Boston Rob is one of the best Survivor players of all time. He's played more times, competed more days in the game than any other player in history, and married a fellow player, Amber Brkitch. Needless to say, he's very connected in the Survivor world. And, now, he has a very another personal connection to Survivor 49.
In the pre-game interview clips that Survivor shares, one of the new Survivor 49 cast members, Shannon Fairweather, actually knows Boston Rob.
As Shannon explains in the video, her parents own a Boston sports bar, The Greatest, and that also happens to be the place where Survivor legend Boston Rob was working before he played the game for the first time in Survivor: Marquesas, which was the fourth season of the series.
"My parents own a sports bar, and way back when, one of our bartenders decided to go on a little show called Survivor, and that bartender ended up being Boston Rob," Shannon said. "So, Survivor has been like low-key stalking me my whole life."
You can watch Shannon's pre-game intro video at the 15:40 mark, but I also recommend watching the full video to get to know all 18 new Survivor 49 players. CBS announced the cast about a month before the season 49 premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 24!
Shannon's family bar is also going to be the location of the first-ever Survivor Ultimate Fan Cafe. Basically, the Survivor team transformed the establishment with a new Survivor-themed menu, games, vibes, and decor for fans to visit this fall in Boston.
The real question is whether Shannon is going to channel the energy and playing style of her parents' former bartender. That, I believe, would be very impressive. I don't think we've seen Boston Rob's wheeling-and-dealing, aggressive gameplay work in the new era of Survivor. In the shorter, quicker game, it seems like that style of play would actually work better, and in some ways, it probably does. But, we've also seen so many people try to emulate Boston Rob and his tactics over the years. Sometimes, it pays off, but most of the time, it rubs people the wrong way.
Shannon talked a little bit about her strategy in the game in the video. She said she's basically going to blend her free spirit nature with a more masculine, Boston Rob or Mark Wahlberg energy. And, I'm fascinated to see if that works for her.
"I'm like this hippie, spiritual," she said in the video. "Love the energy of the moon, love the energy of the earth. I'm also a Virgo if that means anything to anyone."
Shannon opens Survivor 49 on the Uli tribe with Savannah Louie, Nate Moore, Sage Ahrens-Nichols, Jawan Pitts, and Rizo Velovic. That's my tribe to watch as the season starts. When CBS shared the images from the Survivor 49 premiere, we got fewer images of them, so I'm curious to see if that means anything.
Watch the Survivor 49 premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 24, at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+