In the history of Survivor, there have been many players who've made their mark on fans for a variety of reasons. However, there are only a handful of former Survivor players who've become icons of not only that show, but the reality TV genre as a whole. Fortunately for "Boston" Rob Mariano, there is no doubt that he is a reality show icon whom it seems like every fan of the genre respects on one level or another.
Because Mariano is such a legend, there is a lot of excitement about him launching a new series with his friend, Dylan Efron. Similarly, he is such a respected figure among fans of Jeff Probst's show that he had to explain why he isn't part of Survivor 50, since it seemed like a given he'd be asked to be part of the season. Even though Mariano clearly loves Survivor and most of the show's fans adore him, it turns out the icon from Boston doesn't enjoy every aspect of Probst's reality show.
"Boston" Rob Mariano wants an infamous Survivor twist banned forever
In December 2025, an E! News article recapped comments that had been made during a recent episode of Hot Goss. During an episode of the digital series produced by E! that is hosted by Lonnie Marts and Love Island UK's Eyal Booker, Dylan Efron and "Boston" Rob Mariano discussed a variety of topics. As the aforementioned article revealed, Survivor came up when Mariano told the hosts about the twist from Jeff Probst's show he thinks needs to disappear forever.
“A few seasons ago, they had a twist called ‘Turn Back the Time’ where basically someone got an opportunity to reverse a decision that was made in the game. I just think it was really unfair for all the people that were involved.”
That comment from Mariano would have almost certainly inspired two responses from Survivor's biggest fans. First off, those viewers would feel compelled to correct the iconic player. The advantage that Mariano's description clearly applies to is the “Hourglass Advantage” or the “Change History Advantage,” not "Turn Back the Time."
Secondly, fans almost certainly would celebrate agreeing with the Mariano because it seems like almost all of Survivor's devoted viewers hated that twist. Introduced during Survivor 41 and brought back for Survivor 42, the advantage allowed one player to reverse the outcome of a challenge.
The twist was introduced after a challenge was run that allowed the team of players who won to get immunity at the next tribal council, leaving everyone else vulnerable. The advantage allowed one of the at-risk players to reverse that, so the people who won the challenge became the only ones who were at risk of being voted out.
If the player who got the twist chose not to use it, they would be at risk of being voted out. As such, it seemed like a given that they would reverse the results. In that case, the people who won that challenge were punished, which almost all fans and players argued corrupted Survivor's format. As a result, it seems like virtually every fan would agree with Mariano's call for that advantage to be banned.
During the same Hot Goss episode, Mariano's pal and reality show co-star, Dylan Efron, revealed his Survivor pet peeves as well. “I don't love all the hidden immunities, immunities on immunities. There's too many immunities. It's a little confusing for a new person to get into Survivor with all these different awards on the island. “I also don't like when they get a reward, and then there's an immunity on that reward. That's only, like, four people [that] might get that. It's swaying the balance too much.”