'Survivor: Redemption' Island Exit Interview: Kristina Kell

Ometepe outcast Kristina Kell paused from wrapping up her last semester of law school to chat with with MSN about Russell's tears, her nemesis Boston Rob and who she's rooting for this season.

ON HER DOOMED ALLIANCE: "Honestly, I didn't choose to align myself with Francesca and crazy Phillip -- I didn't have a choice. There's no way on Earth I would have chosen to align with Phillip. He was just nuts. But we got there, and the younger tribe members immediately went after Rob, and so did Grant, and so I got locked out. But the way they fell for Rob, it was ridiculous. It was like they had joined a cult. They just followed him and did exactly what he said, like a pack of puppies. He was controlling the whole tribe -- even to the way the rice was cooked. I kept trying to talk to Andrea, to get the numbers to even out a bit, but she was on the fence the whole time. So I didn't have a choice. And I was marked from the start."

ON WHOM SHE'S ROOTING FOR: "Matt, all the way. He's a great, awesome guy, smart and grounded and kind. He got thrown for a loop by Boston Rob, but if he can make his way off Redemption Island, I think he has a real shot. He certainly has the motivation, and now I think he has a solid understanding of the politics involved."

ON THE TARGET ON HER BACK: "Right from the start, when I saw how those younger girls became Rob zombies, I knew I was in trouble. It was a numbers thing, and I've been watching 'Survivor' for years, I'm into the strategy. I have a brain. And Francesca had a brain. We weren't about to go bounding down the beach after Rob. The three of them -- Rob and Natalie and Ashley -- even slept all entangled together at night. There was no way for me to get through there. And Rob's smart. If you're not with him, you're against him. So my days were numbered." 

ON WATCHING RUSSELL CRYING: "I wasn't surprised at all -- and I don't think he has anything to be embarrassed about. The thing people don't get about the 'Survivor' experience is that it's so intense, you're on the verge of tears at any given moment. At least I was. And the expectations on him were so high, you could see it on everyone's faces. So I understood where he was coming from." 

ON WHETHER SHE'D PLAY AGAIN: "I first applied eight years ago and interviewed but wasn't cast, and then suddenly this year they called me and said, 'We kept your file, will you come in?' And I was in my last year of law school and I have kids, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I've been studying 'Survivor' for years and I love the strategy of it, the gameplay. I feel like my opportunity was very short-lived, so I'd do it again in a heartbeat."