Reality TV couple Rob and Amber Mariano land their own reality show

More than a year after first teasing that reality viewers hadn't yet seen the last of them, former Survivor and The Amazing Race couple Rob Mariano and the former Amber Brkich have signed a deal to star in their own Newlyweds-like reality series.


Tentatively dubbed The Rob and Amber Project and scheduled to premiere in January 2007, the ten-episode series will air on the Fox Reality network, Fox's recently launched "all reality, all the time" channel that is currently available in about 20 million digital cable and satellite TV households.

According to Fox Reality, the show will follow the couple (whose April 2005 marriage was televised via CBS's May 2005 Rob and Amber Get Married special) as they embark on "the most challenging phase of their young marriage" -- Rob's plan to move to Las Vegas and become a professional gambler.

Deciding to shun more conventional investment options, Survivor's former "Robfather" has decided risk the couple's (and for the record, mostly Amber's) reality winnings in his efforts to become a professional poker player. Along the way, Amber -- who has doubts about the soundness of Rob's idea to parlay her their winnings into "millions more" -- will do her best to supportive of the risky venture.

"We've grown up with Rob and Amber. We've seen their first kiss on Survivor and watched their wedding. They're likeable and competitive," Fox Reality General Manager David Lyle told Daily Variety. "What Rob's trying to do now, it's probably every guy's dream and every girl's nightmare."


Just as he did for their CBS wedding special, Rob appears to shunned more familiar reality production companies and used his "Robfather" skills to negotiate a presumably more lucrative deal with a less well known production outlet. While Rob and Amber Get Married was produced by Dalaklis McKeown Entertainment (a company that produces unscripted programs for smaller cable networks including VH1, Lifetime, The Travel Channel, and Soapnet), The Rob and Amber Project will be produced by Ellman Entertainment in association with Rob George and Rob himself. In addition to producing On Native Soil, an Emmy Award-winning 9/11 Commission Report documentary, Ellman Entertainment has also produced Lifetime programs such as Intimate Portrait, Lifetime Now, and Speaking of Women's Health.

Rob -- and Rob alone -- even got himself an executive producer credit. Linda Ellman, George, and Rob will executive produce the show. Perhaps Amber will get mentioned in the credits' "Special Thanks" section.