them because they were that weak and that was good but me putting them on the jury, that weak, was bad for me.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: As Jeff Probst pointed out last night, you were visibly upset throughout the reunion. What was going through your mind and where was that emotion coming from?
A. Russell: I had a good clue that I didn't win but when I heard it, it sank into me. I said, "Wow, I really didn't win this thing." It showed… if you watch me… I'm not an actor. I'm not there for the money. I'm really into this game. I wanted the title of Sole Survivor. It sunk into me and it broke my heart. It was weird.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You must've felt better when you were named Survivor Player of the Season by America.
A. Russell: Oh yes! They were saying that I'm the best Survivor out there. To me, it's not as much money but it's better than 12 people saying you are when millions saying you are.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What are your thoughts on how you played the game?
A. Russell: I wouldn't change anything I did. I heard Jenna Morasca say once that nobody remembers second place but I though to myself, "My season, I can guarantee you that, 20 years from now, nobody will remember the winner."

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What are you going to do now?
A. Russell: I handed over 10% of my company so my brother would move down from North Carolina to start running it. I'll be involved but I think that I want to have more fun. It's an interesting thing. I might even move to L.A., or near it at least, and stay here for 6 months or so and do little things here and there.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you have anything to say to your fans or your critics?
A. Russell: I expected them to criticize me and I should've but I kept thinking, "Just keep watching. You're gonna understand what I'm doing." Now, they love me. It's crazy!

Was there anything Russell Hantz didn't do in the 19th season of Survivor? He sabotaged camp by emptying canteens and burning socks. He originally lied and said he lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. He found three hidden immunity idols without clues and played each one in a different, effective way. He got rid of people he thought were threats and had his pick of who to take with him to the final three. But in the end, there was one thing that the 37-year-old oil company entrepreneur didn't do, and that was win the title of sole Survivor. PEOPLE talked to Russell, the Sprint Fan Favorite, and the person Jeff Probst considers "the greatest player of all time." -- Cynthia Wang

You said at the final tribal council your chance of winning had dropped to 55 percent. Were you still that sure you had won?

It kind of shook me up. I knew I didn't win because I can read people that good. It's like, you try so hard for something, and when you hear you didn't win it, it's rough. I thought maybe there's a shot, but I started thinking and thinking about it when I was home, and analyzing everything that everybody said, and I was like, 'I didn't win.' That's why I already opened the website, russellgotscrewed.com. That's why it's so impressive to know that John did vote for me and Shambo did vote for me because you da man if you can get stabbed in the back, turn around, and give that person the vote. That takes a strong personality.

At first, you were the most hated contestant ever. By the finale, you were the Fan Favorite. Is that because people began to understand your game play?

Everything I did out there was strategic, every single move - burning the socks, pouring out the water. Best move I made was pouring out the water and burning the socks! It's a tough thing to do because when you do it, you can't get caught because if you get caught, you're going home. But I went in it with very aggressive play and I think it worked for me. I made it all the way to the end and I would never change anything about the way I played the game.

Did you have a plan in mind when you started?

You don't know how you are going to play the game until you are out there because you have to evaluate the people that are around you. So when I went out there, I'd seen that I could manipulate them, so I took control of the game the whole time, from day one. As soon as we were able to talk when we got out to the island, I said, 'Let's get some bamboo,' and you see me do it four or five times. Right then, I was trying to see whom I could trust. I couldn't trust Betsy. I couldn't trust Marisa. I knew I could trust Ashley for a little while. I knew I could trust Natalie the whole time. The physical game is good and all, but for me, it's a mental game and you just control people. And it's crazy how you can control people so easily.

Were you a fan of Survivor before going on it?

I had never been a fan of the show. I just never really watched it! I put my application in, never thought they would call me up, but then I watched the last all-stars, where Parvati won, then I fell in love with it.

What was it like to watch yourself on TV with your wife and twin girls?

I stepped out of who I was to play this game. That's the thing, you step out of character to play this silly game and when you are back home watching it, you're not in the game no more, but it's on the TV, and your kids are watching it. When I called Monica what I called Monica on national television, I looked at my little girls and their mouths were open because they've never heard me say a cuss word in their life, because that's the kind of dad I am. They've never even seen me cry. And the thing is, this was a tough thing, for them to tell me I didn't win sole survivor.

Could you even believe what you were seeing?

It was like lasers coming out of my eyes. I was crazy-focused. I was shocked. Watching it on TV, I was saying, 'I am working them, baby!' I couldn't believe it. I said to my wife, 'I am really good at that game!' I know I was saying it on the show, but I was just being cocky. Now, watching it, it makes me see that I am really good at this game!

You held on to your third hidden immunity idol when you didn't play it the last time you could. Where is it now?

Oh, it's in my game room. It's in my game room with a picture of me finding it and the rules for it and the idol just sitting there!

Tell us: Were you rooting for Russell? What did you think of his strategy?