Sometimes wounds heal, and sometimes they fester. Coming in second place on The Amazing Race 7 seems to have left a nasty scar on Rob Mariano, and he can't stop picking at it.
The Robfather even suggests that he and wife Amber Brkich won't compete in an all-stars edition of the globe-trotting CBS reality show, in the quite possible event the network should come a-knockin'.
"I'm going to be honest with you, I don't think I would do the race again," Mariano said during a recent stop in Toronto to promote the DVD board game Scene It? Squabble.
"I won't. I don't think I will."
If you know your reality TV -- not that that's anything to be proud of -- then you know the story.
Survivor: The Australian Outback's Brkich and Survivor: Marquesas' Mariano, who met and fell in love on Survivor: All-Stars, were invited by CBS to extend their 15 minutes of fame even further by competing in The Amazing Race 7 against a field of reg'lar folks.
As the race drew close to the finish line in Miami, Rob and Amber appeared to have victory in hand when they boarded a plane ahead of the two remaining teams. But for reasons that were never explained, the aircraft returned to the gate before takeoff to allow Uchenna and Joyce Agu to board late. That's not exactly a common occurrence in the world of civil aviation.
The Agus ended up overtaking Rob and Amber in Miami and won the million bucks, giving Mariano his second taste of missing out on a big reality-show prize. And in his opinion, there was never a satisfactory explanation for what went down.
"To have to remember that that actually happened, and to go back and have to play the show again for the benefit of the networks and their ratings and their money, there would have to be another incentive involved," Mariano said.
"Because I wouldn't go through that again, knowing that they may do something like that that compromises the integrity of the show in order to have a great ending or rating."
Brkich said her hubby goes back and forth on the issue, and in any case she'd rather do another race alongside other celebrity duos, as opposed to previous contestants.
"I just think it would be more fun and much more relaxed," she said, offering the interesting mental image of Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa as a possible team.
"The game that we played, it was a lot of stress just because everyone did hate us, and all the concentration was on us."
REALTY WRAP: The Amazing Race: Family Edition -- The apple-pie-and-sunshine Gaghan family, one of the most likable clans in the race, was eliminated in Costa Rica. Why couldn't it have been the Weavers?
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart -- After scaring off more people than they attracted to a street display flogging stain removal sticks, Primarius went down in flames, and both project manager Sarah and success saboteur Carrie were given the punt by Martha.
The Apprentice -- Capital Edge's sex-in-the-workplace class got low marks, and the ever-evasive Markus was finally pinned down by Trump for not pulling his weight. You're fired!
Survivor: Guatemala -- Tensions ran high in the newly merged tribe, as the former Nakum members outnumbered the scared Yaxhas. The vote was split along tribal lines, and nice guy Brandon made the walk o' shame.
