US EditionWhy Did Padma Lakshmi Leave ‘Top Chef’? Her Exit, Explained
Padma Lakshmi cited exhaustion and an unsustainable schedule after 17 seasons on Top Chef, now hosting CBS's America's Culinary Cup with 16 elite chefs competing.
- Padma Lakshmi is now serving as the host of CBS's America's Culinary Cup, which premieres on March 4, after she announced her exit from Top Chef in June 2023, where she was host and executive producer.
- Citing personal priorities, Lakshmi said she called her pace 'exhausting and untenable' and described physical strain from tasting large amounts of food, wanting more time with her teenage daughter.
- She debuted on Top Chef in Season 2 and remained through Season 20 , and just over a month after her departure, Kristen Kish was named the new host.
- Top Chef returns on Monday, March 9 with sixteen chefs competing in Season 23, judged by Michael Cimarusti and Wylie Dufresne, continuing without longtime host Padma Lakshmi.
- After leaving Top Chef, Lakshmi has focused on Taste the Nation, which ran for two seasons, and released her cookbook Padma's All American in November 2025, while appearing on The Traitors in 2026, finishing eighth.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Padma Lakshmi on Building Her Own Cooking Competition After Being ‘Burnt Out’ by ‘Top Chef’: ‘I Didn’t Want to Go Back to Just Being Talent’
Padma Lakshmi didn’t think she’d ever return to cooking competition shows. In 2023, when she stepped away from the Bravo touchstone “Top Chef” after hosting for 19 seasons, Lakshmi was “burnt out” and ready to focus on other projects — like “Taste the Nation,” her Hulu travel series tracing American foodways, and its accompanying cookbook […]
'Top Chef' Fans Blame Padma Lakshmi For Major Change After Exit
Padma Lakshmi was the host and a judge on Bravo’s Top Chef for nearly two decades. She left the show a few years ago. Season 23 of the popular reality competition debuts this month, with one huge change. Fans of the long-running cooking competition blame the former host for the shakeup. Keep reading for more details. Top Chef Makes Major Change For Season Padma Lakshmi joined Top Chef in Season 2. She served as the host, as well as a judge along…
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