Boston Rob's 7 Greatest Moments on The Traitors Season 3
The ultimate gamer, Boston Rob made an incredible impression across seven episodes.
Spoilers for The Traitors Season 3 below
Whether you love him or never trusted him, there's no question that competition reality show legend Boston Rob Mariano (Survivor, Deal or No Deal Island) walked into this season of The Traitors at the end of Episode 1 and proceeded to play his heart out ... Right up until he was banished as a Traitor in Episode 7.
Unlike prior seasons of The Traitors, host Alan Cumming's selected Season 3 Traitors — Bob the Drag Queen, Danielle Reyes, Carolyn Wiger, and Rob — did not play well together from the start. Rob's reputation as a smart and ruthless competitor intimidated his equally ambitious fellow Traitors, making him untrustworthy in their eyes instead of an equal in the Traitors turret.
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To Rob's credit, he knew his gameplay and keen sense of strategy put him at a social game disadvantage. But long-time Rob admirers know the man is adaptable, and he used that to his advantage at every turn. He only turned on Bob the Drag Queen when his name was floated by him as a potential Traitor. But that incensed Danielle and Carolyn, and inspired a chaotic turret where backstabbing was openly admitted.
Ultimately, Rob couldn't protect his place in the game without Traitor unity, so he was sent home. And even if he didn't make it to the very end, Rob elevated Season 3 with his masterful strategy, which we celebrate below with our seven favorite moves.
Rob's Disney villain-worthy laugh when he was given Traitor status
Alan introduced Rob as a potential late-addition player into the game with plenty of pageantry and theatrics, but he was summarily rejected by this season's cast.
However, the real fun came later in the episode when Rob was brought into the game by Alan alone, under the cover of night, and assigned as a Traitor. Rob's cackle of glee at getting called up to play this season in the exact position he always wanted, in light of his earlier rejection, carried just the right level of sweet vengeance.
Rob orchestrating the banishment of Bob the Drag Queen
In Episode 2, Rob was officially introduced into the game with other successful, personality-driven gamers Wes Bergmann (The Challenge) and Derrick Levasseur (Big Brother). However, Rob's real challenge was fitting in with the turret's other personality-driven player, Bob the Drag Queen. Bob was already dominating Traitors' decisions, so Rob initially had to get his bearings on how to play within the choices of those existing three.
There was a bit of peace until Episode 4 when Bob the Drag Queen floated publicly his theory that one of the three new players was a Traitor. For Rob, that was a dangerous blast across his bow, so he went into aggressor mode, approached Dylan Efron to float his theory about Bob the Drag Queen, and then collected more players to support that ousting at the Round Table. Watching Rob verbal volley with Bob the Drag Queen at that table was mesmerizing; two Traitors lying their faces off, yet both coming off as utterly believable was The Traitors at its best. It was a reality show Wimbledon, and should immediately rank in this show's Hall of Fame moments.
Weekly dominance at the Round Table debates: A masterclass
Every Round Table after Bob the Drag Queen's exit was another opportunity to showcase Rob's mastery at exuding sincerity, and being logical and persuasive in the game. In Episode 5, he was able to gently nudge the table toward a Nikki Garcia vote and take the simmering heat off himself.
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And then in Episode 6, he had another heated Round Table, this time with Wes, who aggressively went after Rob. He was able to turn Wes' hyper-aggressive gameplay against him and save himself once again from another creeping vote. But the dwindling numbers and the gaining tide against him by Episode 7 was too much to overcome. Yet, Rob didn't go out defeated. He fought for his place in the game with even more persuasive evidence in his favor, and in favor of Britany, but it just wasn't enough to overcome the fractured voting of his fellow Traitors.
The Great Traitors Turret Meltdown of 2025
The most uncomfortable murder vote came at the top of Episode 6 when Rob had to watch Danielle and Carolyn have it out in the turret after Carolyn discovered from Dylan that Danielle was floating her name as a Traitor. Carolyn had murder in her eyes, and Rob was visibly floored by how dysfunctional the Traitors' game had become.
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Rob Mariano — the guys known for stoking fires — was driven to play peacemaker in this game! With Carolyn spitting fire and wanting to murder them both, he dials down the anger and eventually asks her for a hug. Perhaps the most uncomfortable hug in the history of The Traitors, you could practically see ice forming between them.
Rob withholding his shield information from Danielle and Carolyn
Did it get better between the Traitors? Oh, that hug did nothing (as we expected) to smooth out their feelings. Later in Episode 6 during the Round Table, Carolyn threw Danielle under the bus for floating her name as a Traitor. It was a blindside that shocked Rob and Danielle, and almost derailed Wes' ousting.
Afterward in the turret, Rob called their public chaos nuts and pointed out how they were sandbagging their own games. He promised he wouldn't go after either one of them, while an incensed Carolyn said she was going to have to go after Danielle. Rob seemed genuinely irritated by the hate swirling around him, and decided not to reveal who among his gunpowder team won the shield. In any other season, that share of information would have been a given. But he read the room and knew trust was out the window between the Traitors; every person for themselves.
Rob holding Ciara's hand through the bug endurance mission
There's not a lot of opportunity for chivalry in The Traitors, especially seven episodes deep into a season. But Rob really showed his heart when paired with Ciara for the hand-holding bug mission.
Each paired team was tasked with holding each other's hand for eight minutes to add money to their prize pot and for the chance to win a shield. As an old hat at doing gross stunts in all of his Survivor seasons, Rob was cool as a cucumber when it came to bugs in the box, or even getting showered with maggots and cockroaches. Ciara did not feel the same. So, Rob immediately stepped up and told her to close her eyes, and then calmly talked her through every nasty escalation with gentle words and small talk to distract from her fear. Rob helped his teammate get through that awful mission with flying colors like a true gentleman.
Rob Mariano's classy-as-hell exit from The Traitors Season 3
Helping Ciara also helped temper the Rob vote in the Episode 7 Round Table. In what should have been a runaway banishment of Rob in the wake of Derrick's murder, the vote ended up being another nail-biter between Britany and Rob.
His actions in the mission and his persuasive arguments paired with Dylan's case against Britany almost ensured he survived one more week. However, the poison amongst the Traitors did him in, as Carolyn and Danielle's votes against him ended up tanking his game. And in the classiest move of the season, Rob expressed how much he enjoyed getting to know his fellow players and playing against them. And then gracefully admitted he had always been a Traitor and exited with his head held high.
New episodes of The Traitors Season 3 premiere on Peacock on Thursdays at 9/8c, with the season finale and reunion premiering on March 6.
All episodes of Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream right now on Peacock.
