jonathan young was well prepared for survivor 50. The castaway recently revealed that he sought help from a Survivor legend before returning to the game. Fans first met Jonathan on Survivor 42, which aired in the spring of 2022. The Alabama native earned a reputation as a competitive beast after winning an impressive number of challenges. However, he failed to develop a social game that relied on his physical strength to carry him through the competition.
Jonathan returns to the island with a new strategy, thanks to a Survivor alum who has been training him for the past few years.
Boston Rob trained Jonathan Young before Survivor 50
In a March interview, Jonathan told People He turned to “Boston” Rob Mariano for advice on how to develop his social and psychological game.
“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 whatever I could because my strategic game needed some work,” he revealed. “Boston Rob helped me a lot with that. I completely changed my game. It took years of going to their homes and talking to them about what I could do differently.”
He told the outlet that Rob has outlined three rules to follow on Survivor.
He shared, “One rule was to smile. Everyone wants to play with someone who smiles.” “Number two, you want to win; no one else wants you to win. Number three: Control what you can control, and don’t worry about anything else. You can swap a tribe and completely mess you up. Don’t worry about that. You can’t control that. Just worry about what you can control.”
Jonathan faced scrutiny for the way he spoke to women on the show after season 42. Jonathan addressed the criticism in a 2022 interview Entertainment Weekly.
“Man, I hate that he felt that way,” he said, referring to the women who spoke out about his behavior. “Whenever I get a chance to talk about him, I praise him… and all I do is I try to bring him up and I hate him… now he gets to see me always bring him up.”
survivor Season 50 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS. It streams the next day on Paramount+.
Tell us – do you think Jonathan is playing a better game the second time around?