The first season of the American competitive reality television series MasterChef ran from July 27 to September 15, 2010 on Fox. Whitney Miller was the winner of this inaugural season, with David Miller as the runner-up., Chef Whitney Miller was just 22 when she staked her claim to fame in reality TV and became the first American winner of MasterChef season one in 2010. Miller was still a nutrition student at the University of Southern Mississippi but walked away from the series with $250,000 and a cookbook deal., However, he was ultimately bested by college student Whitney Miller, who became the first ‘MasterChef’ winner. Although David gained worldwide fame as an excellent chef through his appearance on ‘MasterChef,’ he chose to return to his job as a Principal Engineer at Vistaprint., Whitney was the MasterChef season 1 winner due to her natural ability in the kitchen. After MasterChef, Whitney returned to college to complete her degree. Whitney released her cook book Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm and further released Whitney Miller’s New Southern Table., Season 1 of MasterChef aired on FOX between July 27 and September 15, 2010. College student Whitney Miller, from Poplarville, Mississippi, was the winner of the season and was awarded with the MasterChef trophy, the right to publish her own cookbook, and a salary of $250,000., Whitney won MasterChef and became the first person to ever win the series. Her prizes consisted of $250,000, a personalized cookbook and the MasterChef trophy. After winning Season 1 of MasterChef, Whitney Miller released her cookbook, Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm..