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Edna Ma is a contestant from Survivor: South Pacific.

Despite constantly being ostracized by her Upolu tribemates, Edna was a member of The Family at Coach Wade's behest. Late in the game, Edna attempted to sway Albert Destrade and Sophie Clarke into blindsiding Brandon Hantz due to his mercurial personality. This failed however, as she was the first voted out for being untrustworthy when the alliance was forced to turn on each other, and lost the subsequent duel to Ozzy Lusth.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Name (Age): Edna Ma (35)
Tribe designation: Upolu
Current residence: Los Angeles­
Occupation: Anesthesiologist
Personal claim to fame: I was the first in my family to finish college. I subsequently went onto complete medical school and am board certified in anesthesiology.
Inspiration in life: Oprah. She overcame poverty, abuse and numerous other challenges/adversities to become one of the most influential women in the world.
Hobbies: Traveling, learning new things and going to new restaurants.
Pet peeves: Idleness, liars and deception.
3 words to describe you: Self-starter, adventurous and ambitious.
Survivor contestant you are most like: Mick Trimming for his diplomacy.
Reason for being on Survivor: It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I want the experience!
Why you think you'll "survive" Survivor: I'm a critical thinker and I'm good at tasks and building a team.
Why you think you will be the Sole Survivor: I'm determined and I believe I can achieve anything I set my sights on.[1]

Survivor[]

Edna was one of the eight new castaways in the Upolu tribe. She was the first person to form an alliance with returning castaway Coach Wade after the entire tribe clearly hinted their displeasure of having Coach on their tribe instead of the other returning castaway, Ozzy Lusth. When Coach lost the first challenge (where it was Ozzy vs. Coach) Edna was the only person in her tribe to stay and help Coach with his things, this was a game changing move for her which carried her past several Tribal Councils.

When Upolu lost the second Immunity Challenge, Coach revealed to his alliance (Sophie Clarke, Albert Destrade, Rick Nelson, and Brandon Hantz) that Edna would be their sixth, but the main alliance of five agreed that the anesthesiologist would be kept out of the loop in terms of having input to their voting options. Edna was targeted by Christine Shields Markoski after Edna was seen as the weakest in the tribe. However, Christine was the only one who voted for Edna, and she was sent to Redemption Island by the majority alliance under the premise that she was feverishly looking after the Hidden Immunity Idol and showing the most disdain for Coach's membership in the tribe.

In one of his many outbursts, Brandon revealed to Edna that she was never really in the alliance and was only considered an extra vote, to her dismay and shock. After losing the sixth Immunity Challenge, Coach's alliance wanted to vote out Mikayla Wingle for acting overbearingly at the Immunity Challenge. However, Albert wanted to vote out Edna after fearing that Coach would take her at the Final Tribal Council and believing that she had no contribution to the tribe whatsoever. While Albert did try to protect Mikayla by voting Edna, Edna, Brandon, and Coach successfully swung Rick's vote, sending Mikayla to Redemption Island. Unscathed after three Tribal Councils, the whole alliance of six merged with the rival Savaii tribe, forming the new Te Tuna tribe.

At the first post-merge Tribal Council, former Savaii member John Cochran betrayed his old tribemates by joining the Upolu alliance, allowing Edna and the rest of Upolu to remain safe, whilst the former Savaii members were systematically voted out, forcing them to turn on each other in Redemption Island.

After all former Savaii members were voted out, while Brandon revealed that he did not compete to win, but to change the "evil" connotation that came along with his surname, he made a controversial move at the Immunity Challenge, where he eliminated Edna, implying that he was trying to prevent somebody from winning immunity and referred to her as a "certain person". This gesture angered Edna, making her to campaign his ouster, comparing Brandon's latest outburst to "beating a wife then buying her a diamond necklace". Knowing she was in trouble, Edna plead to Coach to lend her his Hidden Immunity Idol, which he found days before. Coach rebutted that by doing so, his endgame would be in jeopardy. With Coach unwilling to assist her, Edna also tried to swing Albert and Sophie's votes, with the two almost leaning over to the idea since earlier they both agreed they were disgusted with Brandon for the way he treated her. In the end, Edna's lobbying ultimately failed, sending her to Redemption Island in a unanimous vote. Coach gave Edna a hug before she left for Redemption Island.

At the penultimate Redemption Island duel on Day 33, though Edna was close to winning, in the end the island's defending inhabitant Ozzy Lusth eventually won, sending Edna to the jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, Edna expressed her feelings on being manipulated by her alliance using religion as a fear factor. She stressed that in the game, everyone either manipulates or get manipulated by someone else, so "being duped" is almost inevitable. She advised the final three survivors (Albert, Sophie, and Coach) to own up to their actions, because they "signed up for this." Edna ultimately gave her vote to Coach, however, he lost to Sophie in a 6-3-0 vote.

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Upolu Thrilogy Reward Yes Lost
Coconut Conundrum Immunity No Won
2 Crate Escape Reward/Immunity Yes Lost
3 Hitching a Ride Reward/Immunity No Won
4 Shoulder the Load Reward/Immunity No Lost
5 Pig Out Reward/Immunity No Won
6 Losing Face Reward/Immunity Yes Lost
7 Family Ties Reward/Immunity No Won
Tribes Merged, Day 19
8 Te Tuna Cococnut Cradle Immunity Lost
9 Get Crackin' Immunity Lost
Bow Diddley Immunity Yes1 Lost
10 Price On Your Head Immunity Lost
C.A.T. Immunity Lost
12 Second Chance Reward/Immunity Lost
13 Flip Out Immunity Lost
Voted Out, Day 32
14 Te Tuna Block It Out Duel Lost
Eliminated, Day 33
Notes:
^1 Edna elected to sit out of the challenge to eat pastries and iced coffee.

Episode Edna's
Votes
Voted Against
Edna
1 Upolu Tribe Immune
2 Stacey Christine
3 Upolu Tribe Immune
4 Stacey Stacey
5 Upolu Tribe Immune
6 Mikayla Albert, Mikayla,
Sophie
7 Upolu Tribe Immune
8 Keith;
Keith1
-
9 Ozzy -
Jim Dawn, Jim,
Whitney
10 Dawn Dawn, Whitney
Whitney -
12 Rick -
13 Brandon Albert, Brandon,
Coach, Rick, Sophie
Voted Out, Day 32
14 On Redemption Island
Eliminated, Day 33
Voted for
Sole Survivor
Coach

^1 In "Double Agent", the vote ended with a 6-6 tie between Keith and Rick, forcing a revote. Edna did not change her vote on the revote.

Post-Survivor[]

Edna's family

Edna with her family.

  • Edna revealed at the South Pacific Reunion Show that she was missed so much by her husband, she got pregnant some time after filming. In May 8, 2012, Edna and her husband welcomed a baby boy, which they named Dean.[2]
  • Edna appeared on the ABC reality show Shark Tank in October 2013.[3]
  • On October 22, 2014, Edna gave birth to her second child, Genevieve.[4]
  • Edna attended the primetime Survivor edition of The Price Is Right that aired on May 23, 2016. However, Edna herself did not compete.
  • In 2024, Edna appeared on two episodes of 25 Words or Less alongside her sister Debbie.[5]

Trivia[]

  • Edna originally intended to talk to Mark Burnett to be on Shark Tank to promote a new business. However, he convinced her to be on Survivor instead.[6]
  • Edna is a close friend of Samoa contestant Mick Trimming, who is also a doctor.
    • Mick helped her get cast for the show.
  • Edna is the only Upolu member to receive a vote against her at every pre-merge Tribal Council her tribe attended.
  • Edna wore Tree Mail messages as visors during the game.
  • Edna is the only woman on South Pacific to make the merge and not win individual immunity.
  • Edna lost 14 lbs. during her time on South Pacific.[7]

References[]

Survivor: South Pacific Castaways
 Albert
Upolu
S23 albert t
 Brandon
Upolu
S23 brandon t
 Christine
Upolu
S23 christine t
 Coach
Upolu
S23 coach t
 Cochran
Savaii
S23 cochran t
 Dawn
Savaii
S23 dawn t
 Edna
Upolu
S23 edna t
 Elyse
Savaii
S23 elyse t
 Jim
Savaii
S23 jim t
 Keith
Savaii
S23 keith t
 Mark
Savaii
S23 mark t
 Mikayla
Upolu
S23 mikayla t
 Ozzy
Savaii
S23 ozzy t
 Rick
Upolu
S23 rick t
 Semhar
Savaii
S23 semhar t
 Sophie
Upolu
S23 sophie t
 Stacey
Upolu
S23 stacey t
 Whitney
Savaii
S23 whitney t
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