By Mallory Mattingly
SURVIVOR alum Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano joined TODAY for an interview discussing how his daughters feel about his newfound fame on TV.
“They love it now. I mean, they’re teenagers. I have teenage girls, so of course, everything I do embarrasses them,” Boston Rob told TODAY. “I drove them to school this morning, and I was like, you know, the ‘Pink Pony’ song (Chappell Roan’s ‘Pink Pony Club’) was on the radio, and I’m like, turning it up. They’re like, ‘Dad!’ I love that rite of passage as a father to be able to embarrass your teenage daughters. I feel like I’ve earned it.”
Boston Rob then revealed how reality TV, like SURVIVOR and TRAITORS, a show he appeared in, applies to life outside of Hollywood.
“I mean, there’s a lot of parallels between SURVIVOR, reality competition shows. I play a lot of poker, the world of business, being resilient — there’s so many lessons,” Boston Rob revealed. “Adapting to your situation, that’s probably the No. 1 rule of the show. You have to figure out different ways to adapt to your situation. In life, there are challenges all the time. It’s not so much what the challenges are but how you face them that makes a difference. I’ve found that people that are the most resilient are the ones that just don’t quit.
Related: SURVIVOR Winner Mike Gabler Donates $1 Million Prize to Veterans
“I didn’t win the first time I played. It took me four times, but I never quit. And I think a lot of those lessons I do pass on to parenting, to my kids, teaching them about being strong and being tough and just keep trying,” he added.
SURVIVOR season 50 will debut in 2026 and one competitor that will be sitting this season out is Boston Rob.
“Listen, it’s not because they didn’t ask. I feel fulfilled with my journey on SURVIVOR as a contestant. I’ve done everything that I wanted to do, and I have so much love and respect for that show. That’s where I started, that will always be my home. That’s always a part of how I got to where I am. So no shade at all,” Boston Rob said.
“I just feel like I’ve done it so many times. I have such a big target and reputation now, if I go back out there like they might let me last a little bit, but nobody’s going to let me get to the end,” he continued. “So why not give somebody else an opportunity that needs another chance. And that’s what I told Jeff way back when … with the precursor, that if you guys absolutely tell me you need me, I will be there because they’ve done so much for me over the course of my life.
“Nobody on that show has been a bigger winner than me. I mean, I have a wife and four kids for the last 20 years to prove it, so I’m super grateful,” he added.
Boston Rob met his wife, Amber Mariano, while on the show SURVIVOR. The couple would then go on to have four daughters.
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