Next Level Chef (American TV series)

Chefs compete in a series of cooking challenges, divided into three teams under the guidance and judgment of Ramsay, Arrington, and Blais. In each episode, chefs are assigned to cook in one of three kitchens stacked on top of each other. The top level is equipped with a wide range of modern tools and devices, the middle level is a standard commercial kitchen, and the bottom level contains a limited collection of lower-quality equipment.

In the first season, the chefs are divided into three groups, and each group is randomly assigned a mentor and kitchen. Based on their evaluation of the chefs' dishes, the mentors take turns choosing one chef at a time for their respective teams. The teams are randomly assigned to the kitchens in subsequent episodes. In the second season, the mentors pick their chefs prior to the first challenge, and kitchen assignments for the teams are based on the results from the challenges throughout the episodes.

Before each challenge, a platform stocked with ingredients is lowered through the structure from top to bottom. As it reaches each level, the chefs cooking there have 30 seconds to collect whatever items they think they will need, including no more than one protein each. They are then given 45 minutes to prepare, cook, and plate their dishes, incorporating any surprise ingredient(s) that may be delivered to them on the platform without warning during that time.

During the team competition episodes, the chef whose dish is judged the best overall wins immunity from elimination for his/her entire team. The mentors of the other two teams each choose one of their own members for a 30-minute head-to-head challenge on the top level. The ingredient platform remains available throughout this time, and the mentor of the winning team supervises the two chefs' cooking while their teammates observe and offer advice. Based on their opinions of the dishes, the other two mentors select one chef to be eliminated from the competition; if they disagree, the winning team's mentor casts the tiebreaking vote.

Changes introduced in later episodes/seasons include:

• Denial of immunity to any team at the end of a challenge.
• Elimination challenges involving three or more chefs, in which only the one with the best dish is safe.
• Disbandment of the teams, forcing the chefs to compete directly against one another.
• Reduction in cooking time from 45 minutes to 40 in the main challenge.
• Kitchen assignments for each episode based on the chefs' performance in the previous one(s); all chefs assigned to the bottom level after a main challenge must compete to avoid elimination.
• A total of 90 minutes to cook three dishes in the finale, one per level.
• (Season 2 only) During the first episode, each mentor gives an "immunity pin" to the chef who cooked the best dish on their team. A chef may turn in this pin if they are chosen for a head-to-head challenge later in the season, forcing their mentor to nominate another chef in their place.

The winner will receive $250,000 and a one-year mentorship under all three mentors.

On May 17, 2021, it was announced that Fox had ordered the series, with Gordon Ramsay as a mentor, who also serves as an executive producer.^[1][2] Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais also serve as mentors for the series, the latter replacing Gino D'Acampo.^[3] On October 19, 2021, it was announced that the series would premiere on January 2, 2022.^[4][5]

On March 2, 2022, it was announced that Fox renewed the series for a second season, prior to the airing of the first season's finale on the same day.^[6] On May 16, 2022, it was announced that the second season would premiere on February 12, 2023 as the Super Bowl LVII lead-out program.^[7][8]

The show is filmed on a set constructed in Las Vegas. The set, built within an industrial tent, consists of three kitchens that are stacked on top of each other. Many aspects of the set, including the burners, ranges, and generators, are all run on gas.^[9]

Discover more about Production related topics

Fox Broadcasting Company

Fox Broadcasting Company

The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and additional offices at the Fox Network Center in Los Angeles and the Fox Media Center in Tempe. Launched as a competitor to the Big Three television networks on October 9, 1986, Fox went on to become the most successful attempt at a fourth television network. It was the highest-rated free-to-air network in the 18–49 demographic from 2004 to 2012 and again in 2020, and was the most-watched American television network in total viewership during the 2007–08 season.

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon James Ramsay is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a total of seven. His signature restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, has held three Michelin stars since 2001. After rising to fame on the British television miniseries Boiling Point in 1999, Ramsay became one of the best-known and most influential chefs in the world.

Richard Blais

Richard Blais

Richard Blais is an American chef, television personality, restaurateur, and author. He appeared on the reality show cooking show Top Chef, and is known for his take on classic American cuisine. Blais was the runner-up for the fourth season of Top Chef and returned several seasons later to win Top Chef: All-Stars.

Gino D'Acampo

Gino D'Acampo

Gennaro Sheffield D'Acampo is an Italian celebrity chef and media personality based in the United Kingdom, best known for his food-focused television shows and cookbooks.

Super Bowl LVII

Super Bowl LVII

Super Bowl LVII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2022 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles, 38–35. The game was played on February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It was the fourth Super Bowl hosted by the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the third at this venue, with the most recent previously being Super Bowl XLIX in 2015.

List of Super Bowl lead-out programs

List of Super Bowl lead-out programs

The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), and is typically the highest-rated single television broadcast in the United States of any given year. As such, the television network that broadcasts the game will typically use it as a tent-pole for another program—airing following the conclusion of the game telecast—to take advantage of and retain the expanded audience.

Series overview

Season 1 (2022)

Season 2 (2023)

A British version of the show was commissioned by ITV in June 2022.^[31][32] It later premiered on January 11, 2023. Gordon Ramsay and Nyesha Arrington from the American version served as mentors, along with Paul Ainsworth.^[33][34] On March 28, 2023, the show was reportedly canceled after one season.^[35]

A French version of the show was commissioned by Kitchen Factory Productions in October 2022.^[36]

Discover more about International versions related topics

ITV (TV network)

ITV (TV network)

ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition and reduce the current monopoly to the then BBC Television. ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time: BBC One, BBC Two, and Channel 4.

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon Ramsay

Gordon James Ramsay is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a total of seven. His signature restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London, has held three Michelin stars since 2001. After rising to fame on the British television miniseries Boiling Point in 1999, Ramsay became one of the best-known and most influential chefs in the world.

Paul Ainsworth

Paul Ainsworth

Paul Ainsworth is a British chef from Southampton, England. He is chef-patron at Paul Ainsworth at Number 6 in Padstow, Cornwall which was awarded a Michelin star in 2013 and has four AA Rosettes. After studying at catering college, Ainsworth worked for Gary Rhodes, Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing.