Big Zuu: TV chef visits Mecca in new BBC Two documentary

The BBC’s latest programme will follow the celebrity’s religious journey titled - “Big Zuu: My relationship with faith was up and down at time of Mecca pilgrimage”. The TV star, 28, real name Zuhair Hassan, was born and raised in London with a mother from Sierra Leone and a father from Lebanon, and said he did not grow up following all the rules of Islam.

In the programme he performs a pilgrimage, called Umrah in Islam, during the holy month of Ramadan and found it a profoundly affecting experience. The TV chef and rapper has said his first visit to Mecca, the holiest city in Islam, came at a time in his life when his relationship to his faith was “up and down.”

Here’s everything you need to know about who Big Zuu is and what he has said about taking part in the BBC Two documentary.

Who is Big Zuu?

Avid Liverpool FC fan, Zuu started out as a British rapper, grime MC, songwriter, DJ, chef and TV personality from West London. Born Zuhair Hassan on August 19, 1995, he grew up in East London. As a teenager he worked as a mentor for young children in a secondary school in Haggerstown, East London.

The Rapper then spent two years at Goldsmiths University where he studied community development and youth work. Zuu then stepped into music as a member of the My Team Paid crew that features Aj Tracey, Zuu’s cousin and other grime artists. He released his debut project, the self-titled EP, in 2017.

Since its release, the six-track long project has had over two million streams on Spotify. Zuu said as a kid he was influenced by “old school” artists such as Tupac Shakur, ghetts and Skepta, per Red Bull. The rapper began his TV career with the 2020 Dave show ‘Big Zuu’s Big Eats’. The show included him and his two friends, Tubsey and Hyder, cooking for different comedians on tour in the UK. The high-profile guests included Ed Gamble, Jamali Maddix, Jimmy Carr, Josh Widdicombe and London Hughes.

In 2022, he won two Baftas for entertainment performance and features categories. While accepting his second award, Zuu said: "Growing up there wasn't many chefs or people that look like me on telly. And nowadays, young people watching us doing our ting, thinking do you know what, if these men can win a Bafta surely we can."

During the summer of 2022 he presented ‘Big Zuu’s Breakfast show’ on Sunday mornings, also starring in the main cast of workplace sitcom ‘Sneakerhead’ which aired on Dave.

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The East London musician has appeared as a guest on several shows throughout his career including Guessable, Celebrity Master Chef and Jona and Lucy’s Christmas sleepover. In addition to multiple appearances in KSI and Sidemen videos on Youtube.

In 2024, He hosted ITV’s ‘12 Dishes in 12 hours’. Another culinary programme where Zuu takes a different famous face on a tour of a European city each episode, teaching them about everything they need to know about that place through twelve dishes.

During his successful musical career he has appeared at festivals like Lovebox, Boomtown and the O2 Academy in Islington, London performing popular songs like Magical, The Advert, Variation, Duppy and No Limits.

Zuu has had a prevalent Youtube career too, amassing 34,000 subscribers and over seven million views regularly sharing music with his fans. In 2023, his company Big productions, signed a deal with a production company Banijay UK. Under the deal, the production and distribution giant will help develop and produce comedy and factual entertainment formats with Zuu, backed by funding from the super-indie’s £50m UK growth fund, as well as benefiting from partnerships with other Banijay labels.

Due to his culinary programmes many wonder whether he is a trained chef. Although not classically trained as a chef, Zuu is still a professional cook. Speaking to the BBC in 2022, he revealed he was inspired to get in the kitchen by TV chefs he watched growing up and locals in his hometown.

He said: "I used to love watching television cooks, people like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay but I was also inspired by the local people I grew up with in my area like my local chicken shop boss man. I used to absolutely love him."

Zuu highlighted the impact of social media in his early career and how important it can be for others, he said: "You've got so many people that are not trained chefs, people who just love food but are blowing up on social media and making it a career. I literally have a cooking show because I cooked on Snapchat so I am the epitome of social media transcending into a career within food.

"Social media has some negative sides but some of the good sides are seeing people create careers for themselves and learning how to cook food just because they watched a TikTok.”

What has Big Zuu said about Big Zuu Goes to Meca?

Speaking about the experience of visiting the holiest city in Islam, Big Zuu said: “It was really emotional, I learned a lot about myself and it was something that I feel like I needed in life.”

He continued: “I decided to do the documentary for a combination of things. It was at a time in my life where my relationship with my faith was very up and down.”

Adding: “So I think exploring that was something I wanted to be able to do. You really see me change over the course of the documentary and that was a real life change, I still carry that with me to this day. I’m very lucky that such a poignant moment in my life was able to be captured. I hope it will inspire others.”

Big Zuu Goes to Mecca - how to watch

Big Zuu Goes To Mecca will air on Sunday April 14 at 9pm on BBC Two and iPlayer.