https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/06/02/multimedia/02top-chef-padma-pcgm/02top-chef-padma-pcgm-facebookJumbo.jpg
Tom Colicchio, the lead judge of “Top Chef,” will be the only member of the original cast remaining when the cooking-competition show returns for its 20th season, as Padma Lakshmi has declared her intention to step down as a host and executive producer.
In an Instagram post early Thursday morning, Lakshmi suggested that the coming season of the Bravo show, which will be set in Portland, Ore., would be her last. “I could not have asked for a more magical ride,” she wrote. “I am so very proud of the work we’ve done together and the stories we’ve told. Mostly I am grateful to the incredible people who have lent their voices, their skill and their hard work to making Top Chef what it is. You have not only made me a better host, but a better person.”
Colicchio did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Officials at NBCUniversal and Magical Elves, the production company for “Top Chef,” praised and thanked Lakshmi in statements which suggested that they planned to continue the program. “We will miss her on set at the judges’ table and as an executive producer, but we will remain forever grateful for her unwavering dedication to connecting with our cheftestants and Bravo’s viewers alike,” Casey Kriley and Jo Sharon, the co-chief executives of Magical Elves, said in a statement.
Lakshmi, 52, an Indian-born model, author and activist, has been praised for imbuing the reality show with grace and humor, becoming the undeniable face of the franchise.
Last month, Lakshmi’s other television show, “Taste the Nation,” aired its second season, on Hulu. On it, she travels the United States, exploring what it means to cook and eat in America.
Also last month, she was featured in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, posing in a gold-coin bikini. “This is me,” she wrote alongside a video of the photo shoot that she’d posted on Instagram. “I wouldn’t go back to my 20s if you paid me all the money in the world.”
Her first cookbook, “Easy Exotic,” was published in 1999. Since then, she has released several other books, including “Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet”; a memoir, “Love, Loss and What We Ate”; a reference guide called “The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs”; and a children’s book, “Tomatoes for Neela.”
Brett Anderson contributed reporting.
