Got a secret? Tell ‘Boston’ Rob Mariano
‘Survivor’ winner mum for months
By Tenley Woodman
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 - Updated 10 hours ago
“Boston” Rob Mariano knows how to keep a secret.
It took the Canton native four attempts and 117 days over the course of 10 years to win “Survivor” and its $1 million prize Sunday, but he faced an even tougher obstacle at home: keeping his status as a finalist in the game from his wife, “Survivor: All-Stars” victor Amber Brkich, in the nine months since taping wrapped.
“That’s why I’m so good at the game. I can keep my mouth shut,” said Mariano, 35, who is planning to step up his game and switch to the other side of the reality TV camera.
Meanwhile, the father of two tells the Herald he “won’t see a cent” of the winnings. It’s going where most husbands’ paychecks go.
“My wife will take it. She’ll do what she wants with it,” he said. “The real benefit is I have the title of Sole Survivor.”
“Survivor” host Jeff Probst called Mariano’s strategy over the season “as close to a perfect game as anybody has ever played.”
“This time around, I realized more than ever that ‘Survivor’ is more of a social game than anything else. The relationships I’ve built, made with other people, allowed them to vote for me in the end,” Mariano said.
That formula also earned the serial reality TV contestant and Boston University graduate an extra $100,000 as the fan favorite for the season.
“Winning season favorite means a lot because the fans have a say in it. It’s a huge honor,” Mariano said.
There’s no rest for the Pensacola, Fla., resident.
“I have a 22-month-old and a 5-month-old. A vacation to me is getting to watch an entire Red Sox [team stats] game without them waking up,” he said of his daughters.
Mariano starts work this week on a new series for the History cable channel with producer Thom Beers (“Ice Road Truckers”) called “Around the World in 80 Ways,” scheduled to air in the fall.
“(Beers) does a breed of television that is perfect for me. As far as the travel goes, hopefully Amber can come out and visit. We just got the passport for the baby,” Mariano said.
But tribal councils and immunity challenges now are a thing of the past for the erstwhile contestant known as Boston Rob.
Instead of sweating out the creative competitions, Mariano will be helping make the small-screen reality magic happen.
"The main difference this time is I’m not competing as a contestant. I’m making the transition to hosting and joining the production side of things,” Mariano said. “It’s a huge step.”
Yay! So glad to hear they are already working on the next season! Yessssssssssss let's start a new thread!! 
