The Survivor 50 cast is here, and while fans will see 24 players return for the milestone season, fan favorite Boston Rob Mariano is not one of them.
Boston Rob fans may have been hoping to see him play for a sixth time, especially after seeing him stay in the reality realm with recent appearances on Deal or No Deal Island and The Traitors. But Mariano, 49, has long been skeptical about a return to Fiji.
“I don’t feel any desire to go back there and play the game again, especially where they’re just gonna use me for a little bit and vote me out,” Mariano told TV Insider in May 2024.
Mariano was the sixth player voted out of his last Survivor season, Winners at War, which aired in 2020. By now, players are aware of Mariano’s reputation and threat level, making him an easy target, even in a season filled with veterans.
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The Survivor: Redemption Island winner added that it would take a “concept change” to the show for him to consider returning, “because they’ve given so much to me over my life.”
But then just a month later, he took to social media to prepare for a potential return. It’s an open secret that returning players for shows like Survivor will “pregame” before going out to film, forging alliances before the game even starts. Mariano put out a call in June 2024 for potential alliance mates.
“I’m stirring it up on social media like I like to do,” he told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “So slide into the DMs, all you former players, and we’ll let you know whether or not you can get in the alliance or not.”
Even as recently as April 2025, he was teasing a potential Survivor return. Mariano wrote via Instagram, “Maybe I do have one more in me after all! 
….it would be poetic. I’m turning 50 this year! 
#Survivor50 @survivorcbs @cbstv,” but fans were quick to note that he posted the message on April 1 — April Fool’s Day.
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Still, titans of the series like Parvati Shallow and Tyson Apostol replied to the post indicating their support for his return.
Just two weeks later, Mariano opened up to People about taking a break from competitive reality TV. He just recently celebrated 20 years married to fellow Survivor winner Amber Brkich, and the two share daughters Lucia, 15, Carina, 14, Isabetta, 12, and Adelina, 10.
“At this point, I’m kind of just hanging out,” he said. “I don’t have a desire to go back and compete in that realm right now. I’m going to take a little break, the kids are off for the summer.”
He added, “I truly feel like I’m the luckiest person in the world. I didn’t expect to be still doing it after 25 years, so never say never. You never know what’s going to happen.”
Survivor 50 — which does include fan favorites like Cirie Fields, Colby Donaldson and Ozzy Lusth — is set to premiere on CBS in 2026.
