While trying to outwit, outlast, and outplay their fellow castaways on limited food, sleep, and comfort, there are plenty of other rules that “Survivor” players have to adhere to while competing for the million dollar prize.
Some “Survivor” rules, like the inability to sit out in consecutive challenges and being restricted from bringing food rewards back to camp, are well-known by fans, others may come as a surprise. In addition to being required to abide by both U.S. laws and the laws of the country they’re competing in. Since MGM Television took over the show’s production in 2016, “Survivor” has been exclusively filmed in Fiji, though early seasons featured locales like Borneo, the Australian Outback and Cacayan in the Philippines.
Among these lesser known rules include the requirement that players follow local environmental guidelines, submit to regular and mandatory medical check-ups, and the inability to converse with crew members.
But what happens when “Survivor” castaways break the rules? Five-time player Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano opened up about his experience, admitting that he broke them himself while competing on “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.”
Breaking the Rules Ended in ‘Huge Fireball in the Jungle,’ Says Mariano
Boston Rob, who currently holds the record for most days played on “Survivor,” made his debut on the cast of “Survivor: Marquesas” before returning to compete on “All Stars”. Following his appearance on “Heroes vs. Villains,” Boston Rob returned yet again for Season 22, “Redemption Island,” where he was ultimately named the season’s “Sole Survivor.” The castaway’s fifth, final, and most recent “Survivor” appearance was on Season 40 – “Winners at War.”
CBS/GettyIn a recent Cameo video posted on Instagram, the former winner opened up about breaking one of “Survivor”s many rules during his third series appearance on Season 20.
“It was Day 3. We couldn’t get a fire going, and like everything was wet,” said Mariano in the video. Firemaking is one of the hallmarks of life on “Survivor,” but that doesn’t mean that producers have made it easy for castaways over the years. In the new era, host Jeff Probst has even gone as far as to take a tribe’s flint away as punishment for losing a challenge.
Mariano continued: “We’re going to the challenge, and the ‘Survivor’ people have a safety boat on the side of the water. In case anyone drowns, they send someone out to save their life. Anyway, I noticed there was an engine on the back of the boat.”
Quickly formulating a plan to secure fire for his “Villains” tribe, Mariano recalled how he convinced his teammate, former “Survivor” winner Tyson Apostol, to help him break the rules.
CBS/Getty“I told Tyson, ‘I’ll be lookout. You go rip a piece of cloth off your shirt and go stick it in the gasoline. We’re going to make a fire’,” added Mariano. “So, he does, comes back, and all of a sudden we hit the flint and machete, and one spark, a huge fireball in the jungle.”
Despite their resourcefulness, Mariano admitted that he didn’t walk away from the stunt without input from producers.
“We had to put the fire out,” he said. “And we were heavily reprimanded.”
Jeff Probst Opens Up About Cheating on ‘Survivor’
While outright cheating on “Survivor,” like stealing another player’s Hidden Immunity Idol, is strictly forbidden, Jeff Probst previously revealed that production doesn’t always intervene when players bend the rules.
“The big guiding philosophy is we try to have as few rules as possible on ‘Survivor’,” said Probst on the “On Fire With Jeff Probst” podcast in 2023. “We try to let [castaways] create their own society. And I know that sounds heady, but that is how we look at it. So in this world, if you’re going to cheat, you might get away with it, there might be payback, somebody might notice and want to align with you because you cheated. It’s your world, what do you want to do with it?”
One of the most glaring, and frequent instances of ‘cheating’ on “Survivor” comes during puzzle challenges, where castaways will oftentimes try to copy off of one another.
TwitterWhile Probst argued that production sometimes tries to avoid these moments by putting up blinders or giving players “a cloth to cover [their] answer from the other tribe,” the longtime host admitted that it can’t always be prevented.
“Lots of times it’s logistical – it’s just too big and you can’t pull it off,” said Probst.
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Boston Rob Reveals What Happens When You Break the Rules on ‘Survivor’