Season 8 of Survivor, the iconic and first All-Star season, aired about 21 years ago in 2004. That means it’s been over 20 years since we saw one of the best seasons of Survivor ever. Now, this season is legendary for plenty of reasons, however, Boston Rob and Amber Mariano’s love story might be one of the top highlights. Now, they’re looking back on that time and explaining how meeting on the show helped their marriage last as long as it has.
While chatting about her and Rob’s status as legendary Survivor players and their big marriage milestone, Amber shared a “secret” about how they’ve stayed together for so long, telling Access:
We have four daughters, and they make us so happy, and we stick together as a family. We do everything together, and we just always have so much fun, so I really think that’s just what solidified us. Twenty years have flown by. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. We’ve had so much fun, made so many great memories, and we’re looking forward to more.
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She’s right, 20 years have flown by. Also, it’s crazy to think about all of this, because I was 5 years old when their first season together aired, and over the years, I’ve loved seeing Amber and Rob's relationship updates.
They truly are relationship goals because they’ve been together for so long and seem to keep things “fun.”As Rob said, their relationship began in a place where they literally had to worry about survival, and that has put their lives after that in perspective, as he explained:
Every day is fun. That’s how our relationship started. We kind of started on a place, on an island, where everything was hard, so after that everything was better and easier, and it has been ever since.
You can watch Survivor live on CBS every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. You can also stream it with a Paramount+ subscription.
He makes a good point, they met in a place where they were more worried about shelter and water than the typical (and less life-threatening) trials and tribulations of life in the modern (and non-televised) world. Beginning their relationship there had to be difficult, between the survival aspect and the reality TV piece. So, when they returned to normal life, “everything,” as Rob said, “was better and easier.”
Now, they’ve been together for two decades, and they’re still going strong.
Along with being a dad of four, Rob is quite the reality competition star, with his turn on the latest season of The Traitors (which aired on the 2025 TV schedule and you can watch it with a Peacock subscription) being a new and major career highlight. After that and Deal or No Deal Island, though, he said he needs a break. However, he did say Amber would do very well on Deal or No Deal Island, and personally, I’d love to see her back in the game.
In my dream scenario, they’d both return for Survivor 50 alongside a bunch of previous players. However, I fear that might be a bit far-fetched. Although never say never. Survivor clearly has a special place in their hearts and relationship, and maybe, someday, they’ll return to that island. While I dream about that, though, I’m just happy Rob and Amber are still going strong 20 years later!