A Complete Timeline Of “Boston Rob” And Amber Mariano’s Relationship

If you’re a fan of reality television, you’ve likely heard all about the hit Peacock reality show, The Traitors.

For the uninitiated, The Traitors is a murder-mystery game show with contestants from every reality show you can think of. Some contestants are from competitive shows like Survivor, Big Brother, or The Challenge, some from dating shows like The Bachelor, and some from Bravo shows like Vanderpump Rules, Summer House, and several cities of the Real Housewives franchise. If the casting isn’t enough to make you want to watch the show, just wait until you hear the premise.

Hosted by Broadway legend Alan Cumming, contestants arrive at a lavish Scottish castle before being sorted into two groups: the Faithfuls and the Traitors. The Traitors are the smaller group that meets every night to “murder” a fellow contestant, who is eliminated the next morning. The Faithfuls are the majority of the cast, and their job is to detect the Traitors by trying to vote them out every night at a Round Table. Only the Traitors know who each other are, and their job is to stay undetected until the end, for if a Traitor remains at the end, they take all of the prize money instead of dividing it among the Faithfuls.

The third season premiered in early January, and fans can’t get enough. One fan-favorite cast member is Rob Mariano, famously known as “Boston Rob” from several appearances on the popular reality show, Survivor. Fans love him for his sense of humor and ability to be a loveable villain, but many viewers aren’t aware that he perfected the role of the villain you can’t help but root for in the early 2000s. And did we mention that while he’s handsome now, he was even more of a looker back then?

But that’s not even the best part of the story. On his second of six appearances on Survivor, he met his wife, Amber, and they have been married for nearly 20 years. Their love story is one of the sweetest in the history of reality television, and his return to TV has allowed fans to relive their story all over again.

Here’s a complete timeline of Amber and Rob’s relationship.

2003: Rob and Amber Meet On Survivor: All-Stars

Rob’s had his Survivor debut in season four, Survivor: Marquesas, and Amber had hers in season two, Survivor: The Australian Outback. Both were fan favorites, so it only made sense for them both to be cast in season eight, Survivor: All-Stars.

Looking back, it makes sense that they fell in love. Amber was the sweet girl next door that everyone loved, and Rob was the bad boy with a heart of gold. They initially formed an alliance and promised to take each other to the end at the start of the show, and it didn’t take long for the flirting to begin. As the show progressed, it was clear that the flirting was beyond strategy and that the two were developing real feelings for each other and were possibly falling in love.

Rob kept his promise to take Amber to the end, earning a reputation for being cutthroat for lying to other players to protect her. The strategy worked, for Rob and Amber left the show together.

May 9, 2004: Engagement and Amber Wins Survivor 

For those who haven’t watched Survivor, the winner isn’t announced until after the show airs. At the height of the show’s popularity in the early 2000s, the finale was held at Madison Square Garden, and host Jeff Probst read the votes of the jury (a select group of contestants who vote for the winner of the show) to crown the winner, who wins a grand prize of one million dollars. 

Rob and Amber appeared at the finale together, and fans were quick to notice that Amber wore an “I love Rob” shirt, proof that the couple was still together. Before the winner was announced, Rob surprised Amber with a romantic proposal, and the crowd went wild.

Amber was crowned the winner of Survivor: All-Stars, but Rob didn’t have any hard feelings. Before the votes were read, he said, “Regardless of what happens here tonight with the vote, I feel like I’ve already won.”

March 2005: Rob and Amber Appear On The Amazing Race Together

It didn’t take long for Rob and Amber to appear on another reality show together. They chose The Amazing Race, which follows couples or families as they complete challenges and races around the world. Their season only had couples, and Rob and Amber were the only couple who didn’t fight through the season.

While they dominated most of the season, they earned second place, but we’re sure they didn’t mind because they had a wedding to plan.

April 16, 2005: Wedding

Rob and Amber got married in a beautiful ceremony in the Bahamas almost a year after he originally proposed. A few weeks later, a wedding special aired on CBS, titled Rob and Amber Get Married.

2007: Rob and Amber Appear On The Amazing Race: All-Stars

Rob and Amber appeared on The Amazing Race: All-Stars (which only makes sense because they met and fell in love on Survivor: All-Stars) in 2007, where they placed eighth. While they didn’t make it as far or dominate the game as they did the first time, it was worth noting that they were the only couple to remain level-headed and not argue during the show, which we love about them. 

2009-2014: Rob and Amber Have Four Daughters

Five years after getting married, Rob and Amber welcomed their first child, a girl named Lucia Rose. She was followed by three more girls, Carina Rose (born in 2010), Isabetta Rose (born in 2012), and Adelina Rose (born in 2014). According to Rob, none of the girls have seen Survivor, but they’re watching Traitors. On an episode of Chicks In The Office, he said, “My girls at home are cringing” when he misuses slang terms. Peak Dad behavior.

When asked how he and Amber have made it work for so long, his answer was simple. He told People, “We dedicate everything to our family. That’s what this is all about.”

2019: Rob and Amber Appear On Survivor Together Again

16 years after falling in love on Survivor: All-Stars, they appeared on another season of Survivor in 2019. While both were eliminated rather early from the season, it was fun for fans to see their relationship dynamic play out on another game show.

Rob believes that the challenges of being on such competitive reality shows together in the early years of their relationship helped them develop a strong marriage. He told People, "There's a lot of lessons from these reality shows that are applicable in relationships, and that's the biggest one probably. 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."

He believes that the structure of competition shows creates stronger relationships, whereas dating shows like The Bachelor don’t prepare couples for the challenges of life when the cameras stop rolling. He said, "The reason why we were able to connect, versus a lot of these other dating or Bachelor-type shows where it doesn't work for other people, is because Survivor is so real. Their situation is contrived. It's, 'Let's go on this helicopter date' and 'Let's go on this romantic journey to Paris.' And that s--- doesn't happen in the real world."

2024: Rob Returns To Reality Television 

After taking a few years off reality shows, Rob made his comeback in early 2024 on the inaugural season of Deal Or No Deal Island. In true Boston Rob fashion, he became a fan-favorite for his sense of humor and strategic gameplay, proving that he hasn’t lost his touch after all these years. He placed fourth on the show, but made such an impact that he now hosts the second season’s after show.

While a whole new generation is learning why he’s one of the most iconic reality stars of all time, our favorite part of his career will always be his love story with Amber.