Korean-born and South Carolina-raised, Eva Pilgrim’s Southern roots run deep. From food and faith to passed-down recipes and family traditions, the two cultures—which, she says, have more in common than you might think—both helped shape who she is today and her career. The anchor, who just celebrated her one-year anniversary at Inside Edition, sat down with Southern Living to share more about the places and people who have influenced her.
Pilgrim lived in Georgia, grew up in Columbia, South Carolina, and spent time with extended family across Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama. Add in a grandmother named Gladys and a grandfather who was a Southern Baptist preacher, and she jokes that she comes from “a very Southern family.” Her Korean heritage, though, fit naturally alongside it.
“If you look at the two cultures on the surface, they look wildly different, but the things that they care about the most are very similar—family, food, respecting your elders,” Pilgrim tells Southern Living. “In Korean, respect is built into the language, so you refer to someone with a slightly different sound when they’re your elder. It’s the same in the South with ‘Ma’am’ and ‘Sir.’ ”…