Boston Rob Mariano is returning to Survivor for Season 40’s Winners at War, but he’s revealed it will be his final season.
This will be Mariano’s sixth season on the reality competition series. He has competed on Survivor: Marquesas, Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Redemption Island, Survivor: Island of the Idols and the upcoming season Survivor: Winners at War.
“I feel like we have the cherry on top of the sundae this time, and we are officially retired,” he told Entertainment Tonight (ET) on Monday.
Mariano will be competing against his wife Amber this season. The pair met during Survivor: All Stars, which Amber ended up winning.
“You’d think! He’s done it six times!” she exclaimed. “You can only go six times!”
Amber’s return to the competition series comes after a 16-year hiatus.
She is also ending her Survivor run with Season 40.
“I’m just the luckiest person there is, so I think I should hang up my hat and retire while I’m on top,” she added.
Mariano told TVLine that he knew “Season 40 was going to be pretty monumental and that they were doing something big.”
“I felt like my Survivor journey was complete, but then I thought to myself, when I’m at home sitting down and 40 comes on and it’s all winners, am I really going to not want to be a part of it? That was the determining factor for me,” he said.
He also said he feels he has “the biggest and brightest” target on his back this season.
“I basically told people if they’re on a season with me they need to get rid of me because I’m gonna outplay you, I’m gonna outlast you and I’m gonna outwit you,” Mariano said. “But sometimes, they don’t take my advice, and if they let me stick around long enough, I’m the type of guy that can get it done.
“My target is enormous. It didn’t help that we left the day after they announced Season 39. The cast got to see that they literally built a statue of me on the island, and we did press right across from those statues.
“People are well aware of my history in the game, and my reputation precedes me. Even with those odds stacked against me, I’m a competitor. I want to play,” Mariano said.
Survivor: Winners at War premieres on Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global.