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'Maybe Singapore, we'll come and visit'

Survivor: All stars' love birds Amber and Rob talk about honeymoon hotspots, whose bank account holds the million dollar prize money and what they find sexy about each other

By Jeanmarie Tan

YOUR eyes may not be deceiving you if you spot Survivor: All-Stars' super couple suntanning on Sentosa this time next year.

That's because winner Amber Brkich and her runner-up fiance Rob Mariano may be spending their honeymoon here.

When asked about their ideal honeymoon location during a phone interview, Mariano said without hesitation: 'Maybe Singapore, we'll come and visit.'

After being informed about the tropical weather, cleanliness, shopping and food, Brkich chirped: 'Wow, hey, we'll definitely put it on the option list.

'It should be somewhere we've both never been, so that we can experience it for the first time together.'

The lovebirds are still in their honeymoon phase - seven months after they met on the Pearl Islands where the seeds of reality TV love were first planted and they flirted for strategy's sake.

Both were talking to The New Paper from Mariano's hometown in Boston, where Brkich, a 25-year-old model, was visiting for a few days.

NO PRE-NUP

The 28-year-old construction foreman was quiet, letting Brkich - who laughed politely after every question - do the talking.

They behaved like a couple who are comfortably ensconsed in a stable relationship.

They chuckled at each other's jokes and consistently supported each other's statements, with Brkich automatically elaborating on Mariano's brief quips.

In case you're wondering, they're not signing a pre-nup.

And just because they're engaged doesn't mean they're sharing the US$1 million ($1.7m) prize, because Survivor rules don't allow them to split the booty with other contestants.

Brkich added: 'The money's in a separate banking account from Rob's money because he won US$250,000 too. But once you're married, then everything will be together.'

So does that mean the lady's paying for the wedding?

Rob replied slyly: 'I don't think anybody's paying for the wedding.'

Yes folks, looks like we have another sponsored wedding at hand a la Trista and Ryan, Andrea and Pierre, Evelyn and Darren.

Although no date has been set - it might be within a year 'if we start planning soon', according to Brkich - her dream wedding will be on a beach at Grand Cayman Islands or Hawaii.

She quipped: 'But a beach with no bugs, not like the one we had on the show! I think Rob loves the ocean too.'

And you can be sure Mariano's biggest nemesis on Survivor: All-Stars, Lex van den Berghe, won't be invited.

Mariano is keen to start married life: 'I hope it's half as much fun as dating because these last couple of months have been unbelievable. We've got a lot to look forward to - starting a family, living together and everything else.'

Mariano also conceded that Brkich will 'probably' be handling the purse strings.

She said: 'I may be a little bit more organised with my money skills, so I think he's going to hand that responsibility over to me.'

Seems like Brkich's wearing the pants in the relationship on and off the island.

She squealed, 'Hah! I love that!', to which Mariano deadpanned: 'Just let her think whatever she wants to think, we know who's running things from behind the scenes.'

Although he initially thought she was a snob, and she thought he was immature, attempts to dig out what they dislike about each other now fell flat.

Mariano, always keen to put Brkich on a pedestal, said: 'I don't dislike anything and I love everything. Nobody's perfect, but she's perfect for me. We got wickedly lucky.'

A mushy declaration that even made Brkich go 'Awww' and burst out: 'Wow, that's a good answer!'

He added that not only was his future wife voted Survivor's Sexiest Woman - which he thinks is 'great' - she's the 'sexiest woman in the world' to him.

This from the man who merrily lusted after her 'slammin' body' and 'smokin' ass' on national TV.

'I mean, have you seen this girl? But that's not even the half of it. Her personality's unbelievable.'

Without missing a beat, Brkich reciprocated: 'He impresses me equally with how smart, creative and loving he is. He makes me smile every day and he's made me the happiest I've ever been.

'The only thing I don't like is that we're living 10 hours apart from each other. But once we solve that problem, then there won't be anything to dislike.'

'Romantic and tasteful' kisses

OKAY, enough about Mariano and Brkich's love story.

What about all the smooching, smells and sex talk on Survivor: All-Stars?

The couple admitted sharing a few 'romantic and tasteful' kisses only after a toothbrush, toothpaste and breath mints came into the picture.

Was the bad breath really that bad?

Oh yeah, Mariano chimed. Brkich added: 'You just don't feel clean and you don't feel like you want to be kissing. You're not showering, you're not shaving, you're not wearing any deodorant, you're so skinny from not eating, so it's the last thing on your mind out there.'

Winning the reward challenge on Day 12, in which their Chapera tribe received shampoo and other amenities, helped remove any foul body odour.

OH, THE SMELL!

Mariano joked: 'But towards the end, we were probably a little stinky.'

Brkich continued: 'But I guess when you're around each other, you start to get used to it. Maybe an outsider would think we smell worse than we actually think we do!'

Mariano couldn't resist adding: 'Plus, Big Tom smelled so bad he kind of took over and overshadowed all of us.'

The couple also denied that there was any more intimate hanky-panky going on besides the kissing, cuddling and spooning that we saw on TV.

Then why did tribemate Rob Cesternino predict in Episode 4 that they were 'going to do it'?

Were the hormones raging so wildly that even the rest could smell it?

Brkich laughed: 'Rob C's a comedian and he likes the attention so he'll say anything to get it. I know Rob and I had one thing on our minds - to win a million bucks.'

So sex didn't pop up at all?

Mariano set the record straight, saying: 'I'll tell you the truth, after being out there for three days and not eating any food, your sex drive is gone.'