Padma Parvati Lakshmi Vaidynathan born September 1, 1970 is an Indian American author, activist, model, and television host. She has hosted the cooking competition program Top Chef on Bravo continuously since season 2 (2006). For her work, she received a Primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Reality Host in 2009. She has published four books: three cookbooks Tangy, Tart, Hot & Sweet; The Encyclopedia of Spices & Herbs: An Essential Guide to the Flavors of the World; Easy Exotic and a memoir Love, Loss, and What We Ate. She has acted in film and television, and hosted several cooking programs before Top Chef. Lakshmi's modeling career began at age 21. While studying abroad in Madrid, she was discovered by a modeling agent. She has said, "I was the first Indian model to have a career in Paris, Milan, and New York. I'm the first one to admit that I was a novelty." Lakshmi was able to pay off her college loans by working as a model and actress. She has modeled for designers such as Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti, and appeared in ad campaigns for Roberto Cavalli and Versus. She was a favorite model of the photographer Helmut Newton, whose photographs of her often highlighted the large scar on her right arm. Lakshmi has appeared on the covers of Redbook, Vogue India, FHM, Cosmopolitan, L'Officiel India, Asian Woman, Avenue, Industry Magazine, Marie Claire (India Edition), Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country, and Newsweek. She also posed nude for the May 2009 issue of Allure. She has done shoots for photographers Mario Testino and Helmut Newton. Lakshmi is the current host and one of the judges on the television show Top Chef. The show has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program from season 2 up until season 16, with season 6 winning the award in 2010. She also serves as an executive producer of the show. Lakshmi was nominated in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in 2009 for season 5 of Top Chef. Lakshmi is known as an outspoken advocate for immigrant rights and the independent restaurant industry. In "Taste the Nation," a new series on Hulu, Lakshmi collectively expands and redefines the meaning of American food. Previously, Lakshmi first served as a host of Domenica In, Italy's top-rated television show, in 1997. She 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. She also 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 U.S. and internationally on the Discovery Channels. Lakshmi was also an official contributor for season 19 of The View from 2015 to 2016. For celebrity contestant, she competed and won against music producer Randy Jackson in an episode of TBS's Drop the Mic that aired on December 26, 2017. Her first film roles were in the Italian pirate movies The Son of Sandokan and Caraibi (Pirates: Blood Brothers). She had a comical supporting part as the lip-synching disco singer Sylk in the 2001 American movie Glitter, starring Mariah Carey. In 2002, Lakshmi made a guest appearance as alien princess Kaitaama in "Precious Cargo," the 37th episode of the science fiction TV series Star Trek: Enterprise. She portrayed Madhuvanthi in the TV movie Sharpe's Challenge (aired 2006). In 2006, she appeared in ABC's Biblical TV series The Ten Commandments as Princess Bithia. In 2009, Lakshmi starred in the video for the Eels song "That Look You Give That Guy". She starred in the 2003 Bollywood film Boom, alongside Katrina Kaif and Madhu Sapre, as one of three supermodels who are accused of stealing diamonds. She played the role of Geeta in Paul Mayeda Berges's 2005 film The Mistress of Spices. Lakshmi also made a guest appearance on the NBC series 30 Rock in 2009 and appeared on Whose Line Is It Anyway? in 2014. She made an appearance in Good Mythical Morning on 8th March 2018, called "Burnt Food Taste Test ft. Padma Lakshmi (GAME)". It amassed a huge negative backlash from regular viewers of the show and became one of the most disliked video of the Internet series. Her Hulu show Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi premiered on June 19, 2020.