Padma Lakshmi Learned From ‘Top Chef’ How to Stand Up for Herself

On Friday, supermodel, author, and host of Top Chef and Taste the Nation Padma Lakshmi revealed on Instagram that she has “made the difficult decision” to leave Bravo’s award-winning cooking competition series, after 19 seasons. “I am extremely proud to have been part of building such a successful show and of the impact it has had on the worlds of television and food,” the statement read, in part.

Presiding over the show turned Lakshmi into a household name, and she has since become a New York Times bestselling author and prominent activist. The second season of Taste the Nation, her food-centric road trip show on Hulu, also premiered in early May. As she travels across America to visit immigrant communities and taste their food, Lakshmi has unearthed harrowing, but often empowering, tales of survival, not to mention mouth-watering culinary traditions. Season 2 features, among others, the Afghan refugee community in D.C., a melting pot of cultures in Appalachia, Cambodians in New England, Greeks in Florida, Nigerians in Houston, and Filipinos in San Francisco.

Weeks ahead of announcing that she was leaving Top Chef, Lakshmi and I spoke about this pivotal moment in her career. Our wide-ranging conversation included discussions of her personal loss that informed this season of Taste the Nation, experience with adversity while working on the Bravo hit, and evolving relationship with beauty. (Through a representative, Lakshmi offered no further comment on her Top Chef departure.)

Read more at The Daily Beast.