Next Level Chef Season 4, 2025 Premiere - The Social Media Cooks
Next Level Chef Season 4 brings together a competitive pool of chefs as they conquer a gauntlet of complex cooking challenges to vie for the ultimate bragging rights in the kitchen.
As another season of the hit reality series premieres, three groups of home chefs, social media cooks, and professionals must outcook one another while trying to impress their high-profile mentors to earn the right to become the next food superstar and win $250,000.
The returning mentors from previous seasons, namely Gordon Ramsay, Nyesha Arrington, and Richard Blais will look to choose the best of the best for their team.
Next Level Chef Season 3 premiered on Fox on February 13.
The Judges / Mentors
Instagram: @gordongram
Gordon Ramsay, who also serves as Next Level Chef‘s executive producer, returns as one of the high-profile judge and mentor for the new batch of chefs in Season 4.
Aside from being considered as the most influential chef of all time, Ramsay’s brutally honest remarks combined with excellent advice on top of his track record makes him one of the coveted mentors in the reality competition.
After dealing with some controversy in Next Level Chef Season 3, Ramsay has set its sights in improving the challenges while helping each chef to become the best as they conquer unique situations that would make them better inside the kitchen.
In an unexpected twist, Ramsay revealed in the first look promo for Season 4 that him and the two other mentors will also be part of the action in the kitchen for the first time, helping their team gain some advantage over the others.
Ramsay has a warning to mentors Richard Blais and Nyesha Arrington ahead of Season 4, “Give me your best shot and take me down.”
Instagram: @richardblais
After making an impact as a mentor in Next Level Chef Season 3, Richard Blais wants a shot at redemption over Gordon Ramsay by having his mentee win it all in the new season.
In the same promo, Blais, who is the winner of the inaugural Top Chef All-Stars and a James Beard nominated cookbook author, says that “it is imperative” that Ramsay doesn’t win for two straight years, and he will do everything to defeat him and his chosen chef.
Speaking with Gold Derby, Blais has offered high praise toward the social media chefs of Season 4, noting that they are “really good at articulating” due to being used to connect with their audiences:
“Our social media chefs are really good at articulating because they’re talking to their communities and their audiences. They’re usually pretty good at presentation because they have to make a dish that looks good on screen. Sometimes, they’re not that great with timing because they’re used to setting up their ring lights and spending six hours making a dish.”
Instagram: @nyeshajoyce
Rounding out the mentor list of Next Level Chef Season 4 is former Top Chef: Texas Season 9 contestant Nyesha Arrington.
After winning the inaugural Next Level Chef season with her mentee Pyet Despain, Arrington hopes to win it all again in the 2025 edition of the competition.
In the same interview with Gold Derby, the Next Level Chef mentor said that she is excited about the new batch of talent in Season 4, teasing that they have “some absolute heavy-hitters:”
“I’m most excited about this new batch of talent. We have some absolute heavy-hitters — some of the brightest social media stars and some of the best chefs in the game. A really exciting element of surprise is that your esteemed judge panel is going to be putting on an apron in an episode and cooking alongside our team.”
The Social Media Chefs
Bobby Hicks
Instagram: @thisfellow
Joining the pool of contestants as part of the social media chefs is Bobby Hicks.
In his website called Retro Recipe Kitchens that he owns, Bobby said that Season 4 will be filled with “so many twists, turns, surprises and disappointments for [him].”
He proved himself to be a top-tier chef because of his engaging content and creative takes on dishes.
Jake Goldberg
Instagram: @silly_jake
Jake Goldberg wants to prove that he belongs in the main stage of Next Level Chef Season 4.
As a passionate food lover, Jake, via his site Silly Jake, believes that food is incredibly powerful enough to “further deepen our connection to the natural world:”
“Through food we can further deepen our connection to the natural world. We can embrace culture, taste history and create life long memories.”
He is set to bring his own sense of creativity and innovation to the world of Next Level Chef as he tries to outcook his competition.
Jeff Kim
Instagram: @thecrunchbros
Jeff Kim, 35, is known for his delicious and viral dishes online that have bold and indulging flavors.
He steps into the platform of Next Level Kitchen as he tries to put some flair in his dishes, with hopes of impressing all three mentors enough so that they can end up choosing him after the first round.
Mistie Knight
Instagram: @mistieknight
Mistie Knight, via Instagram, says that it is “time to level up,” noting that she promised herself that she wouldn’t “let fear prevent [her] from this once in a lifetime opportunity.”
The 41-year-old social media chef from Las Vegas is no stranger to the spotlight, considering the fact that she is also a magician for over two decades alongside her husband, Kyle.
Part of her expertise in the kitchen is sharing quick recipes and cooking hacks to all aspiring chefs around the world.
Rebecca Guevera
Instagram: @becca_guevara
Rebecca Guevera is a 27-year-old social media chef who is ready to break new grounds and outlast her peers in Next Level Chef Season 4.
Known for her delicious viral dishes and charming personality, Rebecca is determined to prove that her skills in the kitchen is on par with the best of the best in the world of cooking.
Megan Sheley
Instagram: @megansheley
Megan Sheley is a foodie-turned-recipe developer who is set to make impactful and delicious dishes in Next Level Chef Season 4.
According to her website, Megan promotes bio-individuality because she believes “every body is unique, and what works for one person, may not work for another.”
Joining Next Level Chef means everything for the 33-year-old social media chef since she wants to empower viewers with her cooking.
Keith Garrett
Instagram: @chef_ocho
Keith Garrett is a street food legend from South Los Angeles known for his Quesadilla and the charismatic owner of All Flavor No Grease.
As a self-taught chef, he joins Next Level Chef Season 4 to showcase his innovative cooking techniques in order to impress the three mentors/judges.
Beatrice Heirigs
Instagram: @beatricethetenacious
Beatrice Heirigs is an up-and-coming young chef under the Pro Chef group of Next Level Chef Season 4.
Despite being 18 years old, she knows what it takes to leave an impact in the big stage, combining her exemplary talent and utmost determination to try and win it all.
How It All Went Down
In The Basement
In this episode, eight social media chefs will begin their journey cooking in the basement level. Each round, one will be eliminated until only five remain. Those final five will move on to the draft, where Gordon, Nyesha, and Richard will select their teams for the season. The bottom level of this three-tier kitchen is less than ideal, with the poorest-quality cooking supplies and utensils. Gordon coaches the eight competitors in this round. He challenges the social media chefs to “get creative with leftovers” and create a “perfect midnight meal.” They have just 20 minutes. After the platform descends with various ingredients to choose from, the chefs have just 30 seconds to grab what they need for a delicious dish.
Top Dishes: Jeff (crispy fish nachos), Bobby (turkey neck fritters with a poached egg), and Becca (deconstructed ham pie)
Worst Dish: Ilena’s salmon arancini
The Middle Level
In this round, the social media chefs have 20 minutes to create an “eye-catching viral dish” with Richard coaching them through it. The middle level consists of a beautiful kitchen that has all of the typical supplies a great chef would have in their home. During the hectic grab for ingredients, Bobby dropped about 75 percent of his down the chute and he was left with almost nothing but a chicken tender.
Top Dishes: Meg (haddock with curry coconut sauce) and Bobby (chicken tender schnitzel)
Worst Dish: Jake’s Mediterranean ground lamb rice with eggplant
The Top Level
For their final challenge, the social media chefs must prove they belong in the competition by creating a Next Level dish. This round will be coached by Nyesha. Things become so intense at the platform, Keith pulls a muscle grabbing for ingredients. He declines a medic and decides to cook through the pain.
Top Dish: Becca (hoisin-glazed scallop with mushrooms and roasted asparagus)
Worst Dish: Keith (New York strip with mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus)
The WINNERS
Bobby cooked a top dish in each level of the kitchen despite dropping the majority of his ingredients in Round 2. Gordon commented that the Florida chef “shined in the basement, big time.” Other contestants to advance to the Season 4 draft are Becca, Meg, Jeff, and Mistie.
The LOSERS
Three social media chefs failed to make the cut in this week’s episode. Ilena was eliminated in the first round despite hosting a social media cooking series about cooking with leftovers. Jake, a former child star who played Adam Sandler‘s son in Grown Ups, didn’t rise to the occassion on the Middle Level. Keith, a food truck operator from California, was the final chef eliminated.
Next Week:
Eight home cooks head to the elevator and begin their fight for a spot in the Next Level Chef draft. Three will be eliminated and five will move on to compete for the $250,000 prize.
Next Level Chef airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on Fox.
