Exclusive | ‘Survivor’s Rob Cesternino on not making Season 50 cast

CBS has spoken.

“Survivor” fans were heartbroken when the Season 50 cast was announced and Rob Cesternino from Season 6 and Season 8 didn’t make the cut — despite Jeff Probst once calling him the “smartest player to never win”.

Cesternino, 47, still got to return to reality TV when he ended up on the current season of “The Traitors,” but he was eliminated in the third episode for being a threat.

In an exclusive interview with The Post, Cesternino addressed missing out on “Survivor 50” while discussing his elimination from “The Traitors.”

“I definitely asked myself the question of, if I went to go do ‘Survivor 50,’ how far could I have gotten in ‘Survivor 50?’” he said. “But there’s every possibility that if I went to ‘Survivor 50,’ that I could have been out as early in ‘Survivor 50,’ because there are way more people on ‘Survivor’ who know what I’ve done in my career.”

“And so I think that people would say, ‘Okay, he knows everybody. He knows all of the history of ‘Survivor.’ He’s definitely somebody that we need to worry about,’” Cesternino continued. “And I think that I would have a much harder time processing losing on ‘Survivor’ than to have lost on ‘The Traitors’ in the way that I did.”

Despite his early exit from the Peacock series, Cesternino had the time of his life in the Scottish castle.

“This has been such an amazing experience,” he told The Post, “and even though I didn’t go far, I loved the edit that I got and I really have been so touched by the outpouring of support that I’ve gotten.”

The “Rob Has a Podcast” host confirmed in May 2025 that he was contacted for “Survivor 50” but didn’t make the final cast.

The upcoming milestone season features 24 all-star players including old school fan-favorites like Jenna Lewis (Season 1), Colby Donaldson (Season 2), Stephenie LaGrossa (Season 10), Cirie Fields (Season 12) and Ozzy Lusth (Season 13).

During the month that “Survivor 50” ends, Cesternino is releasing his debut book, “The Tribe and I Have Spoken,” that covers the long history of the beloved reality series.

“It’s really a love letter to ‘Survivor’ in that I have built this online fandom up over the last 16 years, and I wanted to tell the story – which I don’t think anybody has — of what it’s like to watch the show from the perspective of, ‘Okay, it was this phenomenon in Season 1 in Borneo to ultimately where it is now 25 years later, heading into Season 50, all of the lore of ‘Survivor’ and all of the greatest moments and the greatest players and how you play the game,’” Cesternino told The Post about his book.

“And it’s also the story of my experience over 25 years with the show,” he added. “And so I think it’s going to be a really fun read for people.”

New episodes of “The Traitors” drop Thursdays on Peacock. “Survivor 50” premieres Feb. 25 on CBS. “The Tribe and I Have Spoken” comes out May 5.