Izahya Thomas (‘Next Level Chef’) exit interview: ‘I just wanted to inspire others’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

Denton Davidson
·2 min read

Izahya Thomas, the 24-year-old social media chef from Miami, Florida was eliminated in fifth place on Thursday’s episode of “Next Level Chef.” The former college football player on Team Gordon Ramsay struggled in the Kombucha Kulture challenge, failing to grab enough ingredients for a Next Level dish. He landed in the elimination round against his teammate Jordan Torrey, where he was sent home in a unanimous vote. Watch his exclusive video interview with Gold Derby above. 

“Even though I got eliminated, it also [took] a whole bunch of weight off my shoulders,” Izahya admits. “I just wanted to inspire others. I felt like the viewers watching at home, just watching the journey throughout the whole competition, and in that moment me being eliminated, I know that the viewer at home was inspired and knew, ‘If he’s able to go after his dream so whole-heartedly, I can do it to.'”

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Izahya had bonded with Gordon over their shared experience of sports injuries taking them from the field to the kitchen. “When I tore my ACL and I stopped playing football, I went through a little bit of a depression,” he admits. “I gained a lot of weight. I went from 215 pounds to 285 pounds within a year-and-a-half. I wanted to make that change for myself. I looked in the mirror and I started building a healthier relationship with food. I had to create my own meals to help me reach my goals. I started sharing my recipes online with my followers and my audience just reacted so well. It started filling that void of football.”

The social media chef continues to inspire others to create their own meals on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube (@zayd0lla). “I have a whole bunch of recipes that I’ve been doing there since the show,” he explains. “I also started a cooking, which you can subscribe to, on my Instagram.”

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