CBS Boston Rob Mariano on Survivor: Winners at War
A three-time “Survivor” castaway has some strong feelings about two players who are often named when people talk about the best players to ever play the game. So, what does “black widow” Jerri Manthey think of Boston Rob Mariano and Parvati Shallow? The answer may surprise you.
Manthey Thinks Shallow Is One of the Best Ever
In a recent episode of the podcast “Hot Takes and Deep Dives,” Manthey was asked to give her opinion on some of the castaways considered to be all-time greats. As far as Manthey is concerned, Parvati Shallow is one of the best there is.
“I think Parvati is one of the best players. I’ve never seen anybody work people the way she works people,” said Manthey. “I saw right through it [during ‘Heroes vs. Villains’], the sexy smiles and flirtations and all that stuff, but man, guys were just falling over themselves.”
Manthey is in good company. Host Jeff Probst has also said that he thinks Shallow may be the best player of all time. He once told “Entertainment Weekly” that watching Shallow play on “Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites” was like watching a surgeon at work.
“Watching her play that season, I felt like we were watching a surgeon go inside a body with a really delicate operation and just move things and tighten up, and they did their own stitches at the end, they closed up or whatever they did,” said Probst.
He continued, “I mean, everybody who won this game has been a genius in how they’ve done it because they had to do it in their season. But watching Parvati, still when I go back and I see some of those episodes — tiny little adjustments, all of it about persuasion. She either charmed you or she made you feel the consequence. … and step by step she’d laugh and smile and make it seem like, ‘Hey, if I go home, I go home. [Dramatic tone shift] I love this game. I’m never going home. Ever. I’ve got you. And you. [Makes several sword slicing motions] And you.’ That’s how I saw it.”
Manthey said that she was always “in awe” of Shallow, which is why she “wanted to get rid of her on ‘Heroes vs. Villains’ immediately.”
“I was like, ‘She’s gotta go!’ But at the end, I’m like I have to vote for her because oh my god, I’ve been trying to get rid of her since day one and she’s still here. I just think she is a great player. She is someone to be afraid of when you’re playing with her,” said Manthey.
Manthey Does Not Feel the Same Way About Boston Rob Mariano
When asked if Mariano, who has played five times and won once, is one of the all-time greats, Manthey said, “Absolutely not, no,” and her big reason why is that “he plays the same game every time.”
She also said when he finally won on “Redemption Island,” it was handed to him on a silver platter.
“He was literally set up to win, he was put into a game with all of the biggest Boston Rob fans in the universe and they were all just so in awe of him. That’s why he won that season,” said Manthey.
“I think on the winners season, it was just very thrown out in the open how controlling he is,” she continued, adding, “The fact that he was playing with people who are really, really good at the game, who just let him think that he was in control and then voted him off! I was like, amen! I was so happy that finally he was outed for this one way of playing the game. That’s the only way he knows how to play … he plays the same game every time. It’s intimidation, manipulation, controlling.”
“Survivor” is back in production now. If the pattern holds, it should be premiering its 41st season the third or fourth week of September 2021.
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