The All-Stars champ talks about returning to play with and against her husband.
It’s interesting enough that you’re here because we all thought we’d never see you here again.
I had kind of closed that book, closed that chapter in my life.
How could I not?
It’s season 40 for goodness sakes.
20 years in and I’ve been here since the beginning.
I was on season 2.
My mouth was dropped open for a good five minutes before I could say anything.
But my husband was like, “Come on, Amber.
Give me a smile.
We’re doing this, right?”
Of course, I was doing it.
I couldn’t say no.
He lives and breathes this game.
He loves this game.
This time around, it’s for a whole new reason.
I was a kid the first two times I played.
I was 22, fresh out of college in Australia.
Now I’ve been married for 15 years.
I have four girls at home who are going to be rooting for me.
I mean, how cool is that?
I get to experience it in a whole new way.
Other people have come on here and left the kids behind before.
I never knew what that was like.
I’m getting to experience that.
It’s going to be hard, but they’re also the biggest motivation you could ever have.
I think that’s pretty cool.
Rob and I are excited to be here again.
How lucky are we to have played this game together now two times?
I mean nobody else has that experience.
The fact that we’re doing it again is just remarkable.
Would you have done it without him?
Nobody else has that.
But surprisingly, yeah, I probably would’ve come out here without him.
Not that I’m worried, but feel really comfortable with that.
I mean, it’sSurvivorfor goodness sakes.
This is a game that changes you as a person no matter how many times you’ve played.
Robert, this will be a sixth time, and he still wants to do it.
But did they ever approach you at any point before this and say, “Hey, Amber.
Are you interested?”
Or, “Hey, just let us know when you’re interested.”
Or were you just too busy?The timing was perfect.
Honestly, a year ago, I probably would have said no.
I wouldn’t have wanted to leave my three-year-old.
It would have been at that time.
She would have been too young.
I don’t think she could have handled it.
The timing was perfect.
I would have said no if it was any other time.
I so wanted to do that.
That was so important to me.
You mentioned the advantage of having someone here that you have to assume is going to have your back.
We saw the way he had your back even before you were married in season 8.
It also can make you guys a target.
Clearly a power couple.
We’ve seen that before.
How concerned are you about that?It’s a huge concern of mine.
Probably my biggest concern is coming into this game.
But then you think, “Okay.
We’re all the clean slate because we have all won.”
Well, not with Rob and I.
We now have a target that’s doubled in size because we’ve both won.
He’s Boston Rob, for God’s sakes.
Although, Rob might feel a little different about that.
He got to know her pretty well over those 39 days.
He might feel that he can use her in a way.
I don’t know.
I’m glad I have him out here.
I’d rather have him out here than not have him out here.
You two have made it to the end together before.
If you make it to the end together again, does it matter who wins?
Does he want to beat you?
Do you want to beat him?
I’d love to win again just because, I mean I’d love to one another million dollars.
It would feel so good to have the season 40 one with all these winners.
I mean who doesn’t want to have that title?
But if it’s both of us in the end I’ll be happy for either of us.
We can both bask in the glory of winning.
We’ve seen a lot of reality show finale proposals.
They usually don’t pan out.
The fact that you guys are sitting here 15 years later with four kids is crazy.
When did you know that this wasn’t just a showmance?
Was there a point duringAll-Starswhere you realized, “Wow, this could be really something.”
Let’s now be in reality and see how that works?
It’s the game where you play and you get played.
I was hoping I wasn’t getting played.
No, I didn’t know for sure until it was over.
But it was very helpful.
We’re sitting here before the game starts.
You’re here with nine other women.
You probably have your guesses who the other people are.
You certainly know one of them.
There’s a couple out there who I really know nothing about besides just their name.
That can be a scary thing because I don’t know anything about them.
That’s kind of a good thing.
People would never realize in a million years that I would have an alliance with that person.
There’s also people who intimidate me a little bit.
They’re really good game players, so I feel like I should team up with those people.
I think Parvati’s a perfect example.
She’s a really good game player.
That’s why she intimidates me a little bit.
However, I feel like we could get along really well.
We both are married to Survivors.
We have that in common.
She has a new baby at home.
We can bond in that way.
I feel like we have a lot of material that we could work with.
We can really bond over and build trust.
She’s a scary player.
The game you’re coming back to play is so different from the one you left.
I mean, 32 seasons later, you’ve never played with the hidden immunity idol or advantages.Right.
None of that stuff.People didn’t get up and start talking at Tribal Councils.
Look for hidden immunity idols."
I’m like, “I’m going to try, but I’ve never done that before.”
It concerns me a lot.
It’s a whole new game.
However, the first time I played it, it was also a whole new game.
It was season 2.
There was only one season before that.
Nobody knew what they were doing back then.
I feel like I’ve felt that feeling before.
It makes it more exciting.
I’m not going to be the only newbie out here.
How do you think others see you, Amber?
I hope that they see me that way.
I can use that to my advantage.
You were a completely different person.Right.
I was a totally different person back then.
I mean I wasn’t comfortable in my own shoes back then.
I was still trying to figure out who I was.
I was fresh out of college.
I didn’t know where life was going at all.
Now I’m completely comfortable with myself.
I have nothing to prove.
I am so satisfied with life and just coming out with confidence.
I didn’t have that confidence before.
I’m married to probably the most confident person in this world.
Obviously, some of that has rubbed off on me.
This time around, I’m not really nervous because I really feel like I have nothing to lose.
Just being out here, it’s just such an honor.
I’m just so happy to be here.
My girls are at home rooting for me.
I don’t feel like I have anything to lose.
What’s your biggest weakness in this game?
That could hurt me a little bit.
You kind of have to be ready for anything out here.
That’s what I am.
I’m ready for anything.
