Advertisement

Padma Lakshmi Announces Departure From 'Top Chef'

Longtime “Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi announced Friday that she’s leaving the hit Bravo show after 20 seasons.

“After much soul searching, I have made the difficult decision to leave Top Chef,” Lakshmi wrote in a tweeted statement. “Having completed a glorious 20th season as host and executive producer, I am extremely proud to have been part of building such a successful show and of the impact it has had in the worlds of television and food.”

“I feel it’s time to move on and need to make space for Taste the Nation, my books and other creative pursuits,” she continued. Her Hulu show, “Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi,” just released its second season.

Lakshmi’s stint hosting “Top Chef” earned her four Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. Last year, she won a Critic’s Choice Award for best show host.

“I have always kind of felt like an outsider in my life. Either I wasn’t Indian enough or American enough, but I always had a deep love for food,” Lakshmi, who immigrated from India to the U.S. when she was 4, wrote on Instagram after collecting the award. “It was this passion that led me throughout life, but I came to this career later than most.”

“Top Chef” pits a dozen or more chefs against each other each season, with chefs eliminated over the course of the show until a winner is crowned. In 2010, the show won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program, ending a seven-year winning streak for “The Amazing Race.”

Related...