Austin Li Coon and Dee Valladares have been working together since the start of Survivor 45 and their connection is only getting stronger.
In Us Weekly’s exclusive first look of the Wednesday, December 6, episode of the CBS reality series, the power duo broached the subject of falling in love while playing the game.
“One of my favorite moments on Survivor was the whole All-Stars thing,” Austin, 26, says to Dee, also 26, in the clip. “The whole Boston Rob [Mariano] and Amber [Mariano] thing … I love that.”
On Survivor: All-Stars, which aired in 2003, Rob and Amber formed an alliance at the start of the game. While working together, the pair ended up falling in love. As they made it to the Final 2, Amber ultimately won the million-dollar prize but she also found her husband in the end. During the finale, Rob proposed and the couple tied the knot in 2005.
The special moment for Survivor’s most famous love story sat with Austin as he confesses that he secretly wished he could have a similar story to Rob and Amber.
“You know what, maybe one day, I’ll find my Amber on the island,” he quips in the clip, to which Dee laughs
Dee, for her part, tells Austin that she didn’t have any plans to fall in love on the island.
“You want to know something hilarious?” she asks. “Before coming out here, one of the things I said was like, ‘No showmances.’ Number one red flag.”
While Dee is adamant about just focusing on the game, she admits that her friends back home were hopeful she would “find her husband out there.” Throughout the game, Dee’s priority has been bringing home the prize to her family.
“I came into this game saying, ‘No showmances!’” Dee jokes in a confessional. “Literally, one of my biggest things was no showmances. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have a little fun.”
Earlier this season, Austin and Dee’s fellow tribe member Kendra McQuarrie was picking up on the sparks flying between the twosome and saw them as a threat.
“I’m kind of nervous about the Austin and Dee thing,” Kendra confessed to Bruce Perrault and Julie Alley during a November episode. “I think they’re secretly in love, which I love. And I want them to get married after.”
After sharing her realization — and for making it well known she was coming after Dee in the game — Kendra was voted out and became the third member of the jury.
Survivor airs on CBS on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
