Boston Rob Mariano and Amber Mariano’s Relationship: Revisiting the ‘Survivor’ Winners’ On-Screen Meet-Cute and Decades-Long Marriage

Most reality TV relationships aren’t built to last — but Boston Rob Mariano and Amber Mariano are the exception.
The Traitors star and The Amazing Race contestant first met in 2003 while competing on Survivor: All-Stars, the eighth season of the long-running CBS series that pitted 18 former contestants against one another. Rob and Amber’s alliance-turned-showmance reached its peak when he got down on one knee during the finale and proposed.
“The way our relationship started out is so different than what anybody ever experiences with dating,” Amber told Entertainment Tonight in 2020. “When you’re on Survivor, you can’t even brush your teeth, you can’t even brush your hair, you don’t even change your clothes. So we didn’t have this, like almost fake way to impress each other … it was the most real as it gets.”
On April 16, 2005, the couple married on Atlantis Paradise Island in The Bahamas and their ceremony was later featured in a TV special. In addition to returning to Survivor and other competition shows like The Amazing Race, Rob and Amber have spent the past two decades growing their family.
Their first daughter, Lucia Rose, was born in 2009, followed by Carina Rose the next year. Isabetta Rose was born in 2012 and Adelina Rose completed the family two years later.
From their on-screen romance to their life at home, here’s everything to know about Boston Rob Mariano and Amber Mariano’s relationship.
They started dating on Survivor: All-Stars in 2003
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After competing on separate, back-to-back seasons of Survivor — Amber was a contestant on Survivor: The Australian Outback in 2001 and Rob was on Survivor: Marquesas in 2002 — they were both cast in Survivor: All-Stars in 2003. In clips from that season, Amber admitted that flirting with Rob was initially a “complete strategy” move. But eventually, their platonic alliance turned romantic.
“Amber and I have an alliance for obvious reasons,” Rob said in a confessional during the show. “She’s beautiful, obviously.”
Both competitors wondered out loud to producers if they were being played by the other. Despite all the lying and deceit that comes with Survivor, they both felt sure that their feelings were genuine.
Amber echoed those sentiments in a confessional, saying, “You’re not ever supposed to feel secure in this game, but with Rob and I, I feel 99.9% secure.”
Amber beat Rob for the $1 million prize on All-Stars
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Rob and Amber’s alliance proved valuable throughout the series, with the couple outlasting all 16 other contestants. During the final Tribal Council, Amber won the majority of the votes and claimed the million-dollar prize.
Rob later reflected on his aggressive gameplay during the season and how it probably hurt his chances of winning. In January 2025, he told PEOPLE, “I legitimately did everything that I needed to do to get to the end. I cut throats, I killed friendships and I expected them to give it to me at the end.”
He continued, “I stand by my gameplay. But I didn’t take into account that I was going to have to be accountable at the end of it, meaning I didn’t see it through the jury’s eyes.”
Rob proposed to Amber during the live All-Stars finale in 2004
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The Survivor: All-Stars cast reunited in May 2004 for the final episode, which was filmed live in New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Before Amber won it all, she surprised Rob by wearing a shirt that said “I [heart] ROB,” and he surprised her by proposing.
“I’ve seen you at your highest high and your lowest low and between it all we work together as a team to accomplish so much,” Rob said during the episode. “And in the end, I ended up falling in love with you. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met in my entire life and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Amber said yes and the couple celebrated their engagement with the rest of the cast.
They married in 2005
Boston Rob Mariano/ Instagram
Fans of Rob and Amber’s showmance got to see it all culminate with their televised nuptials.
Rob and Amber Get Married premiered in 2005 and followed the Survivor contestants as they planned their dream wedding in The Bahamas in under four weeks. The beach wedding was held on April 16, 2005, and the special aired about a month later.
In honor of their 19th anniversary in 2024, Rob shared a black-and-white photo from their wedding day on Instagram. He jokingly wrote, “19 Years Ago Today someone else got VERY Lucky!!! 😂 #Sarcasm #HappyAnniversary.”
They competed on The Amazing Race
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In 2005, Rob and Amber competed as a team on the CBS series The Amazing Race and came in second place. They returned to the show two years later as newlyweds to race around the world for a million dollars once again on Amazing Race: All-Stars.
Rob and Amber have also come back to Survivor on multiple occasions since their meet-cute. Rob has competed a total of six times in the survival series (winning once in 2011 on Redemption Island) and made his most recent appearance with his wife on Survivor: Winners at War in 2019, per his website.
They filmed another reality show together
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Survival shows aren’t the only genre of reality television the couple have done together.
Rob and Amber filmed a 10-episode series titled Rob and Amber: Against the Odds in 2007. It was set in Las Vegas and documented Rob’s journey to attempt to become a professional poker player.
They have four daughters
Boston Rob Mariano/ Instagram
Rob and Amber have four daughters: Lucia, Carina, Isabetta and Adelina. Though they have yet to watch the show and see their parents fall in love on-screen, the girls surprised their parents on the island during a family visit to Survivor: Winners at War.
“When they were younger, we didn’t want them to. It was a little bit harsh at the end there. But I think they’re old enough now that they could handle it,” Rob told PEOPLE in 2024 of his daughters not yet seeing his and Amber’s love story.
Rob said he loves Amber’s ability to “effortlessly adapt”
Boston Rob Mariano/ Instagram
While the Survivor alum told PEOPLE that he feels “so lucky” that his girls have a mom like Amber, it’s not just her parenting abilities that he admires. Rob also loves that she can “effortlessly adapt to any situation” — something that was clear to him during their time on the competition series.
“There’s a lot of lessons from these reality shows that are applicable in relationships, and that’s the biggest one probably,” Rob said. “There’s constantly going to be things that are coming up, and it feels like people that are able to adapt and kind of go on the fly are the ones who ultimately end up doing the best. That’s Amber and I for sure.”