Survivor icon Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano has admitted that he feels Jonathan Young "butchered" his post-finale press for Survivor 50.

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Jonathan revealed in March that Rob -- a five-time Survivor castaway who won Survivor: Redemption Island -- had spent a lot of time training and preparing him for Survivor's milestone 50th season.

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Jonathan ended up making the Final 3 with Aubry Bracco and Joe Hunter, and while he received three jury votes to win, Aubry ultimately walked away with the rest of the jury votes and $2 million.

Jonathan seemed devastated about his runner-up finish, and he told Entertainment Weekly in his exit interview that he believes the jury was "bitter" and he had played a "better game" than Aubry.

"He butchered his press," Rob admitted to TV insider of Jonathan's interviews.

"It gets hard, because he's a pretty emotional guy and I think he took it really hard. But I told him that that was a wrong move. I don't think belittling Aubry's game to make your game better is a good look, and he agrees."

But Rob said Jonathan simply expressed how he felt in the moment.

"He felt it. You can't take it away from Aubry. She won," Rob noted.

"I always have said the person that wins is the one that deserves to win. The jury can vote however they want. It's your job to manage them. I give Aubry a lot of credit."

Jonathan, who was known for being a physical threat and food provider on Season 42, finished his first season in fourth place, knowing his strategic and social game could be improved.

Jonathan told People in March that he called Rob for help so he could learn to play a better game and confidently compete against the Survivor 50 returnees.

"I did a lot of psychological training with Boston Rob. For four years, I went to his house, trained, sat at his feet, and learned everything I could because my strategic game needed some work," Jonathan revealed at the time.

"Boston Rob helped me with that a lot. I completely changed my game. It was years of going to his house and talking to him about what I could do differently."

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Rob told TV Insider that Jonathan "mostly" followed his advice.

"He's not me, he can't play my game. He has to play his game. He did the best he could," Rob shared.

"I think when it got to the stage where there was a jury and there wasn't a jury, I remember telling him, 'You've got to count your votes and [that being] careful about how you put people on the jury is more important than just getting to the end.'"

But Rob acknowledged that if you're too careful and don't make it to the Final 3, you lose Survivor anyway, which makes playing the game a balancing act.

"But I think he did a good job overall," Rob said.

While Aubry played Survivor 50 under the radar and often in the middle, she peaked when she needed to and won the Final Immunity Challenge, which guaranteed herself a spot in the Final 3.

Aubry chose to advance Joe to the Final 3 with her, while forcing Jonathan and Rizo Velovic to compete in the firemaking challenge.

After Jonathan defeated Rizo in fire, his dream came true of sitting in the Final 3. But Jonathan had a difficult time coming up with a compelling argument that could beat Aubry's Survivor story arc in which she discussed enduring many highs and lows over the last 10 years.

Aubry previously played Survivor: Kaoh Rong, when she finished as the runner-up; Survivor: Game Changers, when she placed fifth; and Survivor: Edge of Extinction, when she placed 16th.

"I believe deep in my heart that I played the better game. I know I did," Jonathan told EW following Survivor 50's three-hour finale event that aired May 20 on CBS.

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"But because Aubry's played [four] times, that weighed on a lot of the jury votes. And is that fair? That's up to the fans and up to Survivor to decide."

He added, "But if that's a jury, then I'm confused, you know?... I didn't really get credit where credit was due, and I don't know where to go from here yet, but I will because I want to grow."


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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