Susan Africa fulfills ₱5,000 reward after a student finds a teleserye scene of her coughing

Posted by ReyFort Media

Susan Africa has rewarded a netizen after she successfully found a teleserye scene showing the veteran actress coughing, ending the viral challenge.  

It was on July 17 when Susan became a trending topic after addressing one of the internet’s longest-running jokes about her career that she is almost always cast as a sickly character constantly coughing. 

Fondly dubbed by netizens as the “Star for All Ubo,” Susan explained during the finale media conference of Blood vs Duty that the joke was largely a case of the Mandela effect. While she acknowledged portraying several ill characters throughout her four-decade career, she insisted she could not recall repeatedly coughing in any of her teleseryes. 

She pointed to her role as Susan Davis in the 1992 hit series Mara Clara, saying her character suffered a stroke but was not constantly coughing. She also remembered that the only role she clearly recalled being instructed to cough for was in the 2019 comedy film The Mall, The Merrier. 

Confident in her memory, Susan jokingly challenged viewers to prove her wrong. “Pakitaan niyo ako ng video na umuubo ako sa teleserye and I will give five thousand pesos.” 

The lighthearted challenge quickly spread online, with thousands of netizens digging through old clips of Susan’s television projects in search of a coughing scene. While many agreed the “ubo-ubo acting” reputation might indeed be a Mandela effect because they could not find any evidence, one determined netizen eventually uncovered a scene from the episode 714 of Mara Clara showing Susan’s character coughing while portraying a sickly mother.

Two days later, on July 19, the actress revealed that she had already contacted the winning netizen, who is a college student, and awarded the ₱5,000 prize. 

On Facebook, Susan announced: “Yes, we have a winner! Ms Sheena Rose Traifalgar, a 3rd year college student in Iloilo was the first to submit a video of a scene from Mara Clara where I was coughing.” 

“Thank you for refreshing my memory of a scene I did many decades ago which I’ve already forgotten, Sheena.” 

Susan admitted that after spending more than 40 years in the entertainment industry portraying countless characters, it was impossible for her to remember every single detail from her past projects. 

“I must admit I do not remember the scenes which our many contestants submitted. I have been blessed with four decades in this industry playing myriad roles, so I cannot remember all the details. But my sincerest thanks to all who joined this cough challenge. I appreciate your efforts in finding scenes from my past works. I hope you all had fun joining this amusing game,” she said.

“As for the Mandela Effect, I concede that although it might not be accurate at this point, I maintain that though I may cough occasionally in a few roles in the past, I do not cough in ALL of my teleseryes. ✌,” she added.  

The actress also took the opportunity to express gratitude to ABS-CBN for the many roles she has portrayed throughout her career. She also shared her gratitude for the network’s executive, Cory Vidanes, for gifting her a “breakthrough role” inBlood vs Duty where she played Dra. Teresa Reyes.  

Susan likewise shared screenshots of her conversation with the netizen, where she personally thanked the student for her determination in searching for the clip. The college student, in turn, expressed her gratitude for the reward and shared that she plans to use the money to help fund her studies. 

Following Susan’s post, many netizens praised the veteran actress for honoring her word and applauded her generosity. Others also took the opportunity to celebrate her long-standing career, saying the viral challenge became another reminder of her memorable performances through the years. 

Earlier this year, Susan also made headlines after taking on the role of Dra. Teresa in Blood vs Duty, portraying the mother of Richard Gutierrez’s character, Marcus. The casting delighted viewers, with many joking that the actress had finally earned a “career upgrade” after years of being associated with roles as a suffering mother, house helper, or underprivileged woman. (A. De Guzman/ Push team)