Survivor is one of the best reality shows of all time, and the generations of fans have been treated to a wild Season 50 so far. The cast of Survivor 50 has been duking it out on CBS (and streaming with a Paramount+ subscription), including some notable feuds. And in honor of Aubry and Genevieve's conflict finally reaching a boiling point on Episode 6, two-time player Rob Cesternino spoke to CinemaBlend about one contestant he couldn't get along with while playing the game.
Prior to being part of the Traitors Season 4 cast, Rob Cesternino was part of some of the best Survivor seasons. The reality TV icon and founder of the Rob Has A Podcast network is speaking weekly with CinemaBlend about Survivor 50, and when discussing the feud between Aubry and Genevieve, I asked if he had anyone who he couldn't connect with on the island. He told me:
Not anything at all like this. I would say that maybe the person from my Survivor All Stars experience was that I just felt like that Amber didn't really love having me around. I felt like I had a good relationship with Rob and with Tom, but I felt like that Amber was the person that she's like 'Keep an eye on this guy. I don't know if we trust him.'
What a bummer. Longtime fans of Survivor know that Amber ultimately won All Stars back in its eighth season, which was the first one to feature returning players. Her alliance with Boston Rob took them to the end, with the pair getting engaged during the live reunion. So the fact that Cesternino couldn't get Amber to trust him is a real bummer that likely contributed to his early boot.
In the end Rob Cesternino was the fourth elimination of All Stars, the first person voted off of the Chapera tribe. And for his money, it sounds like Amber was leading that charge. As he went on to tell me:
And I feel like that she was enough in Rob's ear where that I think that there were positive feelings and, and a good relationship and foundation between Rob Mariano and I. But I think that Amber was probably the most consistent voice of like, 'Hey, this is the guy we need to worry about. We should get rid of him.'
Aside from how much money Survivor contestants make, one of the show's biggest mysteries is exactly how/why people chose to make an alliance. Sometimes its about the numbers and sometimes it's just about vibes. The latter was true for Rob and Amber, as well as Aubry and Genevieve. Namely because there was no point of drama or an incident that began those feuds.
The fact that Amber wasn't a fan of Cesternino during All Stars was a real bummer, because we lost out on some great content from the strategist and soundbite machine. Jeff Probst famously dubbed him the "best player to never win", although he's had a thriving career podcasting about Reality TV. Fans were overjoyed to see him back on the screen in The Traitors, and are hoping he gets asked to return for another season. Fingers crossed.
New episodes of Survivor air Wednesdays on CBS and streaming the next day on Paramount+ as part of the 2026 TV schedule. Rob Cesternino is releasing a book called The Tribe and I Have Spoken on May 6th, and is doing a book tour as well. Visit robhasawebsite.com/events for more information!
