Robert Carlo Mariano (born December 25, 1975), known by the nickname Boston Rob, is an American television personality, known for appearing in the CBS reality show Survivor. He placed 10th in the show's fourth season Survivor: Marquesas, finished as the runner-up to his eventual wife Amber Brkich in the show's eighth season Survivor: All-Stars, came in 13th place in the show's 20th season Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, and won the show's 22nd season Survivor: Redemption Island. Mariano returned for the show's 39th season Survivor: Island of the Idols as a mentor for the new players alongside Sandra Diaz-Twine. He competed for a fifth time, coming in 17th place in the show's 40th season Survivor: Winners at War. Mariano is the first person to compete on Survivor five times.
Mariano also competed on other reality shows, including on The Amazing Race twice alongside his wife (The Amazing Race 7 and The Amazing Race 11: All-Stars), as well as Deal or No Deal Island and The Traitors season 3.
Early life
Robert Carlo Mariano was born on December 25, 1975, and raised in Hyde Park, Boston, Massachusetts. He is of Italian descent. Mariano graduated from Xaverian Brothers High School in 1994, where he played golf and hockey. Five years later, Mariano graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Boston University. He made the school's hockey team in 1995 as a freshman, but declined to play for coach Jack Parker after he was told that he would not receive much ice time. Mariano first played on Survivor in 2001 at age 25, and continued to coach the hockey team.
Marquesas
Assigned to the Maraamu tribe at the start of the game, Mariano was successful in leading a counter alliance against Hunter Ellis though as a result of this their challenge performance was lackluster compared to the opposing tribe. In the fourth episode, "The Winds Twist", Mariano was swapped into the minority on his new tribe, Rotu, though was spared when Gabriel Cade's apathetic nature to the game was seen as detrimental. When the tribes merged, Mariano was viewed as the biggest target by the original Rotu tribe members and attempted to counter by warning of a splinter group of John Carroll, Tammy Leitner, Zoe Zanidakis, and Robert DeCanio though this proved unsuccessful and was voted out in a 7-2-1 vote.
All-Stars
Mariano was announced to compete in Survivor: All-Stars after his prior performance in Survivor: Marquesas. Assigned to the Chapera tribe, Mariano formed an immediate alliance with Amber Brkich, and successfully navigated the game together through brokering deals with contestants that he never intended to honor, while securing an alliance with Jenna Lewis and Rupert Boneham to eliminate bigger targets. Upon reaching the final tribal council, Mariano was lambasted for abusing his relationships with contestants outside of the game to benefit himself, although he was also praised for his aggressive, albeit immoral, gameplay. On May 9, 2004, before the votes were announced, Mariano proposed to Brkich, which she accepted. Mariano lost the season in a 4–3 vote.
Heroes vs. Villains
For his actions in Survivor: All-Stars, Mariano was announced as a contestant for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Assigned to the Villains tribe, Mariano was the de facto leader of the Villains with his storyline focused on his rivalry with Russell Hantz and their differing views of the game. In the sixth episode, "Banana Etiquette", Mariano and his alliance planned to split the vote between Hantz and Parvati Shallow to eliminate either target and a hidden immunity idol, but their plan was thwarted when Tyson Apostol changed his vote, leading to Apostol's elimination. In the seventh episode, "I'm Not a Good Villain", with Mariano now in the minority of his tribe, he appealed to Benjamin "Coach" Wade's sense of honesty and integrity to vote Hantz. Coach was divided between his allegiances to both Mariano and Hantz but ultimately went neutral by voting for Courtney Yates, and Mariano was voted out.
Redemption Island
On January 13, 2011, Mariano was announced as a competitor for his fourth season, Survivor: Redemption Island, in a continuation of his Heroes vs Villains feud with Russell Hantz; the latter, however, was voted out early on. Mariano, through his hard work ethic and likeability from his new tribe, became the de facto leader. As a result of this, Mariano formed a majority alliance with Andrea Boehlke, Grant Mattos, Natalie Tenerelli, Matt Elrod, and Ashley Underwood. As the game progressed, Mariano successfully eliminated opponents with relative ease, and formed an alliance with outsider Phillip Sheppard due to his abrasive and unpredictable nature. Using his past experiences and ability to read his fellow players, Mariano controlled every vote in which he was involved, and was able to reach the final tribal council. He was praised for his dominant game over finalists Sheppard and Tenerelli, who attributed their success to Mariano, although he did receive criticism for being cutthroat and a cult leader. On May 15, 2011, Mariano was revealed to have won the season in an 8-1-0 vote, after 4 seasons and 117 days of playing. Whilst viewers and fans were critical of his win, Jeff Probst characterized Mariano's game as the "most perfect game of Survivor ever."
Island of the Idols
Mariano, along with former castmate Sandra Diaz-Twine, returned for the 39th season in a mentor role for a new group of castaways. Unable to vote or compete in challenges, Mariano and Diaz-Twine lived together on a separate beach from the game and, at times, had one player visit to be taught a lesson regarding the various facets and strategies of Survivor. They would also attend each Tribal Council in a hideaway. On the morning of Day 37, Mariano and Diaz-Twine departed from the eponymous Island of the Idols, leaving a luxurious shelter and supplies for the final five castaways of the season.
Winners at War
At the finale of Survivor: Island of the Idols, it was announced that Mariano would be competing alongside 19 other winners of the show, including Brkich. He was placed on the Sele tribe, where he quickly formed an "Old-School" alliance with Parvati Shallow and Ethan Zohn, although the alliance ultimately fell apart due to Danni Boatwright informing Ben Driebergen of its existence. Mariano was later switched to the Yara tribe with Driebergen, Adam Klein, Sarah Lacina, and Sophie Clarke, where he was the sixth person voted out of the game after trying to take control of the tribe. Mariano was defeated by Tyson Apostol and Natalie Anderson respectively in the challenges to return from the Edge of Extinction, and was sent to the jury for the first time in his Survivor career. Mariano voted for Tony Vlachos to win the season, which he did in a 12-4-0 vote, making Vlachos the second two-time Sole Survivor following Diaz-Twine, and the winner of the increased grand prize of $2,000,000.
With this season, Mariano became the first Survivor contestant to play for a fifth time; Mariano once again became the longest-played Survivor contestant in his career, having played a cumulative 152 days (excluding the 37 days in Island of the Idols) over five seasons, surpassing the previous record held by Ozzy Lusth, who played for 128 days over four seasons set in Survivor: Game Changers.
Season 7
As an engaged couple, Mariano and Amber Brkich participated in the seventh season of The Amazing Race, finishing in second place. During a Roadblock challenge in Mendoza, Argentina, in the third leg of the race, contestants had to eat 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of meat. Mariano began the roadblock, but very quickly determined he would not or could not eat that quantity. The penalty for not finishing the Roadblock was a four-hour delay. By convincing a few other contestants to refuse to participate, Mariano ensured that several contestants were on the same timetable as he and Brkich were. Also in South America, Mariano pooled his…