Next Gen Chef
One of the most beloved types of reality TV competitions revolves around cooking. Viewers just can not seem to get enough of the dramatic events in the kitchen! On September 17, 2025, the newest addition to the genre premiered on Netflix. The inaugural season of the reality competition show features 21 chefs under the age of 30 trying to be crowned the winners and receive the cash prize of $500,000.
The competition takes place at the world’s most prestigious culinary school, The Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park, New York. Founded in 1946, it was the first college to teach culinary arts in the United States. During the course of the show, the contestants have to overcome many various challenges to hopefully become the face of the next generation of chefs.
All the competitors are reviewed by a panel of judges that features several The Culinary Institute of America alumni and other industry experts, including Master Sommelier Carlton McCoy, and former Top Chef winner Kelsey Barnard Clark, while the show is hosted by Oliva Culpo, the former Miss Universe. Curiously enough, Next Gen Chef is executive-produced by basketball superstar LeBron James.
Physical: 100 USA
Streaming platform giant Netflix has another reality competition series coming soon. Physical: 100 USA, a spin-off of the South Korean reality series Physical: 100, is the first of the planned franchise expansion series, with the European version of Physical: 100 also currently being in development.
The same to the original South Korean competition show, the American version of the series also aims to find the most complete human physique based on performance. The first season of the reality show will feature America’s most formidable competitors from across sports, fitness, and tactical disciplines.
While the release date for Physical: 100 USA premiere has yet to be revealed by Netflix, the casting process, which took place from July to September, for the 100 competitors has already been completed. It is expected that the U.S. version of the competition will feature a similar format as the original show, with quests that require showcases of strength, balance, agility, endurance, willpower, and strategy, and a cash prize for the winner at the end of it all.
Fear Factor: The Next Chapter
The iconic reality series Fear Factor, which originally ran on NBC for six seasons from 2001 to 2006, was famous for its format that put competitors through not only physically but also psychologically daring challenges. MTV revived the series in 2017, and it ran for another two seasons.
In January 2026, a reboot of Fear Factor is set to premiere on Fox, titled Fear Factor: The Next Chapter. Following famed podcaster Joe Rogan and rapper-turned-actor Ludacris, respectively, as the host will be Johnny Knoxville, who knows a thing or two about both fear-inducing challenges and crazy stunts, as he is also the co-creator and star of the iconic reality show Jackass.
The new reality competition series won’t be just continuing where prior shows left off, as Fear Factor: The Next Chapter will change up the format of the series. While extreme stunts and challenges will remain, it will also become a social strategy game. The plot twist - while navigating those challenges with the aim to win the “massive grand prize”, over the course of the series, contestants will have to live together, isolated in a remote location.
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The Golden Ticket
Following the popularity of series such as Squid Game: The Challenge and Baking Impossible, Netflix won’t be lacking reality competition series in 2026 either, as they are planning the launch of The Golden Ticket show. The concept around the new series is said to be inspired by Roald Dahl's classic novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, to which the streaming platform acquired the rights back in 2021.
While more detailed information has yet to follow, the new competition series format has been described as a high-stakes social experiment that will require contestants to strategically overcome adventures that challenge them both physically and psychologically. The titular golden ticket, which initially will be hidden, will give them access to the whimsical, retro-futuristic world of Wonka's Chocolate Factory, which is where those adventures will await.
