'Survivor: Redemption Island's' Matt Elrod: 'I'd love to go back'

Matt Elrod, while not even finishing in the Top 5, was a fan favorite on "Survivor: Redemption Island." He lasted through 10 duels via the new Redemption Island twist and leaned heavily on his spirituality to help get him through the ordeal.

He tells the press in his exit interview about his experience on the show and whether or not he'd go back.

On how he decided who to vote for at the end:

"My vote was based on 'Survivor' excellence. Even though I played a very different game than Rob, I still love and respect the game of Survivor. What he did was pretty incredible and he deserves the million dollars."

Would he have the same strategy if he were to play again?

"If I were to play again, I probably wouldn't divulge my strategy to you now. [laughs] I'm really not sure at this point. I'd love to go back, I'd love to have the opportunity, but I'm not sure if I would or not yet."

On his spirituality in the game:

"I feel like God's plan was really ... I feel like he wanted me to trust him and take the risk. Go out and trust him enough to try to allow him to use me in a game full of lying, deceit and manipulation and encourage people. I wanted to show people peace, joy and love and strength that I found in Jesus, my savior. That's what I was trying to do and I think that's what God's plan was. In my opinion, that's what I think my participating in 'Survivor' was."

"It was never necessarily that God was carrying me along farther in the game, but he was carrying my actual being forward each day, helping me get through each day ... It was more him giving me the strength to just continue forward."

"I believe He has a hand in everything. Where do you draw the line? There's all this pain and tragedy and stuff in the world and why is he helping out this goofy kid on 'Survivor'? I don't know, I don't understand it. I know I had to fully depend on him with my being, not to progress myself in the game, but to keep going on Redemption Island. There were times when I was laying in the shelter and just thinking that I was gonna die. He gave me the strength to keep going, to keep living, that's the strength I was trying to convey. It wasn't necessarily progressing in the game."

"Survivor" returns to the airwaves in September 2011 on CBS.