CBS just announced the Survivor 50 cast to great debate from fans of the show's first 48 seasons. Unfortunately, Boston Rob Mariano is not part of the 24 players in the Survivor 50 cast.
After fans expressed some sadness and anger on social media after he was not included, Boston Rob took to Instagram to share a message with his fans and explain what happened with the Survivor 50 cast and why he opted out.
Basically, it sounds like Boston Rob wasn't interested in returning, and he gave up his spot for another player to return.
It's hard to imagine Survivor 50 without Boston Rob, but there were writings on the wall that he wasn't coming back for a long time. In the past, he told Entertainment Weekly that he wouldn't be returning to play Survivor without a format change. He'd obviously become a huge target after playing the game five times. He's played Survivor more than anyone else, and he's spent more days in the game than any other player.
It would have been fun to see Boston Rob face off against some of the new era players, especially since some of them were clearly inspired by Boston Rob's signature gameplay. Honestly, I don't think he would fare too well against these new era players, though. Being such an icon in Survivor is clearly going to be an issue for the players like Cirie Fields, Ozzy Lusth, Aubry Bracco, Stephenie Lagrossa Kendrick, and Coach. We've all seen them play so many times. Can they reinvent their game to fit Survivor 50? We'll have to wait and see.
And for those missing Boston Rob, I don't think you'll be waiting too long to see him return to reality TV in the future. He's becoming quite the reality star on several different shows in his own right, including Deal or No Deal Island and The Traitors. I have a feeling we're going to see an All-Star season of The Traitors in the near future, and it'd be a mistake not to include this Survivor legend.
As for what Boston Rob does next, we'll be sure to let you know when we find out! For Survivor 50, I would love to see Jeff Probst bring back one of the legends for the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast. Could that be Boston Rob? It definitely feels possible, but again, he's busy with a lot of other reality TV gigs, too.