Deal or No Deal Island Discussion: Let's see what's on the Board

[tv echo]

Deal or No Deal Island: Season Two Renewal Announced for NBC Game Show
by Trevor Kimball, May 7, 2024
https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/deal-or-no-deal-island-season-two-renewal-announced-for-nbc-game-show/

Quote

A new group of players will have a chance to win the Banker’s money in the 2024-25 TV season. Deal or No Deal Island has been renewed for a second season on NBC. The first season is currently airing on Monday nights.
*  *  *
Airing on Monday nights, the first season of Deal or No Deal Island averages a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 2.69 million viewers in the live+same day ratings (including DVR playback through 3:00 AM). According to NBC, the episodes average about 5.8 million viewers across all platforms.
*  *  *
The current season of 12 episodes finishes airing next Monday night.  A premiere date for season two will be announced in the future.

Edited May 8 by tv echo

[lasu]

22 hours ago, fishcakes said:

hen he was waiting for Jordan to figure out the number so that his penalty time could begin to run, I was wondering what would happen if he just told her the number. No one said that was against the rules. It probably would have been okay if he'd figured it out himself, just like it was apparently okay for Stephanie to follow Jordan, but since he'd already broken a rule, it likely would have gotten him bounced on the spot. Which is a shame because if it worked, Amy and Stephanie would be bitter about it forever and I feel okay about that.

Another option would have been to force Rob out of the game but I don't think they realized it.  His penalty was to go last, plus the amount of time between first and second place puzzle finishes.  Jordan and Stephanie could have just agreed to chitchat for the next hour or two before they went back to solving the puzzle.  I would have been the smarter thing to do, because it would have filled one of the elimination spots (whoever comes in last), increasing their chances of making it to the final two.  Doing this wouldn't have hurt them in any way, because the top three people back with cases are then in an equal game of chance of who has the lowest case.  There is no advantage to coming in first, second, or third.  Amy would have had plenty of time to run the maze with no chance of Rob passing her, but wouldn't have gained any advantage (beyond getting to choose the first unmarked case), and they would have been able to stroll through the maze, pick up two cases, and leave Rob as the last place finisher.  If he takes one of their spots, they only have themselves to blame (and the producers who should have eliminated him on the spot [though I believe him when he said he was only half listening and trying to think of an advantage]).

[realitytvfan1017]

20 hours ago, bunnyface said:

As others have said, Rob is the only reason I watched this.  Not because I'm infatuated with him, but he was the only interesting element.  I was curious to see what they would do with him.  Had he been eliminated early, I would have stopped.  Did they do whatever they had to do to keep him in?  I dunno...but here we are.  If he goes immediately, I can fast forward to the end and either rejoice in Stephanie losing or be enraged by her winning.  The rest is just filler.

I don’t think I can watch the rest of the episode if Amy and Stephanie are the finalists. 

[Ilovepie]

On 5/7/2024 at 5:28 AM, seacliffsal said:

This is not a spoiler as I didn't even watch the previews but in my opinion only I think Rob is out and that they didn't show it as some of us might not watch the finale if it's down to 'Night Owls' only.  But, I hope it's Amy who is out as I have been over her for pretty much the whole season when her mean girl self first emerged.  Oh, and Rob's line about 'kids, your mother doesn't care about you'-priceless!  If Rob is out, I hope that he did receive some kind of appearance fee as he deserves it (even for just luring some viewers, such as myself, to the show).

THIS. Just judging from that map showing where they are in the maze, I feel like Rob is going to run out of maze before he can catch Amy. 

 

On 5/7/2024 at 10:13 AM, fishcakes said:

When he was waiting for Jordan to figure out the number so that his penalty time could begin to run, I was wondering what would happen if he just told her the number. No one said that was against the rules.

I said this exact thing to my husband! And this would be such a Rob move to find an angle to get around the rules!

 

On 5/7/2024 at 10:15 AM, AntFTW said:

If that's right and Rob is eliminated, my only motivation for watching is seeing Stephanie lose. That's it. I don't care who wins the game as long as it's not Stephanie. If Rob sticks around, then I'm rooting for Rob to take it all.

Same. Although I cannot stand Amy either. I did love Rob's amusement and dragging of her mental game when she swore on her kid's necklace. 

[Thalia]

This skirts pretty close to a spoiler, so I'm tagging it as such.  It is based on what  person said when he froze an above the maze visual, showing both Rob and Amy. 

Spoiler

I think I saw this on Instagram.   Do you remember Amy hitting a dead end after she got the case?  A young man paused the tv, and he identified Amy in that spot and saw how close Rob was to reaching the place where she took the wrong turn.  It definitely looked doable for Rob to pass Amy before she got back on the main path, thereby beating her to the end of the maze.

I hope it is true

 

 

[Thalia]

This article has some interesting speculation on whether or not Rob is eliminated.  Among other things the author suggests that Rob might have received some kind of advantage when he retrieved the case that Ben dropped at the beginning of the last episode.   It also mentions yet another moment shown in the season 1 preview at the end of the episode that probably shows who got out of the maze first.  

https://thedirect.com/article/deal-or-no-deal-island-finale-spoilers-who-wins-the-show

[seacliffsal]

I have seen casting calls for season two (and have read about this show being renewed).  I doubt I will be watching another season unless there is at least one contestant cast in whom I am interested.  The basic show itself doesn't interest me that much (as I keep trying to understand various elements of it and the appeal of potentially going home with $.01...).  I'm not even sure if I will watch the entire finale (depending on who advances), let alone another season.  Unless, of course, one of you-my dear posters- are cast (then, I will be here cheering you on)...

[DEL901]

42 minutes ago, seacliffsal said:

I have seen casting calls for season two (and have read about this show being renewed).  I doubt I will be watching another season unless there is at least one contestant cast in whom I am interested.  The basic show itself doesn't interest me that much (as I keep trying to understand various elements of it and the appeal of potentially going home with $.01...).  I'm not even sure if I will watch the entire finale (depending on who advances), let alone another season.  Unless, of course, one of you-my dear posters- are cast (then, I will be here cheering you on)...

Agree.  And if the “winner” doesn’t win some big bucks, I think they will lose even more of the audience.  

And I wonder if sort of a reverse fox was in.  Pay Rob to join the show and cause some buzz, but not to win because there might be blow back at him winning yet another show.  

[Thalia]

6 hours ago, DEL901 said:

And I wonder if sort of a reverse fox was in.  Pay Rob to join the show and cause some buzz, but not to win because there might be blow back at him winning yet another show.  

I thought about this too.   

Suits:  there will be widespread outrage if Millionaire Rob the Professional Reality TV Star makes it to the end and beats out Jane Average Citizen.  Let's cast Rob with the understanding that he can't win at the end in exchange for buckets of cash and plenty of publicity.

They may not have realized how endearing Boston Rob would be and how even casual fans are pulling for him.  Even moreso, there is no way that they could have anticipated the alchemy of Rob and Aron, which created magic and which further ended up alienating fans from any person who had the temerity of to criticize one or the other or both.  

I can see all of this happening.   What I don't see is Rob agreeing to "fake cheat."  I think most people who have followed him over the years believe him when he says that he doesn't cheat and this was an honest, if dumb, mistake.   

But there has to be a segment of people who will forever after be saying, "Boston Rob?  Isn't he the guy who cheated on DONDI?"

Edited May 10 by Thalia

[AntFTW]

3 minutes ago, Thalia said:

I can see all of this happening.   What I don't see is Rob agreeing to "fake cheat."  I think most people who have followed him over the years believe him that he doesn't cheat and this was an honest, if dumb, mistake. 

I don’t see it either. Rob doesn’t seem like the type to agree to come on the show and not win.

If the rules of the game was that someone could come in and sabotage everyone to “steal” the prize, I can see Rob agreeing to that. That way he can still win.

[fishcakes]

2 hours ago, Thalia said:

But there has to be a segment of people who will forever after be saying, "Boston Rob?  Isn't he the guy who cheated on DONDI?"

These would be the same people who are still saying that Rob and Amber cheated at Survivor by getting married. They've been married for almost 20 years and have four daughters, but still these fools are like, "yes, that was all part of the plan so they could split $550,000 after-tax dollars."

[bunnyface]

I can see them paying Rob an appearance fee just to get the interest going.  He always thinks he will be voted out first and even says "if you're smart, you'll get rid of me first."  I think he's just as amazed as everyone else when that doesn't happen.  So I think he goes in with the expectation of not lasting, surely these people won't let him get near the money...so an appearance fee would be appealing.

I don't think he would take it with the understanding he would be cheating anyone else out of a a fair shot at winning.  

[Diana Berry]

From IG , rob and amber did buy a new ranch house ( nothing particularly fancy) just a bigger ranch house several months ago.  He said they needed more room because of the girls getting older.  But most these shows have a sliding scale for how many episodes you last. So prob doesn’t mean anything. 

in Robs defense , on survivor , you can look at others teams work for example on puzzles.  But more contestants are catching on and knocking them down after finishing them. 

Edited May 12 by Diana Berry

[Thalia]

I'm so nervous about tonight.  Good luck Rob, and may the best person, as long as it isn't Amy or Stephanie, win!

[Thalia]

[Click]  Let's see what else is on.   

At least Stephanie is out too. 

[DEL901]

Amy’s intuition says she will be at the end?   Seriously?    Amy couldn’t even walk without tipping over.  

And her phoney compliments when Rob was eliminated.  Where’s the vomit emoji?

[DEL901]

Amy and her hateful expression as she tried to shake Jordan off….she deserved to fall so hard!

[AntFTW]

Jordan... is... too good for reality TV. 😂

She's too much of a sweetheart. She's gotten on no one's bad side.

[Thalia]

She ought to take the money.

[DEL901]

5/8 values are smaller than the offer.   Odds are she has a small case.  

[Thalia]

Did they even tell her how many more cases she has to open?

[AntFTW]

6 minutes ago, Thalia said:

She ought to take the money.

I would have.

[AntFTW]

I feel like NBC would have been pissed if they had to cut a check for $13.8 million for a single game show. 😂

[Thalia]

I turned it back on when I checked to see if Amy was out.  YES.   Although I might have liked seeing her win a thousand dollars since she said she was going on about it. 

It was fun to watch the case part with someone as likable and as worthy as Jordan.  @AntFTW, they would have hated the $13 mill but what if you had someone like Amy just keep going and ending up with $1K.   This was just about right.   Record amount for a single show, but it didn't break NBC Howie's Bank.  

The bit with Jordan, Mr. Jordan, and Baby Joe Howie Jordan was sweet.  Congratulations!

Edited May 14 by Thalia

[AntFTW]

27 minutes ago, Thalia said:

It was fun to watch the case part with someone as likable and as worthy as Jordan.

Agreed. If Rob wasn't going to win, this was the next best scenario exactly as it happened, of which an important part of that was Stephanie being eliminated in the first 5 minutes.

31 minutes ago, Thalia said:

they would have hated the $13 mill but what if you had someone like Amy just keep going and ending up with $1K. 

That would have been great entertainment. I think Amy's full of shit though. She would have taken the $1.2 mill if it was her up there. Easy to say when she's not the one playing.

[mertensia]

Okay, is Amy really short or are Stephanie and Jordan just that tall?

[Tdoc72]

4 hours ago, DEL901 said:

Amy and her hateful expression as she tried to shake Jordan off….she deserved to fall so hard!

All I kept thinking was if that was Rob and Amy up there and Rob was shaking it, she’d be having a fit. 
~~~~
Congrats to Jordan and I hope she has a healthy baby. 

[DEL901]

7 hours ago, AntFTW said:

I feel like NBC would have been pissed if they had to cut a check for $13.8 million for a single game show. 😂

I understand there is some kind of insurance they can buy…

[tv echo]

Deal or No Deal Island winner (and Banker) revealed
By Dalton Ross   May 13, 2024 
https://ew.com/deal-or-no-deal-island-winner-banker-howie-mandel-revealed-8647421 

Boston Rob Says He ‘Easily’ Would’ve Won ‘Deal or No Deal Island’ Without That Penalty
Amanda Bell    May 13, 2024
https://www.tvinsider.com/1135866/deal-or-no-deal-island-winner-boston-rob-mariano-loses/ 

[seacliffsal]

I wasn't surprised that Rob was last out of the maze as several of us anticipated that after last week's episode.  If he had made it to the final two I absolutely believe he would have been in the finale as I have seen him do amazing physical things on Survivor, albeit he was much younger.

Was so glad Stephanie was out right after Rob.  And, was really glad it was Jordan in the finale (as Rob was out).  

Most of you thought Howie would be the banker-good call.  Interesting to see the differences between the two hosts.

Amy just never shuts out.  After the $13 million dollar case was revealed and Jordan was devastated, Amy said to her twice 'I told you to take number 7."  Amy, just stop.  Hopefully I will never see most of these contestants on my t.v. again and will never hear 'night owls' outside of a nature show.

[bunnyface]

Somewhere I read that Rob "absolutely cheated" but I don't think so.  Rob has enough confidence in himself, he doesn't need to cheat.  It was just a boneheaded move that cost him.  Dearly.

When Amy was trying to shake Jordan off the rope, I kept thinking if she falls, she's going to get right back up and do it to you and you already can't stay up there.  You know Amy would be pissed if Jordan did it to her.

I always pick a case myself.  I picked 11.  I picked it just because, but if you want to use their reasoning, my birthday has an 11, my parents' anniversary has an 11, there is an 11 in our address.   It had the penny.  I would have taken any deal over a million, but I had the penny in my case.  

It was fun while it lasted but I can't see myself watching another season unless they come up with some REALLY interesting in the cast.  

Edited May 14 by bunnyface

[fishcakes]

Jordan being the final contestant was the worst for me in terms of interest because I didn't care if she did well or poorly against the banker. If it had been Rob, I'd been rooting for him to win a lot and if it were Amy or Stephanie I would have been hoping they ended up with next to nothing, but Jordan? Meh. I mean, good for her, but she lost me when she turned down the first million plus offer. If someone offers you a million dollars, you don't risk that.

OTOH, this game is so dumb, it ended up not being a risk because the offer went up even though the case she eliminated after that was the $13M one. At that point, the offer should have gone waaaay down, but instead Howie increased it by a few thousand? That's stupid. I never watched the original show, but if that's how they did it, with the offer never decreasing, then everyone could just stay in it until the next to last round, then take the offer, and even an alleged "bad deal" would still be pretty damn good.

Stephanie's evil grinning while Rob was being eliminated was more than made up for by her going out two minutes later. And I was honestly shocked by Amy trying to bounce Jordan off the rope. I can't remember ever seeing anyone trying (and being allowed!) to interfere with another player that way on any other show before. There was an incident on The Amazing Race where a team tried to move some equipment needed in a challenge to make it harder for following teams to find it, but they were immediately penalized for it.

I probably wouldn't watch another season of this without a known reality show veteran, or better, an entire cast of them, but the non-suitcase part of the show was pretty fun, so I might watch for that.

 

Edited May 14 by fishcakes

[lasu]

1 hour ago, bunnyface said:

Somewhere I read that Rob "absolutely cheated" but I don't think so.  Rob has enough confidence in himself, he doesn't need to cheat.  It was just a boneheaded move that cost him.  Dearly.

I think you're getting stuck on intent.  Rob did absolutely cheat* - he gained an advantage by breaking a rule, and was penalized for it.  However, I agree that he didn't PURPOSEFULLY cheat.  I think he wasn't playing attention to the rules and that led to the rule break.  And while I don't think he did it intentionally, and I overall like Rob, I think the penalty should have been bigger than it was.  It didn't matter in the end, though -  the penalty was too much for him to overcome.

 

*He did cheat, but I wouldn't find it fair to call him a cheater because of it.

[realitytvfan1017]

12 hours ago, AntFTW said:

Jordan... is... too good for reality TV. 😂

She's too much of a sweetheart. She's gotten on no one's bad side.

And that’s why everyone was able to actually able to root for her in the finale and mean it. 

[realitytvfan1017]

I was sad that Rob was eliminated but it was made better when Stephanie was eliminated shortly after. I do wonder how the eliminated cast members would have reacted if Amy or Stephanie went for the money with the banker. I didn’t want to watch Amy or Stephanie in case they did get a lot of money. If not Rob, I’m so happy Jordan one. She definitely deserves it and deserves all the happiness with her husband and future baby.
 

[Thalia]

1 hour ago, fishcakes said:

OTOH, this game is so dumb, it ended up not being a risk because the offer went up even though the case she eliminated after that was the $13M one. At that point, the offer should have gone waaaay down, but instead Howie increased it by a few thousand? That's stupid. I never watched the original show, but if that's how they did it, with the offer never decreasing, then everyone could just stay in it until the next to last round, then take the offer, and even an alleged "bad deal" would still be pretty damn good.

I was thinking the same thing.  With all the hype this show has gotten about the huge money amount, there was no way they wanted to send someone home with less than $1 million.  

Did you ever find out what the value of your last case was, and if you’d have made it into the top two?

Boston Rob:  I personally didn’t open it but Joe Manganiello and I have spoken since the show ended, and he told me he did open it and that I would have made it. Adds a little salt to the wound.

[DEL901]

1 hour ago, Thalia said:

I was thinking the same thing.  With all the hype this show has gotten about the huge money amount, there was no way they wanted to send someone home with less than $1 million.  

Did you ever find out what the value of your last case was, and if you’d have made it into the top two?

Boston Rob:  I personally didn’t open it but Joe Manganiello and I have spoken since the show ended, and he told me he did open it and that I would have made it. Adds a little salt to the wound.

Fun factoid…Joe has admitted to being a reality tv fan and fanboying over meeting Rob.  

[AntFTW]

7 hours ago, fishcakes said:

OTOH, this game is so dumb, it ended up not being a risk because the offer went up even though the case she eliminated after that was the $13M one.

I thought it was pretty much guaranteed that she was going to walk away with a sizeable prize because there were so many high value cases in play. If I were playing, I would have been glad to have chosen any of the higher amounts. Once I saw the board, the $13MM case became less valuable. Jordan had a 50/50 chance of picking a case of at least $1 million (I think the board was half over and half under).

Edited May 14 by AntFTW

[GenerationX]

The show, in order to get another season, needed a likable winner with a big payday.  They got it.  With two cases to open and only two large amounts left, the show could have done anything.  They could very easily have lowered the offer,  forcing Jordan to either take the lower offer or take a huge risk (and potentially walk away with next to nothing).  They didn't lower the offer, because they wanted the splashy, feel good win.  It was made even better when her case had a low amount.

All of that said, I'm ambivalent about another season.  I was mostly just interested in Rob's dissection of the game and humorous commentary.  I don't think it would be as interesting the second time around.

[seacliffsal]

Regarding why the offer went up after Jordan eliminated the largest amount, I think it was due to all of the hype about 'up to 200 million dollars' (which was nothing but snake oil as that may have been the value of ALL of the cases, but only 1 case but 'excursion' went to the total overall value of the final case), the hype about the final showdown, etc., and there was no way the producers wanted the 'winner' to walk away with hardly anything after all the weeks of the show.  

Each episode really seemed to lag during the suitcase portion as there really wasn't a 'pay-off' to how much each individual won as it went into a pot that only the final contestant could win (and usually doesn't throughout all iterations of this show).  The 'strategizing' of the contestants and alliances didn't really amount to much because it was 50/50 that the suitcase player went home or the person of their choice went home.  And, the week that a bonus suitcase stated "no elimination" was a total waste.  For me, Rob was the only interesting player and I was so over the mean girl alliance, I mean the 'night owls' alliance. Quite frankly, even though Jordan told us in a confessional that she didn't appreciate what they were saying about other people, she was complicent in their statements and sentiments because she never said anything to them.  It's a valid strategy, but it doesn't necessarily put her in a good light.

Due to the glamping, provided meals, shower and toileting facilities, I wonder how Rob views this show versus Survivor during which one of the final challenges in the season he won I thought he was going to pass out or worse due to their having to run up and down the staircase numerous times in the heat.  Oh, and even though I have previously stated this, I really hope he got a huge appearance fee for this show.

[AntFTW]

I have to say... I prefer when the banker doesn't talk. I get to imagine how petty the banker is being, and he's much more petty than Howie. The banker in my head refers to everyone as peasants.

[jabRI]

Don't remember her name, but Aron's buddy, the red head, did we ever find out what her personal prize was that she grabbed from the tree early in the season? Probably revealed but I missed it.

[DEL901]

Just now, jabRI said:

Don't remember her name, but Aron's buddy, the red head, did we ever find out what her personal prize was that she grabbed from the tree early in the season? Probably revealed but I missed it.

I think Joe said that they all had a $20,000 prize if they wanted to take the time to climb up but she was the only one who did.  

[Thalia]

https://robhasawebsite.com/deal-or-no-deal-island-boston-rob-post-game-interview-hit-or-quit/

Above is a link to today's interview between Rob Cesternino and Boston Rob.   Earlier this week, hoping there would be a clue or two as to whether Rob beat Amy, I had watched a pre-season interview between the Robs.  

No clue, but one thing that stood out between the two podcasts was Rob's mood.  He was really happy during the interview he game in February of this year.   BR was coy, but it was pretty clear he was happy with the way his game had gone.  

Today he was bummed.  I wonder if it was a result of watching the game with his daughters, because he said when he looked at Amy's answer at least one of them cried "No, dad!"  

A tidbits, he and Amy were not as close as the edit suggested.  He heard them all clap and whoop at her arrival not long after he'd grabbed his case.   Rob considered yelling out 75 to Jordan and Stephanie after the reset, but he made the mistake of asking a producer if he could do it and was shot down; he wished he hadn't asked and just done it.  

According to him, he really didn't want to face the banker when he and Aron tied for the bottom two.  Once he realized that Amy would have the top case, he asked her to choose Aron if he and Rob were tied.   Not sure if I believe that, because it didn't seem clear to me at the time that the top case would have any power.  But maybe we just didn't see it.  

Other than that, he was just pretty gracious about everyone, even if he didn't say anything nice about individual Night Owls.   But he did look like he knew he made a huge error and was upset.  It must have been worse after he saw the finale, because he could have beaten any of the women easily in the physical challenges.  

Edited May 15 by Thalia

[AntFTW]

38 minutes ago, Thalia said:

A tidbits, he and Amy were not as close as the edit suggested.  He heard them all clap and whoop at her arrival not long after he'd grabbed his case.   Rob considered yelling out 75 to Jordan and Stephanie after the reset, but he made the mistake of asking a producer if he could do it and was shot down; he wished he hadn't asked and just done it.

I saw the interview a hours ago and that was a question I had while watching last week. The rules as we heard didn't prohibit telling the other players the answers and I wondered if they were allowed to. When @lasu mentioned that Jordan and Stephanie could have sat there and wasted some time until Amy got back which would have increased the time Rob had to wait, I thought about Amy telling them the answer. Then, they could waste time and just put in the answer when Amy comes back because the rules only said they couldn't look at another player's board but never said players couldn't tell each other the answer. However, then I considered how Stephanie played the game throughout the season, and I couldn't imagine Stephanie following through with that plan.

I saw other interviews of the final 4 contestants and Stephanie mentioned that she was not a risk taker. I said to myself "I could tell." She plays to save herself, and nothing else. She was never willing to take a risk.

[Meedis]

I didn't really know who Jordan was until maybe half way through the series but was I glad she pulled out the win in the end.    If Rob didn't make it, I'm glad Jordan did.   In regards to why Jordan didn't take the first million plus offer, I think it was mostly peer pressure from the peanut gallery.    It seemed to me like she wanted to but decided to go on to appease the other players.   I'm glad she took the next offer.

It would've been funny seeing the players reactions if Stephanie had made it as the final player.    I can't say enough how glad I am that Amy didn't make it.   I get it's a competition but her actions were icky.   I believe she got the $65k personal offer so she's good...LOL.

ETA...I couldn't help but notice that Claudia and Kim were sitting on opposite sides of the bleachers.   Wonder if that was intentional.   Also didn't look like Claudia was thrilled sitting next to Stephanie.

Edited May 15 by Meedis

[tv echo]

Ratings: SYTYCD Hits 6-Episode High; The Voice, Jeopardy! Lead Night With CBS Now in Reruns
BY MATT WEBB MITOVICH   MAY 14, 2024
https://tvline.com/ratings/deal-or-no-deal-island-season-1-finale-viewers-1235238723/ 

Quote

NBC | The Voice (with 5.1 million total viewers and a 0.4 demo rating, read recap) lost a few eyeballs week-to-week, while Deal or No Deal Island (3.1 mil/0.3) added some with its finale.

Boston Rob Mariano Kept His 'Brutal' Deal or No Deal Island Fate from Wife Amber: 'It Spoils the Fun' (Exclusive)
By Dave Quinn   May 15, 2024 
https://people.com/boston-rob-mariano-kept-his-deal-or-no-deal-island-fate-from-wife-amber-exclusive-8648285 

Quote

After 19 years marriage, there's not much Rob Mariano and Amber Mariano don't know about one another. But there is one topic he tells PEOPLE he keeps close to his chest: his fate on reality TV competition shows.

"I never tell her how I do," explains Rob, 48. "It spoils the fun."
*  *  *
But the 45-year-old mom — who shares Lucia, 14, Karina, 13. Isa, 12 and Adelina, 9, with Rob — didn't learn how Rob did on his latest show, NBC's Deal or No Deal Island, until the finale aired on the evening of Monday, May 13.
*  *  *
"At the end of the day, I definitely own it," Rob says. "I looked at her board, I tried to get an advantage. I wasn't supposed to do that, I've just been conditioned over all the years of playing Survivor where that's not only allowed, but encouraged. You'd be ridiculous to not try to get that advantage, you know? But banker's island, bankers rules. Live by the sword, die by the sword. So I had to accept the penalty."
*  *  *
"It was brutal, especially watching it back," Rob admits. "Living it was tough, but watching it back also brought up a lot of emotions."
*  *  *
"I'm lucky in that regard," Rob says. "I have such a great family, and Amber has always been so supportive. She understands my need for competition. I grew up playing sports, and I absolutely love to compete, so she allows me to quench that thirst every couple of years on all these different shows."
*  *  *
"It's a ridiculous lifestyle that I've been living, but I'm very grateful," he adds. "You know, I'm coming up on 50 years old and I started this thing when I was 24, 25. To just to be able to get out there after all these years and see if I could still do it, that was my personal challenge. So as far as I'm concerned, I won."

Boston Rob Mariano Reveals What Reality Show He'd Do Next After 'Deal or No Deal Island'
MIKE BLOOM    MAY 14, 2024
https://parade.com/tv/deal-or-no-deal-island-boston-rob-mariano-australian-survivor-traitors 

Quote

"So interestingly enough, I think the format of the show lends to really no hard feelings amongst the people that are eliminated," Boston Rob tells Parade.com. "Because it wasn't like a vote or something personal, that ended up causing someone's demise for the most part, with the exception of maybe the people that sat at the end that were targeted because they had beaten the Banker. I didn't even get taken out by another contestant or luck. It was kind of my own undoing. So I had nobody to blame but myself. So I was genuinely excited for her [Jordan] to play the Banker and bank a big amount of money to take home. I felt like if it wasn't me, it was definitely a worthy opponent. And I think that for the most part, that was the sentiment of everyone that sat up there at the end."
*  *  *
"I've always said it would take some kind of unique format change to make me go back and compete over there [on Survivor]," he said. "Something would have to happen, otherwise we're faced with the same situation where they gang up on me and want to get me out, or keep me around for a little bit, or whatever."

... Rumors have been swirling about the upcoming tenth season of Australian Survivor, Australia's version of the hit reality stalwart that has been going strong since a 2016 reboot. It has been heavily speculated that producers are pursuing an "Australia vs. U.S." format, which pits legends from both franchises against each other to see which country reigns supreme. So, what are the chances Boston Rob would want to come out of Survivor retirement for the opportunity to go head-to-head with some of Australia's best?

In Rob's own words (or word), "Unlikely."
*  *  *
"From an outside point of view, just my perspective, the Australians would crush us," he says. "Because physically they play a lot of a harder game, a lot stronger. At the same time, I don't know that they would crush us strategically. I feel like we have a lot of good strategic players in the U.S. And then how would that work? Unless we all started on the same tribe, and then it's going to be divided. [Otherwise], it's going to be based on who wins more challenges. It just feels like it'll be a Pagonging."
*  *  *
"I watched the first season of The Traitors when Cirie won, and I thought she did a great job," he says about the reality series. "And then I watched the most recent season with Parvati and Sandra and Trishelle. And I think they really upped the game. I love the strategy aspect of it. I love the fact that they feed you and you don't have to sleep on an island. So it's right up my alley in terms of that. I actually played a lot of Among Us during the pandemic. So it's interesting, I would consider it."

Edited May 15 by tv echo

[Vikitty]

If it couldn't be Rob, I'm glad it was Jordan. Stephanie was such a bitch and Amy wasn't much better.

[jabRI]

And did you know Amy had kids?  Sheez. as if that qualifies you for $1m.

[tv echo]

‘Deal or No Deal Island’ Winner Jordan Fowler Didn’t Expect Howie Mandel to Be a ‘Sassy’ Banker (Exclusive)
By Kaitlin Simpson  May 15, 2024
https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/deal-or-no-deal-island-winner-jordan-weighs-in-on-sassy-howie-mandel/ 

Quote

“Did I imagine my first encounter with Howie to be like that? Sassy? No, but he brought the fire,” Fowler, 29, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, May 14, following the Deal or No Deal Island finale. “So I’m like, ‘Alright, we’re going to level up then you don’t know who you’re messing with.’ So he started it, but I was surely going to finish it.”
*  *  *
“It is so different to be standing up there looking at six, seven-digit numbers. That is cold, hard cash versus sitting on your couch eating popcorn,” Fowler recalled of how tempting the other offers were. “You’re watching someone you don’t know and you’re like, No deal. No deal. Go all the way to the end. This was real money. So to have these insane offers and to say no deal is unbelievable. Every offer was life-changing and then it just kept building on to the next one.”

Stephanie Mitchell ‘Never’ Imagined Feuding with Boston Rob Mariano on ‘Deal or No Deal Island’ (Exclusive)
By Kaitlin Simpson  May 15, 2024
https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/deal-or-no-deal-islands-stephanie-weighs-in-on-boston-rob-feud/ 

Quote

“I have an idea of how Rob plays. I know who he is and it’s really hard to separate that because this is competitive reality [TV.] He wins by doing what he does,” Mitchell, 41, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, May 14, following the Deal or No Deal Island season finale. “So when I saw him, I was like, there’s no way that’s Rob. I’m like, this is real.”

Mitchell, who is a competitive reality superfan, shared that she recognized Mariano, 48, right away as his Survivor season, Redemption Island, is one of her favorites to watch. The midwife joked that once she saw Mariano step foot on the island she knew that the competition was the real deal.
*  *  *
Since leaving the banker’s island, Mitchell shared that she left her tension with Mariano in the game.

“We have to definitely separate our game from real life, the people, how you are when you are competing to change the life of yourself and your family for millions and millions of dollars,” she said. “These sorts of prizes are unparalleled and unprecedented in any modern program. You’re going to play to your strengths and the best way that you can. My strengths are knowing competitive reality, strategy and gaming. And that’s what I leaned into. I’m not sad about it, it’s just what I happen to know about.”

Edited May 16 by tv echo