Derek Hough Offers to Do ‘Survivor’ If Boston Rob Does ‘DWTS’ — and Jeff Probst Weighs In

Dan Clarendon December 14, 2025, 12:32 pm

Derek Hough, Rob Mariano — Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Disney, Kevin Winter/Getty Images

What To Know

Derek Hough challenged Survivor legend Boston Rob Mariano to compete on Dancing With the Stars.
Survivor host Jeff Probst enthusiastically supported the idea, encouraging both stars and noting fan excitement for the potential crossover.
Boston Rob, known for his competitive reality TV history, has yet to respond, leaving fans eager to see if the challenge will be accepted.

He can out-dance his competition, but can Derek Hough outwit, outplay, and outlast? Hough, a pro dancer-turned-judge on Dancing With the Stars, says he’ll compete on Survivor if Survivor veteran Rob Mariano a.k.a. Boston Rob competes on DWTS.

Hough threw down the gauntlet in his Instagram Stories on Thursday, per Entertainment Weekly. “I’ll do Survivor if Boston Rob does Dancing With the Stars,” he vowed.

And Survivor host Jeff Probst is all in favor. Two days later, in his own Instagram Stories, Probst responded to Hough’s dare after welcoming him to Survivor’s fandom.

“Derek, I am so happy to hear you’ve finally discovered Survivor,” he said. “That’s OK it took a while — you’ve been busy. And you’re digging it. Welcome to the tribe. And congratulations on Dancing With the Stars’ most recent season. You guys really killed it — it was great.”

Derek Hough/Instagram

Then Probst addressed Hough’s wager. “I gotta say, I love that you just put this idea out into the ether, because I think you’re gonna be surprised how many of your fans are gonna want to see you compete on Survivor,” he said. “And now that you’ve issued a dare to Rob, this could get interesting, ’cause you know as well as I do that Boston Rob is the kinda guy who will take that dare and end up winning Dancing With the Stars. And then the pressure’s really on you, because not only are you out on Survivor next year with us, you gotta win. Let me know!”

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Hough reposted Probst’s video message. “Me and my big mouth,” he wrote in a caption to the clip, adding a facepalm emoji. “Also geeking out over this message.”

Mariano certainly has a competitive streak. He’s a five-time Survivor contestant who won the Redemption Island season and came in second (to Amber Brkich, who is now his wife) in All-Stars.

Mariano and Brkich also competed in two editions of The Amazing Race, ranking as the runners-up in that show’s seventh season. And more recently, Mariano was a contestant on Deal or No Deal Island and the third season of The Traitors. Perhaps fans will soon find out whether he can finesse the foxtrot.