When 20 celebrities drove up to a Scottish castle last June to film The Traitors , they were shocked to find not only host waiting to greet them, but also the legendary Survivor winner . The 20 contestants were then each given the opportunity to shake Mariano's hand, welcoming the icon into Season 3, but also allowing them to jettison one of their fellow players before the game had even begun.

While this twist was a shock to the player, it was seemingly also quite a shock to Mariano.

"I didn't know about that," Mariano tells Parade following his elimination from the show last week. "They told me the night before we started that they had this idea, and this is what they were going to do."

Rather than enter the game in the standard fashion, as he expected, Mariano would be part of a twist.

"I told them, 'I don't think it's a good idea.'" he remembers. "They said, 'Why?' and I said, 'Because it doesn't make sense theoretically for any of them to shake my hand. It's going to put a big target on them.'"

As predicted, none of Mariano's would-be castmates stumbled into this trap, and so the Survivor player was escorted off the premises only to return as a Traitor during the mission in Episode 2, another surprise Mariano didn't know about.

"They were like, 'Oh, interesting. Well, don't worry. If it doesn't work, we have another way you're gonna get in the game,'" he continues. "And I was like, 'Oh, what's the other way?' And they're like, 'We're not telling you.' Then when I saw the other way, I was like, 'Oh, this is still not good, maybe worse.' Now [the cast] has already said not to me once, and now you're forcing me to come in. Then, on top of it, now here I am, forced into the turret with people that don't want me. I already had a big target, and it definitely made it bigger."

It's a testament to Mariano's ability that he was able to last as long as he did, ducking and weaving through four banishments and five murders before finally being voted out in Episode 7. Along the way, he delivered some of the best drama in the show's three seasons, blindsiding fellow Traitor, , befriending (yes, Zac's brother), and going toe-to-toe with the likes of Survivor 's , Big Brother 's and The Challenge 's .

Mariano's ultimate demise came at the hands of an unlikely antagonist, Vanderpump Rules ' , who has been painted as a doof all season.

After his elimination, Mariano sat down with Parade to unpack the season, his exit and why Sandoval's lack of game theory ultimately sent him packing. Read the full interview below.

You know, I didn't. I had a very short amount of time to spend with people before we went into the turret. It was like maybe an hour or two, so I didn't get a great read on who was a Traitor or who wasn't.

Well, it wasn't chaotic at first. Truthfully I'm the one that made it chaotic.  I was letting them do their thing and staying hands off right up to them murdering . I didn't want them to murder Jeremy, but I didn't put up a fight. I was like, "Okay, let it happen." But when Bob the Drag Queen and Danielle tried to put Carolyn in one of those coffins, that set off a red flag to me. Because I was like, "Why would they even think to put her in there? It's gonna put suspicion on her. That's a horrible move." I stood up and said, "Absolutely not. Don't put her in." Then you follow that up with the next challenge where he calls out the guys in the cages, and I was like, "Now he's indirectly putting a target on me. This is no good." So then I took action and got Bob banished, and that just set off a chain reaction of events of complete and utter distrust in the turret. It made the game really fun to watch, but really, really hard to play.

I really did want to work with Carolyn. I tried to convince her, but I couldn't get on the same page. I would have gone deep with Dylan; I felt like he trusted me. But really, at this point, I was figuring out how to get day-to-day because it was hard. It was really hard and there are a lot of really good gamers in there, from Derrick and Wes to Bob the Drag Queen. Even was super intuitive. Carolyn. There were killers in that castle, and, I had my hands absolutely full with all of them.

I've always maintained that the two biggest attributes you can have to do well in these games is your ability to adapt to different situations and your self-awareness. I think some people have it intuitively, and other people can get better at it by putting themselves in difficult and hard situations, but you have to know yourself. I wrote a book called The Boston Rob Rulebook . Rule number one is know yourself. Some people are clearly comfortable with confrontation. I love the Round Table. I love the action of it. Some people are paralyzed with fear in that situation. If you know who you are, then you're able to play according to that. You can't try to play different than you actually are. I think Danielle might be struggling with that with the shivering and the acting and the crying. To me, it looks really obvious. I think to a lot of people it does.

Yeah, we are. We actually went to Vegas and played golf about a month ago. actually joined us too. He's a great dude. We are friends. We talk and text daily. That was one of the things I was really surprised about, like the different friendships I made from outside of the competition reality space. Going out there. I really felt like I was on an island. I felt like I was by myself. Even though there were other Survivor people there, I'm public enemy number one. Chrishell and were so great to me. In the challenge where I had to put the heads up, I worked with the two of them. too. The three of those three girls were really nice to me, and I really appreciated that. That was surprising for me to make friends outside of that space.

Somebody else just asked me. And I'm rethinking my answer that I gave them. I told them that she would definitely have to be a Faithful because I don't think she has it in her to be Traitor, but now I'm thinking she would be such a sick silent assassin. Like who would ever think she would do it?

For a long time, I thought I would transition to hosting a show, but these last few years doing Deal or No Deal Island and The Traitors , I realized how much I love to compete. I wonder if there's a hybrid we could figure out a way to combine player and coaches to get in there and still have some action. My friends tease me all the time about dancing. I'm a terrible dancer. I don't feel the need to go and embarrass my wife on national TV in that capacity.

So no D ancing With the Stars ?
I don't think so. That's not in the cards.

If you went back on The Traitors how would you change your strategy?
I mean it's just hard the way this one started. It is what it is. I think you have to adapt to your situation, and I play a certain kind of game. I'd like to try it from a different position. I'd be scared to be murdered, but I think, as a Faithful, to see how good my poker and my intuitive skills are would be fun. But I don't know if I could do it again, be back in the same boat.

Related: Wes Bergmann Says He Clocked Bob the Drag Queen on 'The Traitors' Right Away (Exclusive)