Hundreds gathered, gasped and were generally abuzz Wednesday at Portside on Main. Reality television star and "Survivor" legend ‘Boston’ Rob Mariano joined the Gulf Coast’s Jonathan Young at The Wharf’s outdoor venue in Orange Beach to watch the fifth episode of "Survivor’s" 50th season, a season of all returning players. Young is competing on the CBS show.

On and off the screen, attendees got flashbacks, future possibilities and behind-the-scenes reveals as the "Survivor" stars watched the episode with the fans.

Here are seven things we learned, in no particular order:

7. Boston Rob helped Young get on the 50th season.

“I wanted to introduce you to the guy who helped me get on '50,'” Young said, as Boston Rob made his way to the Portside stage. “For four years, Mr. Rob listened to me talk about wanting to go back, I feel like I’ve got more to do. There’s more to the story, and Mr. Rob, he wrote me a letter before I left (for "Survivor" 50). And I’ll put it this way, it really, really helped me. And without this guy, I might not be on 50.”

Mariano and his wife, Amber, met on "Survivor," and now they are married with four daughters, and live in Pensacola. Rob and Amber are both former winners of "Survivor."

6. Young’s quest to get on "Survivor" began in Foley.

“There was a line of about 500 to a thousand people,” Young said of the open casting call at OWA in Foley. “And what they did is had a camera setup in a building, and you had about one minute to show and to tell them why you should be on 'Survivor.' I took off my shirt and started talking, telling them I was a beach boy trying to get their attention, and it worked!”

5. Young’s "Survivor" journey almost came to an end before it began.

“I was supposed to be on (Survivor) 41, but five days from leaving, COVID hit, and they said, ‘We’re not having 'Survivor,' maybe ever again.’ I was so upset,” Young said to The Wharf crowd during a commercial. “And they didn’t film 'Survivor' until the next year, and they said, ‘hey, you’re not going to be used on 41, but maybe (Survivor) 42. We don’t even know if you’re going to get a chance ever again. It wrecked me. But by the grace of God, they called me, and it changed my life completely.”

Vince Johnson / Gulf Coast Media

4. Rizo threw the immunity challenge in the fifth episode, according to Young.

“Rizo threw that challenge. He threw that grappling hook for at least five minutes,” Young told the crowd. Viewers saw Young’s Cila tribe narrowly miss the immunity challenge victory, despite another dominant performance by the Gulf Shores native, sending Young to his first tribal council of the season. Rizo didn’t fully reveal that he purposely lost the challenge on the episode.

“The Cila tribe is going to tribal council, but I’m OK with that,” Rizo said on the episode. “Because I want Cirie, Kamilla, Dee and myself to be a four, to get Charlie out of this game.”

Rizo, who playfully refers to himself as ‘Rizgod,’ executes his ‘Operation Bad Blood’ plan, as he calls it, and sends Charlie home on the episode.

Young, who previously appeared to be in a majority alliance, is left out of the Charlie vote, and suddenly is seemingly in the minority on his Cila tribe.

In the double elimination episode, the Vatu tribe also votes off Angelina, leaving 17 players in the game.

3. Boston Rob called CBS to ask for Jonathan’s number, and it led to a lasting friendship.

“When (Jonathan) was on the show the first time, you know I’m still a fan of the show myself. Me and my wife, my kids, we all watch the show, and my little girls were so excited watching Jonathan on (his first season). I reached out to CBS and asked if I could get his number. And he’s one of the only people I’ve ever done this to, and I asked him ‘can I buy you lunch?’ And he graciously met us over here at The Gulf (restaurant), and surprised Amber and the kids, and ever since then, we’ve been friends.”

2. Rob’s "Survivor" 50 training for Young included home renovations.

“The training that I gave him for season 50, it started out playing tennis together, hanging out, he’d ask questions. He’d come to my house. He helped me put in my floor, and he helped me put my shed back together. And one time we were putting a floor in the garage, and it was a hot day, and I could tell he was getting irritated, probably because every time he did something, I was telling him how he was doing it wrong,” Mariano told the fans. “But I was actually training him to deal with the adversity that he was going to face out there, and I think he’s doing a phenomenal job so far this season.”

Vince Johnson / Gulf Coast Media

1. What’s to come? Good things, according to the "Survivor" stars.

“I can’t tell you a lot, but this season is going to get more and more exciting as the season goes on,” Young said. “This is Mr. Jeff’s (host Jeff Probst’s) favorite season.”

Mariano remains hopeful for Young.

“I told him when he left that if he didn’t do good to lose my number and not come back around, and when he landed back from Fiji, he called me. So I hope that means something good. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

"Survivor" 50 airs each Wednesday at 7 p.m. CST on CBS.