{"id":857565,"date":"2026-09-23T08:24:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T08:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/857565\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T08:24:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T08:24:12","slug":"survivor-51-premiere-new-england-contestant-talks-new-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/857565\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Survivor’ 51 premiere: New England contestant talks new season"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Richard Hatch<\/a> to \u201cBoston Rob\u201d Mariano, New England contestants<\/a> have performed pretty well on \u201cSurvivor\u201d over the years. Now, a new set of locals will vie for the $1 million prize when the long-running CBS reality series returns for its 51st season on Wednesday night. <\/p>\n

Among the 21 castaways absconding to the beaches of Fiji is a trio of New Englanders with Ocean State ties<\/a>, including Rob Antonson, a 40-year-old airline gate agent who works at Logan Airport. Originally from Johnston, R.I., but currently residing in Cumberland, R.I., Antonson is also a podcaster who wears his love for Boston sports on his sleeve \u2014 literally.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver here, I got the Green Monster. Here, I got the Bruins, Red Sox, Celtics, and Pats, all the logos,\u201d Antonson told the Globe during a recent Zoom interview while showing off the Boston sports tattoos on his arms. \u201cThat was fun on \u2018Survivor.\u2019 They loved having the trademark logos all over my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Antonson had to say about his \u201cSurvivor\u201d experience, representing New England on the show, and more.<\/p>\n

Q. You\u2019re a big reality TV guy, but what inspired you to try out for \u201cSurvivor\u201d?<\/p>\n

A. I\u2018m a huge reality TV junkie. I\u2019ve been watching shows like MTV\u2019s \u201cThe Challenge\u201d since its first season. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s something to be proud of, but I even watch the \u201cHousewives.\u201d<\/a> I just like seeing people\u2019s lives on camera, you know? I was an OG \u201cSurvivor\u201d guy watching the first season, Richard Hatch from Rhode Island running around naked. I always wanted to go on \u201cSurvivor,\u201d one of the \u201cBig Brother\u201d kind of the reality shows. In my early 20s, I put in for \u201cSurvivor,\u201d I think \u201cBig Brother\u201d too. I didn\u2019t get it, and I was like 21, 22 years old. I was cocky. I was a kid that burned bridges with everybody and all my jobs. It\u2019s probably not the time. <\/p>\n

So I had three kids. I\u2019m 40 years old now. I said, \u201cHey, let me just put in for it. Let me just see what happens,\u201d and then I started moving through the process, and I got on. It\u2019s always been a dream of mine. <\/p>\n

Q. What was it like meeting host Jeff Probst?<\/p>\n

\""Survivor"“Survivor” 51 contestant Rob Antonson.Robert Voets\/CBS<\/p>\n

A. Always been a big fan of Jeff. He\u2019s an icon. I graduated college with a broadcast journalism degree, so I always wanted to be a host on TV or a host anywhere. Seeing Jeff just growing up, and then seeing the guy in person … it\u2019s mind blowing. The guy\u2019s a legend. He\u2019s got like the greatest job in the world. He gets to go to whatever, Fiji, and just hang out and do a show for his life. It\u2019s great. Jeff\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n

Q. Do you feel like living in New England and working at Logan helped prepare you a bit for this experience?<\/p>\n

A. The big New England part of us is we\u2019re go go go. The West Coast is kind of laid back. I see it all the time at the airport. They\u2019re more chill, and the people from JFK or Boston are like, \u201cAll right, let\u2019s go, we gotta go.\u201d So I think that prepares you big time for a game like \u201cSurvivor\u201d because \u201cSurvivor\u201d just changes all the time. One episode or one day is different from the next. That\u2019s just like the airport life, and that\u2019s also how it is on the East Coast. You got to just go with everything.<\/p>\n

Q. As a big Boston sports guy, what survival advice do you have for the Red Sox to make it through the playoffs?<\/p>\n

A. Listen, [Garrett] Crochet\u2019s got to be able to pitch at least six innings. [Payton] Tolle\u2019s a beast. Tolle should be pitching every damn game. He\u2019s unbelievable.<\/p>\n

Q. What about Drake Maye, how are you feeling about him this year?<\/p>\n

A. I was at the Seattle game, so when he threw that pick at the end, I ran out so quick with my cousin because I felt like they were all gonna just rag on me for wearing Patriot jerseys. But he\u2019s gonna be fine. Everything\u2019s gonna work out. Pats will be in the playoffs. Pats Super Bowl against the Rams. Get ready.<\/p>\n

Q. What else do you want folks to know about your \u201cSurvivor\u201d experience?<\/p>\n

A. I see that tons of people have been putting in for this show for years, and I just [want to say] don\u2019t give up. If you want to be on the show, just keep putting in for it. I\u2019m 40 years old. I put in for it what, 20 years later, and I got on. You just don\u2019t know. Even if you have kids or if you\u2019re going through a tough time in life, just put it out there.<\/p>\n

Being on this show is just a great experience, I feel like for me or for anyone. It\u2019s like hitting the lottery.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurvivor\u201d premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. on CBS.<\/p>\n

Interview was edited and condensed. <\/p>\n

Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From Richard Hatch to \u201cBoston Rob\u201d Mariano, New England contestants have performed pretty well on \u201cSurvivor\u201d over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[88,20972,92],"class_list":["post-857565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-gallery","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}