Survivor: Nicaragua Eliminee on Gay People: "I'm Not the Judge, God Is"

After last night's homophobic harangue, outspoken castoff is focusing on damage control—but failing miserably

After last night's homophobic harangue, Survivor: Nicaragua's second castoff is now focusing on damage control.

In our exit interview this morning, we offered the outspoken Castaway a shovel to dig himself out of this mess, but—surprise!—he only seemed to bury himself even deeper...

Shannon Elkins insists asking Sash about his sexuality was all about honesty, not homophobia, and that the beginning of their discussion was edited out of the program. "They kept trying to tell me I wasn't honest. Sash kept blasting me so finally I'd had enough...I didn't have to ask him if he's gay. All of America knows the guy's gay."

Do we? Sash himself trumpets his heterosexuality and brags about being a ladies man in a way that makes your skin crawl.

But Shannon's not buying it. "I was trying to prove the guy's a liar. If [Sash is] gonna lie to y'all about who he really is, he's a liar. He asked me, "When did I lie to you?" and I said, "When you told me you weren't gay." And that's when it really went down—anybody at Tribal can tell you that. I didn't call him out on his sexuality, I was calling him out on being a liar. If he's going to lie to you about who he really is, how can you trust him in the game?"

But being gay, Shannon says, is "not a big deal. I don't care. You can be whatever you want. I'm not the judge, God is."

"I don't judge anybody," says Shannon. "I am far from perfect. I'm one of the worst ones out there. Like I said, I wasn't going after [Sash] for the gay thing, I was trying to prove his character as a liar." 

Shannon says he knew he was going home and just went out fighting.

"Everybody was like, if you just shut up you wouldn't have went home. Bulls--t. I knew I was going home. Ben wouldn't even make eye contact with me. I wouldn't expect it from him anyway, because he's soft, [but] he knew he was voting me out and he was nervous about it. Me, I'd be like, 'Look, dude, I'm going with the tribe and you're going home.' I'd prefer that than you just lie. I knew I was going home, so I was like screw it...I'm not gonna go out like a chump.

"I tried to mouth to Alina and to Fabio to vote the other way. I didn't even want them to [have] a target on their back. I know Kelly B. changed her vote on me, but you know what, I wish they all would have. "

As for Chase, the guy who got him all riled up in the first place, Shannon has nothing but praise. Kidding!

"Chase is wishy-washy, you don't even what planet he's on. I thought he was playing The Bachelor...I knew he was in love with Brenda and she had him by the balls—I mean a tight lock on his nuts, I don't even know how he was walking out there. [He's] got so much alpha-male potential—as soon as he gets his balls and sack back from Brenda he's gonna be a beast."

Here's what Shannon had to say about the rest of his tribemates:

Jud: "I think Jud is an awesome dude. I love Judd. [I was] totally wrong—the guy is not a douche. The guy is not a dumb blond. The dude is hilarious. They show me bash him at the beginning, but everything I bashed Jud was in his face because we were homies."  

Kelly B: "She was my homegirl, I love Kelly B, she's cool. She deserves money more than anybody for going through what she went through in her life."

Benry: "I don't even know who the dude is. He's so wishy-washy. I don't even know if he knows where he was when he was out there."

Sash: "Narnia Boy? I don't even really know Sash, I just stereotyped his ass, just like he stereotyped me, like we all do. We all judge a book by its cover. I didn't really have any conversations with him besides that good little conversation we had at Tribal Council."

Brenda: "She's a Parvati—she's not as hot as Parvati, she's not as good as Parvati, Parvati is the s--t—but Brenda is good, she used what she had. Chase is a vulnerable guy, I don't think he's had a girlfriend in his life, and she capitalized on that. Good for her."

NaOnka: "NaOnka is hotheaded. She's like me, but she does it with a whole lot of attitude. She will tell you how it is. I respect the way NaOnka plays the game. Some of the things she might do, I don't agree with, but hey, to tell a dude straight up, 'I don't like you' when they're playing a game together is bold. I like it."

Purple Kelly: "Who's that?"

Alina: "Alina is my homegirl. You saw she had my back. She knew who the real man out there was—actually the only man on our tribe. That girl made me look so bad out there. She is a workhorse. I love Alena."

What does Shannon wish we knew about him that we didn't see on Survivor? "I'm a fun-loving clowny, jokey guy," he said. "I'm not a homophobe, I didn't bash anybody. I didn't bash women, I was giving y'all props. If a woman's not happy at home, then your life is miserable. So yeah, women run it all. Shoot. I'm not hating. When Sarah Palin runs for president, I'm voting for Sarah. I'll wear a Palin T-shirt to the Survivor finale. With 'I Love New York' on the back. I know they got a bunch of diversity over there, [I was just] stereotyping. Everybody does it.

"Relax. Chill out! It's the TV."