Jerome "Rome" Cooney played one of the most over-the-top games of the new era when he was a contestant on season 47 of Survivor. Quickly making waves with his tribe, Rome was bold in his gameplay and his confidence.
Unfortunately for him, that overconfidence was not always warranted.
Rome played brashly on Survivor 47
Rome was able to find himself in the power position early on with both a vote steal and a hidden immunity idol. Leveraging his power, he took control of his Lavo tribe and made the pieces fall exactly how he wanted. His brash playstyle may have worked in the short term, but it rubbed his tribe the wrong way.
Ultimately, this came to a head when the tribes reached "mergatory," and his continued overconfidence became his demise in the episode now referred to as "The Fall of Rome" in Survivor circles. The editors leaned into this theme, repeatedly showing Rome being clueless to his vote out.
Rome was a massive character on his season. Love him or hate him, his personality definitely got people talking. In the end, that is what you are looking for in reality TV: someone who can engage the audience and make them feel something, one way or the other. His cockiness may not have endeared him to fans, but it made the show interesting.
Rome appears to leak his Survivor 50 casting chances
Knowing that Survivor 50 would be an all-star season, fans have been theorizing possible castaways for months. Rome was considered a strong possibility. While he certainly did not play a great game, he had a huge personality, which is something that casting directors often look for.
Players who can produce sound bites and content regularly make producers' jobs far easier than someone who plays a good game but is a robot on camera. What made Rome so great is that he was never afraid to speak his mind, even in confessionals. Players can be guarded when sharing thoughts on the game, hoping to hedge their bets incase they are out of the loop. Rome never had that issue, and it made for great entertainment value.
Even Jeff Probst, Survivor host and showrunner, seemed to love Rome. He even allowed him to sit in his tribal council seat on the night Rome was voted out. All indications were that Rome would be heavily considered, if not cast outright, for the milestone season.
Former players have been coming out and voicing their displeasure about being cut from the season, giving us some indication of who is not on the Survivor 50 cast. For those hoping to see Rome and his over-the-top, cocky personality one more time, do not expect it any time soon. Per Rome himself, it seems as though he was cut from casting.
On his Instagram stories recently, Rome made a post that certainly seems to indicate he will not be returning for Survivor 50. While not outright saying it, it seems obvious where Rome stands. The post simply read, "Welp Woulda Been Fun". While not an outright admission, given the timing, there seem to be few other things that he could be referencing.
Casting is missing out on entertainment
No one can argue that Rome was a great player from the new era. While he found advantages, he was far too controlling and demanding to be able to make the social connections necessary to go far. What can be argued is that Rome is one of the most interesting personalities from any new era season.
Even during original casting, notes about Rome indicated that he was a must have for the show, becauser his personality just "pops". It seems strange then, that casting would cut him. Except, as we learned, perhaps they did not. It has been reported that CBS has mandated cuts to most new era cast aways, instead looking for a spread across all seasons.
That decision makes sense in the aggregate, as a blend of eras will likely draw the most viewers in. However, of all the players in the new era, Rome seemed like one of the more obvious casting moves, given the big personality in a gameplay-oriented era of Survivor. The decision seems to leave potential out there, but we will see once the official cast is announced.