Gadsden's Savannah Miles uses passion for cooking to chase $250,000 prize on 'MasterChef'

Not only does Savannah Miles like to cook, but the Gadsden native may end up winning $250,000 for her efforts.

On a whim, Miles, 27, applied to be a contestant on Season 13 of Fox’s “MasterChef.” After what seemed like a zillion interviews, cooking tests and more, she earned her spot and will appear next on the show at 7 p.m. July 12.

Although filming is complete, nobody’s saying how it all ends.

It was a long road, said Miles, who has her own farm where she grows most of what she cooks.

“My true passion is in growing and cooking your own food,” Miles said on the audition round of the show. “That’s why I’m here, to pursue becoming a chef and prove that I made the right call by going rogue and starting this farm.”

Miles said 30,000 other people applied to be on the show. Then 6,000 were considered. And 80 hopefuls were flown out to Los Angeles. They narrowed it to 40, then 10 from each region of the country.

She ended up on the televised audition June 14, where the season’s theme is “United Flavors of America.” Miles, who goes by Sav, competed for one of five spots representing the South with some scrumptious fried chicken.

She marinated drumsticks — breasts get dry — in buttermilk, added all kinds of seasonings, then added a hot maple drizzle after the chicken was done. Miles said she was especially worried about guest celebrity chef Tiffany Derry, who owns popular Southern restaurants in Dallas.

“I was so scared,” she recalled. But everybody seemed to like her dish.

“Sav, the chicken’s perfect,” said host Gordon Ramsay. “Cooked beautifully.”

So, on she went. The next round on the hourlong program, working in teams representing the South, Northeast, West and Midwest, was to create some kind of state fair food — in an hour.

Miles made a barbecue sandwich. She didn’t win the round, but she got to move on.

A contestant from the Midwest won that challenge and earned immunity for his team. A West contestant had to hang up her apron and go home. So now there are 19 contestants.

The next challenge will be the Mystery Box, whatever that means, Miles said, smirking. (Fox officials say the ingredient is apples.)

She told the judges in her audition what she’d like to do with her winnings — a farm-to-table restaurant. When Ramsay expressed doubt about her pay-what-you-can philosophy, Miles, in typical sassy style, told him he was wrong.

“Hey, Gordon, once they try my food, there’s gonna be a line out the door,” Miles said. “I ain’t gonna be worried about all that.”

Miles already runs a produce business with her boyfriend — In the Pines, in Ballplay in rural Etowah County. The goal was to help her community, support local farmers and find sustainable local produce.

Filming took two months and Miles said she formed some great friendships. They were all put up at a local hotel on the third floor and weren’t allowed to do much because of COVID-19 restrictions.

“We couldn’t even go to the Starbucks downstairs,” she said.

Miles is facing some tough competition, including a contestant who also has Alabama ties: Kolby Chandler, the son of Thornton Chandler, a former NFL tight end who played for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 1980s.

Chandler, from Houston, also competed on “Top Chef Amateurs.” He has a cookbook and a line of seasonings.

Other Southern cooks on Miles’ team are Kendal Adair, a barbecue champ from Olive Branch, Mississippi; Reagan Sidney, a paralegal from New Orleans; and Jennifer Maune, a lifestyle blogger from Little Rock, Arkansas.

Again, Miles is mum on the outcome. But she will say she struggled with some of the meat dishes. “I can cook up any vegetable you want,” she said.

But she also said she is very proud of her performance, and just might have won.

Tune in Wednesday to see how Miles does with the apple challenge.

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Etowah County's Savannah Miles represents the South on 'MasterChef'