Mada’s Next Level Chef journey has come to an end, but that does not mean that he has to disappear from television just yet.
Things in the Next Level Chef season three kitchens are heating up as the competition approaches its final few weeks.
This week, mentors, Gordon Ramsay, Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais, had to bid farewell to a contestant who sliced, diced, chopped and seared his way to the Top 6 – Mada Abdelhamid.
Is a television show on the horizon for Mada?
The news of Mada’s elimination had not even broken yet and Next Level Chef fans were already streaming to various social media platforms to implore Gordon Ramsay to give Mada his own show.
This would certainly not be the first time that Ramsay had helped a chef to get their start on the small screen – in fact, his new show, Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars revolves around this premise and Tini, the fan-favorite contestant from Next Level Chef season three just got her own show on Bite.
However, the celebrity chef has not announced any plans to give Mada his own show just yet.
Fortunately, there is still time for things to unfold behind-the-scenes. And, with the big splash that Mada made on Next Level Chef season three – we suspect that it is only a matter of time before he gets a show to call his own.
Mada’s Next Level Chef run
Originally, Mada was one of the last chefs remaining when Gordon Ramsay, Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais had to pick their teams.
But once the competition really started, he quickly proved that he had the culinary skill to make it work in any of the show’s three kitchens.
The first three episodes of Next Level Chef season three introduced all of the contestants (with Mada being introduced in the second “Auditions – Home Cooks” episode.
From there on out, Mada had quite the rollercoaster journey, which played out as follows:
| Episode | Title | Status |
| 4. | “The Draft/Smash Bash” | Win |
| 5. | “Curry in a Hurry” | Safe |
| 6. | “80 Degrees and Palm Trees” | Win |
| 7. | “On the Go” | Safe |
| 8. | “Don’t Have a Cow, Man” | Safe |
| 9. | “You Wanna Pizza Me?” | Safe |
| 10. | “It’s All Greek to Me” | Safe |
| 11. | “Squad Goals” | Safe |
| 12. | “Bingo, Bango, Bento!” | Win |
| 13. | “Picture Perfect” | Elimination |
Mada’s story
The Next Level Chef season three contestants and mentors have made enough jokes about Mada’s physique to prove that he is definitely a striking presence, even on a small screen.
But any chef who hopes to star in their own cooking show one day will need to have a gripping story that viewers can admire or relate to.
Fortunately for Mada, his life-story has more than enough intrigue for fans to stick their teeth into.
Mada is originally from Egypt, but he spent his childhood in Saudi Arabia until the challenging circumstances forced his family to flee overseas when he was just nine years old.
Mada spent the rest of his youth in New Zealand, where he had considerable trouble assimilating. Although Mada proudly flaunts his New Zealand heritage these days.
And with so much North African, Middle Eastern and Polynesian culinary inspiration to draw from, Mada’s cooking show should presumably prove to be a welcome departure from the same-same world of American or British shows which are already doing the rounds on television.
Mada has considerable television experience
Another factor that makes Mada well-primed to be the next Next Level Chef breakout star is the fact that he has intimate knowledge of how television and film productions work.
While most of Next Level Chef season three’s contestants can now add “some experience working in television” to their resumes, Mada has had this skill listed since 2015.
At this time, he made waves as one of the professional wrestlers on WWE’s competition show, Tough Enough.
Mada also has some behind-the-scenes experience in film, as he reportedly trained Jason Momoa for his role in Aquaman.
What Mada is keeping busy with for now
It seems like Mada does not intend to let his 15 minutes of Next Level Chef fame go to waste, even if there are no television offers on the table just yet.
He has already instructed fans to be on the lookout for “many more great things” coming soon.
A quick glance at Mada’s social media pages post-Next Level Chef reveals that he has just launched his own “Let’s Go” merchandise (available to purchase via his Etsy shop).
He has also posted a few recipes on TikTok since his exit from the show, and fans can seemingly expect even more recipes and cooking content coming to his social media very soon.
