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Topic: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame (Read 1709 times)

lakelady
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Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« on: Oct 21^st, 2005, 9:36am »

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Rob and Amber milking quasi fame

By MIKE ROSS - Edmonton Sun

Until recently, famous people became famous for what they created - operas, movies, evil empires.

Reality TV participants, however, are famous for nothing - nothing more than being themselves, that is. Further fame usually comes from revealing more and more of themselves ... until? Is there such a thing as too much information?

Rob and Amber, no last names required - which, for the record, are Mariano and Brkich, respectively - are billed as "the royal couple of reality TV."

They are the star attraction at the Fall Edmonton Woman's Show at Northlands AgriCom this weekend. What will they be doing, exactly? Being themselves.

Through three seasons of Survivor, one of The Amazing Race and countless specials and appearances, "We've turned being ourselves into a job," as Amber says. "It's the best job in the world."

We saw them fall in love on TV. We saw them get married on TV. We will see their children grow up on TV. And if, God forbid, they break up, tabloid TV will have a feeding frenzy that will make Brad and Angelina look like chum. More reality shows starring Rob and Amber seem inevitable.

We, the public, have adopted these perfectly ordinary people as our favourite perfectly ordinary couple. There but for the grace of God. We want our Ed-TV - for real.

Amber is loading the dishwasher when reached at her Florida home this week - just like any perfectly ordinary person with a dishwasher. She says she doesn't think of herself as famous. It's not because she thinks she hasn't "earned" it, either.

"I've hung out with all these different celebrities, but I still don't consider myself as one of them," she says. "I still see myself as Amber who grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with normal friends and normal family.

"I still feel like I have somewhat of a normal life. People become famous for many different reasons, no matter how you, as you say, earn it. I think that because I was brought up so well and I'm such a grounded person, I don't think it's affected me at all."

Even fame for being famous can help develop creative ideas. Reality show contestants need not end up like Zsa Zsa Gabor or her modern version, Paris Hilton. Amber is soon to be a published author with the release of Amber's Advice - directed at the young girls who have written to her throughout her reality show fame. She offers an off-the-cuff sample:

Dear Amber: I'm a 14-year-old girl who went on a date with a really cute boy a week ago. We had a really good time, but he hasn't called. What should I do?

Amber's advice: "You're not going to meet the man of your dreams yet. It'll hurt now, but don't let him see it. Why don't you give him a call? Back him up in the corner and ask him why he hasn't called you. If he says it's because he doesn't want to see you, then say fine, and move on."

Rob has likewise been trying to branch out. The former construction worker will star in a CBS Early Show segment called Rob to the Rescue, in which he will "fix" anything from windowsills to relationships, according to Amber.

How long can they remain famous on the talk show and women's show circuit? How long do they want to be famous for being themselves?

Amber says that while there is much they keep to themselves, they're "going back and forth" on a proposed Nick and Jessica-type reality show, the main issue being how much control they'll have.

Both are pretty much finished with the whole "I'm a prisoner on an island eating bugs" sort of thing. At least they'd want to get paid for it.

The bottom line is that as long as it's still fun, they'll keep doing whatever it is that they do.

"I'm sure down the road we'll be a thing of the past," Amber says. "It was pointed out in an interview that the fact I was on Survivor will probably be written on my gravestone. I guess it will be with me for the rest of my life.

"I think the press has been extremely supportive, and I think we've both learned that it's whatever your friends and family think that's important. They were there before and they'll still be there afterwards."

Rob and Amber are scheduled to be themselves for your entertainment at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Call 490-0215 for details.

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Jerrethan
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #1 on: Oct 21^st, 2005, 10:19am »

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What a joke... Roll Eyes

I apologize if a Romber fan disagrees with me, but they're a joke. It's like they make the word "fame" sound so dirty.

PS: Julia Roberts is scheduled to be herself for your entertainment at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Call 490-0215 for details.

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JP
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #2 on: Oct 21^st, 2005, 11:03am »

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It's better to milk your fame when you earned it honestly and a bit decently. (Granted Survivor isn't what you called a "decent" game, but it's part of the game!) At least they're thinking smartly. Cash in all you can today and save up. Amber knows she's not famous forever so that's what she's doing. I like her more for it. There are many "stars" here in the Philippines who are now ruined only because they didn't save up when they were still popular.

And being famous (or at least making money) by being yourself is a great thing. You don't need to be fake in front of everyone. Also, they're not yet being stalked by paparazzis (afaik) which is great too. How many stars have we seen deal with that problem of stalkers and such?

I really wish them the best and hope they become successful in whatever they do.

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tattooedbeauty
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #3 on: Oct 21^st, 2005, 5:59pm »

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Do we all really care about ROMBER? Ummmm, a big fat NO. Undecided

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lakelady
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #4 on: Oct 21^st, 2005, 7:28pm »

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I really don't care about either one of them. But I do wish them the best in the their future projects. As long as they don't show up in front of Trump. Cheesy

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Genius
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #5 on: Oct 22^nd, 2005, 3:53am »

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I would like to see them in more TV shows! Cool

Supposedly Romber had a better storyline in the shows they have done, would they still be so disliked as they are now?

« Last Edit: Oct 22^nd, 2005, 3:53am by Genius »

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lakelady
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #6 on: Oct 22^nd, 2005, 7:53am »

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Why are they so disliked, Genius?

I think they are a normal couple.

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luci
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #7 on: Oct 22^nd, 2005, 9:16am »

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They are a very normal couple. We like them!
If we were in their shoes, we would milk the fame
and most of all, the CASH for all we could get!
Why not? Fame won't last forever but cash in the bank does Cool

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can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."

lakelady
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #8 on: Oct 22^nd, 2005, 7:34pm »

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I agree luci.

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tattooedbeauty
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #9 on: Oct 23^rd, 2005, 1:35pm »

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I don't like them. She can't make a decision at all, it is always, "ask Rob" or "Rob what if" or "Rob, I don't know"

That is why I don't like her. Him, he is just a jerk.

That have enough money, let someone else enjoy their 15 min.

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Deekeryu
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #10 on: Oct 23^rd, 2005, 10:49pm »

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People don't complain when movie stars keep on cashing in on movies, or if TV actors switch from place to place cashing in on their quasi celebrity, or people don't complain when bands go and rip off the entire universe with their fame. So why is Romber any different? If you're wanted and you've got a chance to milk it, milk it because its what makes you happy and what you want to do in life. You think everybody has a chance to do what movie stars, musicians, etc.. to do what they do. If someone has a chance to have fun, I say let them.

Besides, Amber was the one making the decisions on All-star of who to vote off wasn't she? It only was made a big deal when Rob made a decision. Can't we all seperate what people do in a game from their real life? I'm sure they're swell people.

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Joab
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #11 on: Nov 23^rd, 2005, 9:36am »

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Actually, what disgust me most is the way they ran the race in TAR 7... They were ok on Survivor, but i cannot accept how they ran TAR 7 with all their little dirty tricks. Angry

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leopard4
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #12 on: Dec 19^th, 2005, 5:51pm »

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on Nov 23^rd, 2005, 9:36am, Popo wrote:

Actually, what disgust me most is the way they ran the race in TAR 7... They were ok on Survivor, but i cannot accept how they ran TAR 7 with all their little dirty tricks. Angry

I agree. What totally threw me off on TAR-7 is how they did not even stop to see if the Brothers were OK after their car accident...

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Joab
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Re: Rob and Amber milking quasi fame
« Reply #13 on: Dec 19^th, 2005, 10:25pm »

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Yeaps, i cannot resist but to criticise how they are running TAR like Survivor.. backstab and everything...

Backstab in means Yielding Ron and Kelly...

Evil tricks - Far too many, taxi from Debbie and Bianca and so much more..

But one line i like from Rob - The blind leading the blind (When Uchenna/Joyce brought tickets for Meredith/Gretchen), it turns out they got earlier tickets, isn't it? Tongue

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MediaScribe
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Survivor' writes guides for girls
« Reply #14 on: Jan 31^st, 2006, 1:16pm »

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Even more Romber in the news...

Survivor' Writes Guides for Girls

By JOHN EBY / Niles Daily Star
Monday, January 30, 2006 11:06 AM EST

She won $1 million in 2003 outwitting, outplaying and outlasting Survivor: All Stars for 39 days in Panama jungles.

On the final episode she was engaged to Boston Rob before millions of viewers. Their wedding last April became a two-hour CBS special.

Even before they married, the network asked them to compete in its other hit reality show, The Amazing Race, where they raced 10 other teams around the world for 30 days.

Rob and Amber finished a close second while dashing through South America, Africa, India, Turkey, London and Jamaica.

Amber Mariano said in a telephone interview Friday from Pittsburgh the only splurging she did was buying an oceanfront home near Pensacola, Fla., she left two days before and won't return to for a month and a half while traveling to promote her book.

Amber's Guide for Girls, available Feb. 1 on the Web site www.ambersadvice.com, offers her young fans ages 8 to 13 advice on fame, family and fashion, a glimpse into her own life and goals and advice on coping with peer pressure, school and relationships.

For more about her and Rob, see her Web site www.amber-brkich.com.

I was inspired to write this book because over the past five years (since lasting 33 days in the Australian Outback in Survivor's' second season) I've received hundreds of letters from young girls, Mariano says.

She considers it a huge compliment to be their role model.

The letters include not only questions about my experiences on Survivor' and The Amazing Race,' but also questions about my experiences growing up and how to handle what life deals you.

I hope that girls everywhere find this book fun to read and are inspired to reach for their dreams and goals.

They look at me like this famous person, she said, so she wants to encourage them through an awkward, painful time she'd just as soon not relive.

The high school cheerleader ran track, acted in school plays (she was an extra in the film The Wonder Boys filmed in her hometown in 2000) and earned mostly A's and B's, though she disliked school, hated writing papers and studied to pass tests rather than to learn to her regret today.

Mariano said she has always been confident, so while she flew under the radar in Australia as the youngest player at 22, it's not because she was shy, which is one possible score on the Crush Quiz in her interactive 87-page book. Scores can also evaluate relationships as not serious, having fun, hopeless romantic or too forward.

Her fans let her affect many lives. Almost overnight I was able to make a difference just by talking to someone or by sending them an autographed picture, she writes, adding that she had to learn to use the constant attention to do good for others rather than just lament the loss of privacy or resent being judged by every move you make.

Sometimes life takes us in a different path than we imagined, she counsels after already winning a lottery of sorts just to land among 16 players from 60,000 who applied.

If those odds weren't stiff enough, she did it auditioning spontaneously at a cattle call rather than carefully preparing a video tape at home.

I don't even remember what I said, she said.

Jeff Probst appeared to her in a dream and told me I would be the ultimate survivor, so I'm gonna trust the host.

She picked up a Survivor application on whim at a video store. I just don't want to be a working person yet, she said at the time, so she was living with her parents in the three-bedroom house where she grew up and working as an office temp while figuring out her future.

She graduated from Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pa., majoring in public relations and minoring in speech.

Amber encourages girls to dream, to challenge themselves and to be proud of what they have done, to learn from their mistakes and to never give up, like when she survived 33 days in the rugged Australian Outback before being voted out at the 11th tribal council just nine days shy of the payoff.

Survivor strategies and alliance-building were still in the formative stages compared to the refinements that evolve with each subsequent cast. The new edition debuts Thursday back in Panama with a four-tribe format and a new wrinkle Exile Island.

It was new to me, Mariano said. I only watched half of the first season before she was cast after that fortuitous lunch break when she tried out on the off chance of maybe winning a million bucks.

Even without writing a book, her 15 minutes of fame seem far from over with 77 million Americans watching reality shows last week.

Every opportunity seems to open a door to another.

In February she joins her husband on his CBS Early Show segments, Rob to the Rescue, which he began shooting last fall.

Relying on his skills as a former construction worker, Rob helped people, including a Michigan woman who needed a paddock for horses she rescued. He also did a piece remodeling his in-laws' bathroom.

Mariano said she will also be appearing on Martha Stewart's show.

Though she has been quoted as saying she can't wait to have kids - Rob is also from a family with three - Mariano said they are still enjoying being newlyweds and will happily start a family whenever God gives them to us.

She was just as surprised as everyone else when she fell for her famously conniving opponent, though it proved definitely a great bonus. He gave her a sewing machine for her birthday.

One of the All-Stars Mariano defeated was Richard Hatch, 44, who was taken from a Rhode Island courtroom in handcuffs Wednesday after being found guilty of failing to pay taxes on his winnings.

U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres called him a potential flight risk.

Hatch was also convicted of evading taxes on $327,000 he earned as co-host of a Boston radio show and $28,000 in rent on property he owned. Hatch faces up to 13 years in prison and a $600,000 fine at sentencing April 28.

Amber also bested Tina Wesson of Tennessee, who won the $1 million in Australia, her former Ogakor teammates Jerri Manthey of California and Colby Donaldson of Texas, as well as the popular Rupert Boneham from Indianapolis.

She said she hired the best accountant she could find because while being handed a $1 million check is exciting and fun and a huge, proud moment, it's also a little overwhelming at 26.

I'm very smart with my money, she said. I didn't go crazy.

Friends marvel that she still shops for bargains. She said they ended up in Pensacola because Rob's sister was going to school down there.

We were both kind of ready to get away to something new and live by the ocean, Mariano said.

You might be forgiven if you didn't know of Amber's passion for fashion since viewers met her during months of bad hair days bound up in a buff.

One unfulfilled fantasy revolves around opening a boutique filled with items she creates - jeans or tees she decorates, picture frames she's made, flip flops she's adorned or lamps bearing her personality.

She admires Gwen Stefani's ability to look great by mixing modern and vintage elements.

Mariano also imagines herself opening a health club to help people get into shape.

Her goals once were to travel, to complete college and to marry her soulmate. Then she was going to learn Spanish and to play piano and to read a book a month, since revised to two as one of her New Year's resolutions along with exercising more. She is currently reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel, a preposterous but enchanting story about a young Indian boy adrift in a lifeboat with his good friend she got from her brother.

College was so much fun it was kind of depressing trying to adjust to the workaday world and to run into the Catch-22 of not having enough experience to land a job to acquire the necessary experience.

Mariano said before she tried out for Survivor, she thought about studying speech pathology or event planning.

In some ways, Survivor's second season was more of a phenomenon than the first. People magazine published a special collector's edition in the spring of 2001 with her and the other castaways on the cover during its Jan. 28-April 26 airing.

Elisabeth Filarski joined The View. Jeff Varner also continued in television. And Colby Donaldson made shaving commercials.

After returning from the Outback, Mariano posed in a bikini for the cover of Stuff magazine's July issue.

The former cheerleader graduated in 1996 from Beaver Area High School. That means her 10-year reunion will be coming up this year. She said her sister-in-law's on the committee. If I can make it, sure I'd go, but she doesn't really have anything new to tell her classmates that they haven't followed on TV.

She's happy when friends remark that she seems unspoiled by her fame and fortune because she feels like the same person inside, though her experiences undoubtedly made her stronger and more independent.

The Australia DVD often shows her crying, edited for maximum drama.

I can't believe what I went through, she said. Starving. The toughest thing I've ever done, and made worse because her family has always been her rock, but this time she couldn't rely on them for help.

Her luxury item was a journal, but that won't be a book because the Survivor brand is tightly controlled. She still has it somewhere in a big box along with the cap crusty chain-smoking cop Maralyn Mad Dog Hershey bequeathed to her on-camera.

Asked whether she derived any satisfaction at having the last laugh on All-Stars on Hatch, the Colbster or Wesson, she said no.

I didn't regret anything, so I wasn't out for revenge, Mariano said.

After Survivor: The Australian Outback, Mariano was hired to host a new adventure vacation offered by Island Quest Adventures, a travel company that gave couples a chance to vie for cash and prizes in a real-life vacation adventure. She has also starred in commercials, appeared in magazines such as Maxim, TV Guide and Us Weekly and done dozens of charity events and benefits throughout the United States and Canada.

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