{"id":13837,"date":"2026-10-12T08:16:04","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T08:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/?p=13837"},"modified":"2026-10-12T08:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T08:16:14","slug":"boston-rob-reveals-why-he-turned-down-survivor-51-casting-i-have-played-so-many-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/?p=13837","title":{"rendered":"Boston Rob reveals why he turned down\u00a0Survivor 51\u00a0casting: ‘I have played so many times’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Boston Rob reveals why he turned down\u00a0Survivor 50<\/em>\u00a0casting: ‘I have played so many times’<\/h1>\n

Mariano told fans “don\u2019t be mad” at Jeff Probst, in a message posted to his Instagram on Friday.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Rob<\/div>\n<\/div>
Boston Rob Mariano on ‘Survivor: Redemption Island’.<\/span>Credit:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0CBS via Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

Boston Rob Mariano\u00a0is taking full responsibility for his absence from the\u00a0Survivor 50<\/em>\u00a0cast list.<\/p>\n

The five-time\u00a0Survivor<\/em>\u00a0player and one-time winner posted a lengthy statement to his\u00a0Instagram\u00a0on Friday revealing why he turned down a spot on the coveted milestone season’s cast list.<\/p>\n

“Wow!!! I got all of your DM\u2018s and messages so so many thank you all!!” Mariano wrote. “But literally don\u2019t be mad @survivorcbs and\u00a0@jeffprobst\u00a0early on they called and asked\u2026 I just felt like I have played so many times and I am truly fulfilled with my Survivor Journey.”<\/p>\n

The legendary player, who was the first to ever hit five seasons on the long-running CBS series, added that he hoped dropping out of season 50 would allow someone else to get another chance at the title of Sole Survivor.<\/p>\n

“I wanted my spot to go to someone else that deserved another chance!” he wrote. “I\u2019ve gotten so much out of\u00a0Survivor<\/em>. It will always be a part of who I am! I\u2019m eternally grateful. Like I said ..It\u2019s gonna be OK. I feel like something good is coming!!!”<\/p>\n

Survivor 50<\/em>\u00a0won’t air until 2026, but host and showrunner Probst\u00a0already announced the\u00a0full\u00a0<\/em>cast on Wednesday. The supersized group of 24 returning players is the series’ biggest cast ever, featuring contestants going all the way back to season 1 of\u00a0Survivor: Borneo<\/em>\u00a0(Jenna Lewis-Dougherty) as well as two yet-unnamed competitors from\u00a0Survivor 49<\/em>, which just filmed a few weeks ago and will air this fall on CBS.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Boston<\/div>\n<\/div>
Boston Rob Mariano on ‘Survivor’.<\/span>Robert Voets\/CBS via Getty<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The cast also features two legends competing for the fifth time,\u00a0Cirie Fields\u00a0and\u00a0Ozzy Lusth, tying Mariano’s record as the most seasons ever played. Other notable returning players include\u00a0The White Lotus<\/em>\u00a0creator\u00a0Mike White\u00a0and recent winners\u00a0Dee Valladares\u00a0(Survivor 45)<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Kyle Fraser\u00a0(Survivor 48).<\/em><\/p>\n

Mariano previously told\u00a0Entertainment Weekly<\/em>\u00a0that he was ready to field\u00a0Survivor 50\u00a0<\/em>alliance requests. “I’m stirring it up on social media like I like to do,”\u00a0he said in 2024. “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. Actually, talk to my secretary, Sandra [Diaz-Twine]. She’s fielding all the requests.”<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0he previously told EW a few months earlier\u00a0that he was not open to appearing on the show the way it’s currently constructed. “I mean, in what capacity?” he said. “As a contestant playing with everyone else, it just feels like we’ve been there and we’ve done that.”<\/p>\n

Sign up for\u00a0<\/em>Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter\u00a0to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He added that he was still down to appear on the show either in a mentor role again (as he appeared on the\u00a0Island of the Idols<\/em>\u00a0season)\u00a0or another way in which he will not be immediately eliminated due to his massive threat level.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always said it would take some kind of unique format change to make me go back and compete over there,” he said. “Something would have to happen, otherwise we’re faced with the same situation where they gang up on me and want to get me out, or keep me around for a little bit, or whatever… I think there would have to be a pretty dynamic format shift to get me excited to get back out there.”<\/p>\n

Mariano also recently competed on Peacock’s\u00a0The Traitors<\/em>\u00a0and NBC\u2019s\u00a0Deal or No Deal Island<\/em>, but came up short of winning either series.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boston Rob reveals why he turned down\u00a0Survivor 50\u00a0casting: ‘I have played so many times’ Mariano told fans “don\u2019t be mad” at Jeff Probst, in a message posted to his Instagram on Friday. Boston Rob Mariano on ‘Survivor: Redemption Island’.Credit:\u00a0\u00a0CBS via Getty Boston Rob Mariano\u00a0is taking full responsibility for his absence from the\u00a0Survivor 50\u00a0cast list. The … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-survivor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13837"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13843,"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13837\/revisions\/13843"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foxnews.znicely.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}