Food Network star Darnell Ferguson was arrested Tuesday in Louisville, Kentucky, on multiple charges including burglary and strangulation.
According to the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections, the "Superchef: Grudge Match" host is also facing charges of assault, terroristic threatening, menacing, criminal mischief and theft.
NBC affiliate WAVE reports an emergency protective order was filed against Ferguson last week. According to court records, Ferguson entered a woman's home without her permission and started strangling her and threatening to kill her.
Ferguson is schedule to appear in court on Jan. 17.
The 36-year-old has been staple on the Food Network, hosting his own show "Superchef: Grudge Match," which began airing its second season last month, and making appearances on several other shows, including as a judge on “Chopped,” “Supermarket Stakeout” and “Guy's Grocery Games.” He also co-hosted season 25 of "Worst Cooks in America" with chef Anne Burrell.
The Philadelphia native received a culinary degree from Sullivan University in Louisville. He told the Tuscaloosa News in a 2012 interview that he was inspired to be become a chef after discovering Emeril Lagasse's cooking show "Emeril Live," when he was in high school. Ferguson was also among a group of chefs selected to cook for Team USA at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
Tuesday's arrest isn't his first run-in with the law. Ferguson previously opened up about getting arrested for selling drugs after returning from Beijing. The sixth — and last — time he was in jail, he said he realized he had become "everything they told you not to become in elementary school," and vowed to focus on cooking and never return to jail.
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He eventually opened his first restaurant, Superchefs, in 2012, and Tha Drippin Crab in 2021, but recently closed both locations.
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