Who is Nuri Muhammad from Next Level Chef 2023? Professional chef’s interest in cooking started at age 5

Next Level Chef is set to return with another season on Sunday. In the upcoming season, 18 chefs will compete in teams under the mentorship of three renowned chefs as they try and become the recipient of the crown and a one-year mentorship under Gordon Ramsay.

One of the contestants set to appear on the Fox show is the 22-year-old Maryland-based professional chef Nuri Muhammad, who became interested in cooking at the age of five.

Next Level Chef season 2 will premiere on Sunday, February 12, at 10:30 pm ET, following which the series will return to its regular airtime on Fox, every Thursday at 8 pm ET.

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Meet Nuri Muhammad ahead of his appearance on Next Level Chef season 2

Nuri Muhammad, who is commonly known as "Chef Stretch" in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, is one of the 18 contestants set to appear in the upcoming season of Next Level Chef.

The chef started experimenting in the kitchen at a very young age, as per an interview with Vogaye Baltimore in 2022. He said that he was too impatient to wait for what he wanted in the kitchen while his mother was tending to his younger sister and would often get his own snacks.

In the interview, he said:

"When my family would go on errands, I would pack a juice box, cheese strings, crackers, and grapes. They would look at me in the car and think, why didn’t we think to do that? After school, I watched Gordon Ramsey, Chopped, Iron Chef, and Cutthroat Kitchen. Cooking shows were my after-school entertainment."

The Next Level Chef season 2 contestant said that he would often help out his mother in the kitchen as that was his contribution to their household. When he entered high school, his younger sister was in elementary school, and he would make her snacks after school and elevate them for her, adding his own creativity.

Nuri spoke to WTOP about his time on the upcoming show and said that the experience was far better than what he expected. He said that he felt like a true superstar spending time on set, filming, and doing all that goes into making a show an experience.

The Next Level Chef season 2 cast member said that the lowest level, the basement was “completely messed up.” He added that the basement had the worst cookware and ingredients that the other cooks didn’t want to work with.

The chef further spoke of Gordon Ramsay and said that he’s “the most amazing person.” He spoke about the chef’s demeanor during the show and added that there was a mentorship aspect. While Chef Ramsay is usually seen bringing the heat on other shows, he put on his mentor hat during Next Level Chef.

Nuri said:

"It’s a little different pretending and then having these real cameras and real people and chefs talking to you in your face, and you’ve got to cook and talk and not make a fool of yourself."

Tune in on Sunday, February 12, at 10:30 pm for the Next Level Chef season 2 premiere right after the Super Bowl before returning to its usual airdate on Thursday at 8 pm ET on Fox.