Jonathan Young drops bombshell about the secret advice Boston Rob gave him before Survivor 50 — The Winner Appears!!!
Before stepping back on the island for ‘Survivor’ 50, Jonathan Young leaned on some wisdom from one of the game’s greatest players. Boston Rob Mariano sent him a letter filled with advice, and the 32-year-old says it’s already shaping how he approaches challenges, alliances, and the strategy needed to survive on ‘Survivor’ season 50.
Advice From the ‘Survivor’ Legend
If you follow Jonathan on social media, you know that he has become friendly with Boston Rob. Now that Jonathan has been announced as one of the castaways on ‘Survivor’ season 50, did he reach out to Boston Rob for any advice before heading out?
In an interview with Parade, Jonathan said that Rob wrote him a letter before he headed out to “Survivor” 2026. Rob told him to open it on the plane, which Young did.
In it, Rob gave him three pieces of advice. That advice? The letter said, “ Number one is to smile. Number two is to look at the game through the opponent’s eyes, trying to see through their lens. Number three is you can control what you can control. Don’t worry about the rest. If there’s a tribe swap, you can’t control that. There’s no use putting effort into something you can’t control.”
Boston Rob is a “Survivor” beast, so take that advice and run, Jonathan.
Other Advice
In addition to Boston Rob, it looks like Young also received some advice from “Survivor” executive producer Matt Van Wagenen.
When talking with Parade, Young said that he also got some really good advice from Van Wagenen. Jonathan said he asked him before his first go round, “What’s a little bit of advice that you would give somebody like me to make it to the end?”
Matt said, “Don’t get comfortable.” Young used that advice, saying, “And I never got comfortable. So I think that’s one of the reasons I made it as far as I did.”
‘Survivor’ 50 Strategy
During his first time on the show, Jonathan was a beast in challenges, even carrying them to victory at times. He was the provider, so will that continue on ‘Survivor’ 50?
Young said, “The thing is, in this season in particular, there’s so many big threats. I believe I can hide behind them. I haven’t been on the ‘On Fire’ podcast with Jeff Probst. I haven’t won a million dollars. I’ve got nobody from my season here working with me. All of these things, it’s ammunition for the targets.”
He added, “I’m gonna enter the game the same way that I did the last time. They see me as a provider. They see me as a challenge beast. But that’s all I want them to see me as. Meanwhile, I’ve been sitting at the feet of a legend for three years, learning from Mr. Rob himself.”
“Survivor” season 50 premieres on Wednesday, February 25, at 8/7c. New episodes will be available to stream the next day on Paramount+.
