1. Padma Lakshmi hosted the cooking competition program Top Chef on Bravo continuously from 2006 to 2023.
49 Facts About Padma Lakshmi
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Padma Lakshmi is the creator, host, and executive producer of the docuseries Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, which premiered in June 2020 on Hulu.
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Padma Lakshmi became a model before embarking on a career in television.
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Padma Lakshmi has formed and produced sales for five different businesses.
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Padma Lakshmi's mother, Vijaya Lakshmi, is a retired oncology nurse.
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Padma Lakshmi immigrated to the United States at the age of four and lived in New York City before moving to La Puente, California, with her mother and stepfather.
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Padma Lakshmi graduated from William Workman High School in City of Industry, California, in 1988.
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In effect, Padma Lakshmi began her modeling career at age 21, when a modeling agent discovered Padma Lakshmi while she was studying in Madrid.
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Padma Lakshmi has modeled for designers including Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti and appeared in ad campaigns for Roberto Cavalli and Versus.
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Padma Lakshmi was a favorite model of the photographer Helmut Newton, whose photographs of her often highlighted the large scar on her right arm.
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Padma Lakshmi posed nude for the May 2009 issue of Allure.
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Padma Lakshmi has done shoots for photographers Mario Testino and Helmut Newton.
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Padma Lakshmi served as a host of Domenica In, an Italian program, in 1997.
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Padma Lakshmi hosted the Food Network series Padma's Passport, which was part of the larger series Melting Pot in 2001, where she cooked recipes from around the world.
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Padma Lakshmi hosted two one-hour specials in South India and Spain for the British culinary tourism show Planet Food, broadcast on the Food Network in the US and internationally on the Discovery Channels.
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Padma Lakshmi was an official contributor for season 19 of The View from 2015 to 2016.
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Padma Lakshmi was a host and judge on the television show Top Chef.
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Padma Lakshmi serves as an executive producer of the show.
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Padma Lakshmi was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in 2009 and in 2020 through 2022 for Top Chef.
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In 2020, Padma Lakshmi won three Critic's Choice Awards for Top Chef.
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Lakshmi is the creator, host, and executive producer of Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi, which premiered on Hulu on June 18,2020, and received the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series and Critic's Choice Awards for Best Culinary Show in 2021 and 2022.
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In June 2022, Padma Lakshmi received her first James Beard Foundation Award for Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition.
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Padma Lakshmi had a comical supporting part as the lip-synching disco singer Sylk in the 2001 American movie Glitter, starring Mariah Carey.
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In 2002, Padma Lakshmi made a guest appearance as alien princess Kaitaama in "Precious Cargo," the 37th episode of the science fiction TV series Star Trek: Enterprise.
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Padma Lakshmi portrayed Madhuvanthi in the TV movie Sharpe's Challenge.
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Padma Lakshmi starred in the 2003 Bollywood film Boom, alongside Katrina Kaif and Madhu Sapre, as one of three supermodels accused of stealing diamonds.
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Padma Lakshmi played the role of Geeta in Paul Mayeda Berges's 2005 film The Mistress of Spices.
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Padma Lakshmi's first memoir, Love, Loss and What We Ate, was released on International's Women's Day, March 8,2016, and was a The New York Times best-seller.
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Padma Lakshmi guest edited The Best American Travel Writing 2021, a collection of essays from renowned travel writers.
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Padma Lakshmi wrote a syndicated column in The New York Times and has written articles on style for the American edition of Vogue, at editor Anna Wintour's request.
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Padma Lakshmi wrote a column on style for Harper's Bazaar, following a commission from editor Glenda Bailey.
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Also, Lakshmi created "Padma's Easy Exotic", a conglomeration of gastronomic items that included home goods, teas, organic foods, and spice blends, and worked with MAC Cosmetics to create a collection of a small, curated, selections of makeup products for worldwide distribution named "MAC Padma" that soon initially sold out in the United States and India.
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Padma Lakshmi launched a lingerie collaboration with Bare Necessities in June 2024 called "Padma X Bare Necessities".
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Rushdie stated that Padma Lakshmi asked for a divorce in January 2007, and in July 2007, the couple filed it.
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On February 22,2010, Padma Lakshmi gave birth to her daughter with businessman Adam Dell.
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Padma Lakshmi speaks five languages: Tamil, Hindi, English, Spanish, and Italian.
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At age 36, Padma Lakshmi was diagnosed with endometriosis, which she has had since early adolescence.
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In 2016, Padma Lakshmi was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations and, in 2018, earned the Karma Award from Variety.
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In 2022, Padma Lakshmi was honored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Great Immigrant Award.
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In 2024, Padma Lakshmi was a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was bestowed the ICON Award from Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration.
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Padma Lakshmi is a co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing awareness, education, research, and legislative advocacy against the disease.
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The foundation was instrumental in the 2009 opening of the MIT Center for Gynepathology Research, where Padma Lakshmi gave the keynote address.
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Padma Lakshmi is known as an advocate for immigrant rights, the independent restaurant industry, and women's rights.
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Padma Lakshmi is the American Civil Liberties Union ambassador for immigration and women's rights.
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Padma Lakshmi has been a critic of skin-lightening creams marketed to people of color.
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Padma Lakshmi has spoken about the colorism she has experienced while living in India and the United States.
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Padma Lakshmi was appointed United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador on March 7,2019.
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In October 2022, Padma Lakshmi was honored at the 20th edition of the ACLU's Sing Out For Freedom benefit concert along with Patti Smith and Shaina Taub.
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Padma Lakshmi was instrumental in the passage of a bill associated with teen health in the New York State Senate.