Greenwood girl competes on popular Foodstuff Community show

Tiffany Billingsly might be one of the worst cooks in The united states.

Luckily, there is a Television set exhibit for that. 

Billingsly, a previous new music teacher from Greenwood, is a recruit this season on the common Food stuff Network display Worst Cooks in The usa.

Worst Cooks in The united states is in its 21st time of helping turn common individuals who anxiety the kitchen into cooks that can make a meal their families and pals can belly. This year is hosted by Meals Community Cooks Anne Burrell and Carla Hall. 

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Fourteen contestants, named “recruits” on the present, are chosen from a lengthy software system. The moment on the clearly show, the recruits are break up into two teams — the red group led by Burrell, and the blue crew led by Hall — to contend versus every other in culinary issues although learning necessary cooking expertise, these as cooking steak effectively and employing knives, from their chef team leaders.

Recruits who prepare dinner the worst dishes are eradicated each episode right up until one particular particular person from just about every team is left standing to go head to head in the finale. The recruit who cooks the most effective food in the previous episode wins $25,000.

Billingsly has hardly ever been the prepare dinner in her loved ones — her spouse, who loves to cook dinner, took on that part. In the 1st episode that aired on Foodstuff Community, she claimed her partner quickly figured out that if she cooks “no 1 is ingesting.”

She talked precisely about an incident when she begun a modest kitchen hearth with her cousin’s microwave although trying to prepare dinner pizza rolls. 

“My tiny boys will convey to you they looked like charcoal when they came out,” Billingsly explained.

But when her spouse, who owns his possess automobile-mechanics store, picked up a next position at Amazon, Billingsly felt like she essential to action up and do far more all-around the property, which provided cooking. 

A longtime Food items Network fan, she determined to utilize to be on Worst Cooks in The usa, not pondering she would actually be regarded for the clearly show.

“We viewed a whole lot of Foodstuff Community, and I was like, ‘You know, I could rock this clearly show. I could do this,’” Billingsly claimed. 

So, she stuffed out the lengthy on the web application as a result of Meals Community, which asks several inquiries about an applicant’s property lifetime and cooking encounter. Candidates also have to post a video clip conveying why they should be on the exhibit.

“I filled out this exceptionally very long application, and literally two hrs afterwards I bought a cellular phone get in touch with,” Billingsly stated.

When she was selected amid 13 other contestants from close to the country to be on the exhibit, she couldn’t believe that it, even when she arrived in September in New York to movie.

“I actually seemed at my handler and was like, ‘Um, is this a prank?’” Billingsly reported. “Is Ashton Kutcher likely to pop out of some location and mess with me?”

Filming took location involving September and Oct in New York. Though she could not go into also lots of aspects, Billingsly explained Foods Network adopted COVID-19 recommendations although they have been filming on established.

Just about every episode normally involves two timed problems — the 1st is a shorter cooking problem dependent on a specified topic, this sort of as farm to table or dwelling cooking, and the 2nd entails the recruits cooking a dish made by Burrell and Corridor.

Some of the original cooking competencies the recruits have may seem outrageous for the typical viewer to imagine, these kinds of as 1 recruit making use of scorching dogs and mayonnaise in a fettucine alfredo recipe, or 1 not being aware of the change amongst an onion and garlic, but Billingsly can attest that these moments are not overexaggerated.

“We’re seriously this terrible, guys. It is not a joke,” Billingsly explained.

Billingsly commenced off effectively in the initially episode that aired Jan. 3. She was the initial recruit selected for Hall’s team, the “Bodacious Blue Diamonds.” She observed herself in the base two on the blue workforce in the next episode for somewhat overcooking and less than seasoning her lamb chops in the main obstacle. But she was not removed.

“Chef Carla is always encouraging. She wishes you to consider anything good out of what you’ve accomplished. Even if it was a complete catastrophe, she wishes you to be very pleased that you at least acquired one thing carried out,” Billingsly said.

She enjoyed working with Corridor and Burrell, who are equally pretty personable, she reported. But she did discover Burrell as daunting as she seems on Tv, and unintentionally instructed the chef she gave her nightmares even though on set.

“I slipped that even though donning a mic, so she observed out about it. So, she came up to me and was like, ‘So, I hear you are acquiring goals?’” Billingsly explained.

Getting on a cooking display compelled Billingsly to confront some of her fears of the kitchen area — employing knives and dealing with raw meat. The principal problem in the initially episode was geared toward knife techniques and working with meat as her staff had to make crispy beef stir-fry. So she experienced to triumph over that phobia swiftly, she reported.

“The phobias I experienced have been knife expertise, for the reason that I’m gonna chop my finger off, and meat,” Billingsly reported. “I learned to have much more of an appreciation for what I was carrying out. I felt like I figured out standard capabilities to not feel so incompetent.”

Billingsly could not be at grasp chef degree just however. But immediately after the show, she feels more self-confident in the kitchen area, she said.

“I can definitely tackle a little bit a lot more in the kitchen area now, primarily if my spouse is there because he is a excellent supporter,” Billingsly reported. “It actually is form of entertaining due to the fact now, we have a thing we can the two get pleasure from together.”

Worst Cooks in The usa has 7 episodes this year. Viewers can check out Billingsly in the third episode at 9 p.m. Sunday on Foodstuff Network.