Padma Lakshmi is an Emmy-nominated producer, television host, food expert, and a New York Times best-selling author, as well as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People (2023).
She is the creator and host/executive producer of “America’s Culinary Cup” a new culinary competition show currently airing on CBS. Lakshmi is also creator of the critically-acclaimed and Emmy-nominated Hulu series “Taste the Nation”, which won a James Beard Foundation Award top prize in Visual Media – Long Form. Padma also served as host and executive producer for 19 seasons of Bravo’s two-time Emmy-winning series “Top Chef”, which was nominated for 47 Emmys during her tenure, including her five nominations for Outstanding Host for A Reality-Competition Program.
Lakshmi is co-founder of the Endometriosis Foundation of America (EndoFound) and an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Artist Ambassador for immigrants' rights and women's rights. Lakshmi was also appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Padma has written several books, including Easy Exotic, which won the Best First Book award at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, followed by Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet in 2006, her 2016 memoir- The New York Times best-selling Love, Loss and What We Ate, The Encyclopedia of Spices & Herbs, a children’s book in 2021- Tomatoes for Neela, also a New York Times bestseller, and Padma’s All American: Tales, Travels and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond (2025).
Additionally, Lakshmi is a visiting scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She has received the 2018 Karma Award from Variety, as well as the 2016 NECO Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Just when she thought her modeling days were behind her, she graced the pages of Sports Illustrated Magazine’s Swimsuit Edition in 2023.