Sundra Oakley is a contestant from Survivor: Cook Islands.
Sundra is best remembered for being a member of the Aitu Four, her poor performance in the fire-making tiebreaker challenge, and being eliminated just one day before the Final Tribal Council after losing the firemaking challenge to Becky Lee.
Profile[]
Retrieved from CBS.com
A first generation American, Sundra Oakley was born in Queens, New York to Jamaican parents. Oakley received her Bachelor's Degree from New York University. She also studied at Georgetown University.
Oakley is currently a cocktail waitress at a Hollywood nightclub while pursuing an acting career. She has appeared on "CSI: Miami" on CBS, "Strong Medicine," "Sex and the City," several national commercials and has appeared off Broadway.
Oakley's hobbies include dancing, traveling to new countries, reading, kung fu and capoeira, snuggling on the couch with her son to watch a movie and sleep when she can get it. Her favorite sports are running and boxing.
Oakley currently resides in Los Angeles with her son, Carsun and their beta fish, Beta. Her birth date is January 2, 1975.[1]
Survivor[]
As one of five African-American contestants on the season, Sundra started her game on Manihiki. When her tribe lost the season's first Immunity Challenge, Sundra was targeted by Nate Gonzalez and Sekou Bunch. At Tribal Council, she received votes from Nate and Sekou, but Rebecca Borman and Stephannie Favor sided with her and voted out Sekou.
When Manihiki was disbanded, Sundra was switched to Aitutaki. Aitutaki lost the next Immunity Challenge. At Tribal Council, she voted for Becky Lee, but Cecilia Mansilla was blindsided. Aitutaki then enjoyed a lengthy winning streak. However, on Day 15, host Jeff Probst announced that both tribes would go to Tribal Council. Aitutaki on the challenge. At Tribal Council, Sundra joined the majority in voting out Cao Boi Bui. When Aitutaki lost immunity on Day 18, Sundra joined the majority in voting out Jessica Smith at Tribal Council.
It appeared that Sundra and Ozzy Lusth were the only outsiders remaining. At the next Reward Challenge, a "Mutiny" offer was presented where anybody could change tribe affiliations. Candice Cody and Jonathan Penner decided to jump back to Rarotonga to rejoin their original tribemates thus leaving Sundra, Becky, Yul Kwon, and Ozzy as the remaining members of Aitutaki. However, Sundra's luck changed as herself and Ozzy joined Yul's Aitu Four alliance, and Aitutaki won the remaining reward and Immunity Challenges before the merge.
While the Aitu Four entered the merge with four members, as opposed to Raro's 5, Yul used his Hidden Immunity Idol to flip Jonathan, thus putting Sundra and her allies on top. Sundra, Yul, Ozzy, and Becky were able to eliminate the others and make it to the final 4. On Day 38, Jeff announced that this season would feature a Final Three at the Final Tribal Council instead of a traditional Final Two. With Ozzy winning the Final Immunity Challenge, and Yul having the idol which would keep him safe until the final three, it was decided that Sundra and Becky would compete in a firemaking tiebreaker. At Tribal Council, she and Ozzy voted for Becky while Becky and Yul voted for her. Since both Becky and Sundra were tied, they had to compete in the firemaking tiebreaker. Neither Becky nor Sundra could get their fire started with flint and machete after one hour. Jeff finally ordered both of them to stop and as an alternative, matches were given to Becky and Sundra, but both had trouble again maintaining a fire long enough to burn the rope. In the end, Sundra ran out of matches after half an hour, whereas Becky finally kept a fire long and high enough to burn the rope to secure her spot in the final three, and making Sundra the final member of the jury.
At the Final Tribal Council, Sundra asked the finalists what was something they learned about themselves or life from being in the game for all 39 days. She contributed to Yul's 5-4-0 victory over Ozzy and Becky by voting for him to win.
| Episode | Tribe Affiliation |
Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manihiki | Lock, Load and Light | Reward/Immunity | No | Lost |
| 2 | Tow the Line | Reward/Immunity | No | 3rd | |
| Switched Tribes, Day 7 | |||||
| 3 | Aitutaki | Steeple Chase | Immunity | No | Lost |
| 4 | Sacrificial Lamb | Reward | No | Won | |
| Mayday | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 5 | Never Tear Us Apart | Reward | No | Lost | |
| United We Stand | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 6 | Kicking and Screaming | Reward | No | Won | |
| 8 | Smash and Grab | Reward | Yes | Won | |
| Stairway to Heaven | Immunity | No | Lost | ||
| 9 | Barrel of Monkeys | Reward | No | Won | |
| Depth Charge | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| 10 | Make Your Point | Reward | No | Won | |
| South Pacific | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| Tribes Merged, Day 25 | |||||
| 11 | Aitutonga | Get a Grip | Immunity | Lost | |
| 12 | Survivor Auction | ||||
| Recollection | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 13 | Pass the Bucket | Reward | Invited | ||
| Floatsam and Jetsam | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 14 | Mud Run | Reward | Lost | ||
| Cannonball Run | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 15 | Compass Ropes | Immunity | Lost | ||
| Self-Destruction | Immunity | Lost | |||
| Eliminated, Day 38 | |||||
| Episode | Sundra's Votes |
Voted Against Sundra |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sekou | Nate, Sekou |
| 2 | Manihiki Tribe Immune | |
| 3 | Becky | - |
| 4 | Aitutaki Tribe Immune | |
| 5 | Aitutaki Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Cao Boi | - |
| 8 | Jessica | - |
| 9 | Aitutaki Tribe Immune | |
| 10 | Aitutaki Tribe Immune | |
| 11 | Nate | - |
| 12 | Candice | - |
| 13 | Jonathan | - |
| 14 | Parvati | Adam, Parvati |
| 15 | Adam | - |
| Becky | Becky, Yul1 | |
| Eliminated, Day 38 | ||
| Voted for Sole Survivor |
Yul | |
^1 In "This Tribe Will Self-Destruct in 5, 4, 3...", the vote ended with a 2-2 tie between Sundra and Becky, forcing a fire-making tiebreaker. Sundra was eliminated at the tiebreaker.
Post-Survivor[]
- Since Survivor, Sundra has continued to pursue her acting career, and can be seen in shows such as Lost, Suburgatory, CSI: Miami, Sex and the City, and many more.[2]
- On January 9, 2010, Sundra attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party.
Trivia[]
- Sundra is the only original Manihiki member to go over to the new Aitutaki after the tribe absorption in Cook Islands.
- Whenever Sundra received votes at Tribal Council, she received exactly two, and the two people who voted for her were from the same original tribe.
- Sundra is the highest-placing member of Manihiki.
- She was the only member of the Aitu Four alliance to be a member of the jury and the only post-mutiny member of Aitutaki to be on the jury. The other 8 jury members were from post-mutiny Rarotonga.
- Sundra is the first person to place 4th and become the final member of the jury, because her season had the first Final Three.
- Sundra is the first person to be the 17th person voted out of a season.
References[]
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