Darnell Ferguson

Darnell Ferguson (born 1987) is an American chef, television personality, and restaurateur. He is the co-host alongside chef Anne Burrell of Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America (season 25). He has also appeared on HGTV’s Home Town Takeover, The Big Holiday Food Fight, as well as the Food Network’s Chopped, Supermarket Stakeout, Tiny Food Fight, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Tournament of Champions. Ferguson is the former owner of restaurants, Super Chefs, and Tha Drippin Crab in Louisville, Kentucky.

Biography
Darnell Ferguson was born in 1987, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Columbus, Ohio. In high school, Ferguson was inspired by Emeril Lagasse's television cooking series, Emeril Live, and spent a year of high school enrolled in vocational cooking school. He attended Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky. Ferguson was selected with a group of 20 student chefs who cooked for Team USA in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

When he returned to the United States, he started getting arrested for selling drugs and went to jail six times. During his last visit to jail prior to 2024, Ferguson vowed to never return again and joined a church. He was evicted and lived in his car for sometime, before starting a pop-up restaurant in Louisville in 2012. His television career began in 2015, after an appearance first on the local news and later on The Rachel Ray Show where he talked about his journey from selling drugs to owning restaurants. During The Rachel Ray Show television appearance Ferguson met his hero, Emeril Lagasse.

The 25th season of Food Network's reality television series, the Worst Cooks in America premiered on January 1, 2023 with Ferguson as one of the hosts alongside chef Anne Burrell.

On January 9, 2024, Ferguson was arrested by Louisville Metropolitan Police in the Louisville suburb of St. Matthews on seven criminal charges, including burglary, strangulation, and other charges. He then appeared in court on January 10, where he pled not guilty and had his bond set at $10,000. His preliminary court hearing was also scheduled for January 18, 2024.