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Jonathan Young finds himself on the verge of winning the biggest Survivor season ever, and if he does, he might have Survivor legend Boston Rob Mariano to thank.
Young, 32, struck up a friendship with Mariano, 50, after his original run in Survivor 42. Mariano is a five-time Survivor player himself and winner of Survivor: Redemption Island. He spoke exclusively with Us Weekly and revealed what he told Young before he headed out to Fiji last year to film Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.
“I tried to coach him up a little before he went there, and so far he’s hanging in it,” Mariano told Us as part of his partnership with Dramamine. “I told Jonathan, like there’s a lot of things you can control, and the things you can’t control, you can’t worry about.”
Young placed fourth in his first time playing Survivor, back in 2022, where he lost to Mike Turner in the finale night fire-making challenge. Maryanne Oketch went on to win Survivor 42.
This time, he goes up against three other new-era all-stars in Tiffany Ervin (Survivor 46), Joe Hunter (Survivor 48) and Rizo Velovic (Survivor 49), as well as four-time old era Survivor veteran Aubry Bracco. The winner will not only earn the title of Sole Survivor, but will also earn $2 million, matching season 40 for the biggest grand prize in the show’s history.
As for Mariano, he confirmed to Us what he has said in the past — that his playing days are over. (He previously said he declined the opportunity to play Survivor 50, wanting his spot to “go to someone else.”)
“I love Survivor. It’s been a huge part of my life,” he told Us. “I feel like I’ve gotten everything out of it. I didn’t play 50. I’m not playing 51 or 52. So it’s been amazing, but that chapter as a player is closed.”
For now, Mariano is keeping busy in other ways. He and wife Amber Brkich, whom he met on Survivor All-Stars, which she won, now share daughters Lucia, 16, Carina, 15, Isabetta, 14, and Adelina, 11. With summer vacation approaching, he again has his mind on an island getaway — but this time without the camera crews and Survivor production staff.
“I love to travel and we’re not really sit-on-the-beach so much,” Mariano said of his family. “We like to get out there and do it, so sometimes sports, or anything from sports to bungee jumping to fishing to boating, we’re an active family.”
That sense of adventure is the Mariano family’s “why,” and, as he points out, Dramamine’s campaign is all about finding “your why,” not letting nausea slow you down.
“I’m not afraid to go for new things and try new things, and I think that’s what [the campaign with Dramamine] embraces, not letting something like motion sickness or nausea hold you back,” he said.
Mariano jokingly added that he wished he had Dramamine on Survivor with him, particularly the first time he played in 2001, when the boats themselves were even more nausea-inducing than his competition.
“I remember…going back and forth to the press day and throwing up over the side of the boat taking us there. It’s pretty miserable,” he recalled.
The season finale of Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans airs on CBS Wednesday, May 20 at 8 p.m. ET.
