“Boston” Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich began dating on ‘Survivor: All-Stars,’ and they’ve since welcomed four daughters
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Amber Brkich and “Boston” Rob Mariano; Keith Tollefson and Whitney Duncan.
Between the extreme heat and gnarly wildlife encounters, Survivor isn’t exactly the most romantic setting for falling in love — still, a few showmances have withstood the test of time.
Survivor sweethearts “Boston” Rob Mariano and Amber Mariano (née Brkich) have competed on a combined eight seasons. Their love story began on All-Stars, which was filmed in 2003 and culminated in a 2004 proposal during the live finale in front of their families and a studio audience.
“Regardless of what happens here tonight with the vote, I feel like I already won. I have the most special girl in the entire world sitting here right next to me,” Rob told host Jeff Probst before the votes were read (and Amber was ultimately crowned the winner).
The Survivor power couple recently celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary, with Rob calling their decades-long relationship “#TheUltimateAlliance” in a heartfelt Instagram tribute.
But they aren’t the only castaways to fall in love after meeting on the island. Survivor veterans Joe Anglim and Sierra Dawn Anglim (née Thomas) struck up a romance after competing in rival alliances on season 30 (Worlds Apart). More recently, Matthew Blankinship and Frannie Marin developed a showmance on season 44.
There are even couples who got together after competing on different seasons of the show. Alex Bell from Survivor: The Amazon and Kim Powers from Survivor: Africa fell in love and got married in 2006; meanwhile, Teeny Chirichillo of Survivor 47 and Stephanie Berger of Survivor 48 have been together since August 2025.
“When it happens on Survivor, romance is kind of interesting. Because they’re not out here looking for it, and they know they’re risking their game to have it,” Probst told Entertainment Weekly in May 2024. “So it tells you how big that connection is that it can override their sensibility of playing this dangerous game because they might be falling in love with someone.”
Here’s everything to know about the castaways who found love after meeting on the same season of Survivor.
Matthew Blankinship and Frannie Marin
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Blankinship and Marin have been dating since June 2022. They teamed up in a self-described “nerd” alliance in season 44.
A surprise twist in the game led to Marin and Blankinship getting separated, with Blankinship becoming the first jury member. Their relationship didn’t turn romantic until after Marin reunited with Blankinship at Ponderosa.
“We finally admitted our feelings for each other and went on a beautiful first date picnic. Shortly after, we started dating and sealed it with a kiss,” the couple told PEOPLE in May 2024.
As for whether they’d ever play Survivor together again, Marin jokingly said no, because “[Blankinship] is distracting, and I want to win!”
The couple currently live together in San Francisco.
Joe Anglim and Sierra Dawn Anglim
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Joe and Sierra have been together since 2017.
They met on Survivor: Worlds Apart (2015) while competing in opposing alliances. In fact, Sierra had a hand in voting Joe out of the game.
However, they formed a close friendship in the real world and eventually began dating. “When people say to fall in love with your best friend, they aren’t lying. It was the best thing going into dating, having a solid foundation and knowing each other so well,” the couple told PEOPLE in May 2024.
After getting engaged in April 2019, Joe and Sierra married on Nov. 23, 2019. They welcomed their first child, a daughter named Della Dawn, in May 2021. Their son, Vander Joseph, was born in August 2022.
“Boston” Rob Mariano and Amber Mariano
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On season 8, All-Stars, Amber not only walked away with the title of “Sole Survivor” and the $1 million prize, but a fiancé as well. Rob proposed during the live reunion at New York City’s Madison Square Garden in May 2004.
Their 2005 wedding in the Bahamas was televised in the CBS special Rob and Amber Get Married. Rob and Amber competed together in two seasons of The Amazing Race and returned for Survivor: Winners at War in 2020.
They share four daughters — Lucia, Carina, Isabetta and Adelina — who surprised their parents during a family visit on season 40.
“It was a full-circle moment. The show that gave us each other and our four girls, all together on the island, just felt perfect,” Mariano recalled during a February 2026 interview for PEOPLE’s Love Week.
Keith Tollefson and Whitney Duncan
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Keith Tollefson and Whitney Duncan, who competed on Survivor: South Pacific in Samoa, had an immediate connection.
“We fell in love while filming in June 2011. He held my hand on night three of the game and the rest is history. I knew deep down he was my soulmate,” Duncan told PEOPLE in May 2024.
However, Duncan was still married at the time. “I had to go home and end a relationship so that we could move forward,” she said.
Tollefson and Duncan dated for two years before getting engaged on Valentine’s Day 2013. They married on July 27, 2014 — right after they competed on The Amazing Race season 25. They have since welcomed two kids: son Duncan and daughter Vada Von.
Looking back on their journey, Duncan told PEOPLE that their showmance was “completely unexpected,” but now, “we have the coolest story ever.”
Elizabeth Beisel and Jack Nichting
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Elizabeth Beisel and Jack Nichting both competed on Survivor: Islands of the Idols. However, the pair didn’t strike up a romance until after the show aired in 2019 — as they were never on the same tribe and Nichting was eliminated pre-merge.
The couple got engaged in July 2022 on Cape Elizabeth in Maine. They tied the knot in a “whimsical” barefoot beach wedding in their home state of Rhode Island on Sept. 7, 2024.
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