Rob Mariano, a.k.a Boston Rob from Survivor, has been a reality TV icon since he first appeared on Survivor: Marquesas in 2002. Still going strong in 2025 and fresh off his run on The Traitors, Rob, 49, is winning over fans from a new generation.
Some of those new fans are his teenage daughters’ friends — and they think he’s hot.
“All of a sudden, their friends are like, ‘Oh, my God,’” Mariano told People in a story published April 12. “They don’t like the attention. It’s a lot.”
Mariano is a proud father of four with his wife and fellow Survivor legend Amber Mariano. The two share daughters Lucia, 15, Carina, 14, Isabetta, 12, and Adelina, 10.
Girl dad! Survivor alums “Boston Rob” Mariano and Amber Mariano (née Brkich) welcomed four daughters after tying the knot in 2005. The twosome met as contestants on Survivor: All Stars in 2003 and formed an alliance on the reality competition series. CBS aired a two-hour special about their nuptials, titled Rob and Amber Get Married, […]
Rob explained that his time on The Traitors season 3, where he lasted seven episodes, has encouraged younger viewers to go back and view his first seasons of reality TV. (Clips of a younger Rob have also gone viral on TikTok.) After Survivor: Marquesas, he returned for Survivor: All-Stars in 2004, where he and Amber first hit it off.
Rob Mariano Euan Cherry/Peacock
“I think just a combination of Traitors brought a lot of attention to a different generation, and with the onset of streaming, people can go back and watch the old episodes,” he continued. “They don’t have to find a DVD or a VHS tape anymore, so it’s cool to just be introduced to a whole other generation.”
It’s just weird to hear about it from his kids’ friends.
“It’s kind of weird for a teenage girl to be like, ‘Dad, my friends think you’re hot.’ You know what I mean?” he said.
Boston Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich first graced our TV screens in the earliest days of Survivor, when Amber appeared on Survivor: The Australian Outback (season 2) in 2001 and Rob followed a year later on Survivor: Marquesas (season 4). The two were instantly memorable, leading to them coming back for Survivor: All-Stars, where they […]
Rob’s friends aren’t the only ones who have marveled at the Survivor winner’s looks from his early TV days. It was even a topic of conversation on The Traitors. Ciara Miller, who got “married” to Rob during a competition on the show, brought it up at the reunion.
“You were so hot — not that you’re not now, but those clips from back in the day were — I was like ‘Oh my god,’ I had no idea,” she said.
Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano James Devaney/WireImage
With The Traitors season 3 finale airing March 6, Rob hasn’t publicly revealed any further reality appearances. But after playing Survivor five times, The Amazing Race twice, The Traitors and making it to the final four of Deal or No Deal Island season 1, he recognizes the impact those games have had on his life.
“It’s just so crazy,” he said. “Everything I have in my life is because of these shows — meeting my wife, my family, everything.”
