Next Level Baker Season 2: Premiere Date, Mentors, Bakers

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Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Baker returns for its second season on Thursday, November 19, at 9 p.m. ET/PT (8 p.m. Central) on FOX. Ramsay is back with mentor Carla Hall, and award-winning pastry chef and author Waylynn Lucas joins them as the new mentor. Nine bakers are competing for $50,000 and the title of Next Level Baker.

FOX has already renewed the show for a third season.

When is Next Level Baker on?

The season premiere airs Thursday, November 19, from 9 to 10 p.m. ET/PT on FOX. FOX hasn’t announced how many episodes the season runs or when the finale airs.

Last year’s first season premiered on Thursday, December 4, 2025, and ran three episodes on consecutive Thursdays, ending December 18.

That premiere night comes just ahead of a crowded Thanksgiving week for baking TV. Our holiday baking show calendar has every premiere date in one place.

Where to watch and stream

Next Level Baker airs on FOX. All three Season 1 episodes are streaming on FOX One. FOX hasn’t said when Season 2 episodes will stream after they air.

Who are the mentors?

Carla Hall at the Library of Congress in August 2026. Photo: Shawn Miller / Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons, public domain (CC0).

Three mentors lead the teams: Gordon Ramsay, Carla Hall and Waylynn Lucas. FOX calls the show Ramsay’s “event series.” Hall, whom FOX describes as a chef, entrepreneur and television personality, returns from Season 1. Lucas is new this year.

How Season 2 works

The season opens with a team reveal. Each mentor picks three bakers: a Home baker, a Pro and a Social baker, meaning someone known for baking on social media. That makes nine bakers in all.

From there, FOX promises special guests and mid-bake twists, and the season builds to a three-tier cake challenge in the finale. FOX bills it as “the most daunting finale in baking competition history.”

What happens in the premiere

FOX’s listing for the first episode, “Slice of the Season,” says the bakers arrive in a winter wonderland set and the night opens with a holiday performance by Pentatonix. After the surprise team reveal, a bundt cake bake goes badly for two bakers, and they face off in a cinnamon elimination round to stay in the competition.

If that cinnamon round sends you to the kitchen, our classic snickerdoodles are rolled in cinnamon sugar before baking.

Meet the nine bakers

FOX has introduced the nine Season 2 bakers by first name: Ben, Colby, Courtney, Greg, Jimiah, Marlina, Pharren, Salma and Trung. FOX hasn’t yet said which mentor each one bakes for, or which are Home, Pro and Social bakers.

For Holiday Baking Championship, the Pillsbury Bake-Off Classic and the rest of the season’s shows, see every holiday baking show on TV this year.

Featured image: Gordon Ramsay at a cooking demonstration in 2008, by Jo-h via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped).