Jeff Probst: Boston Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine turned down Survivor's shelter

Entertainment Weekly

Both past Survivor winners decided to live in the elements for the Island of the Idols season, even though they're not competing on the show. “Rob and Sandra were fantastic partners,” says Probst. “Really, I couldn’t have been happier, more proud. They came in and they took over this portion of the show. I wasn’t even there! I wasn’t even around. We would walk them through what we were going to do, hand it off, and Rob and Sandra would walk the beach at night, practice, rehearse, just think — and then let it go and say, ‘Well, here we go.’ It was really cool.”