Padma Lakshmi Left 'Top Chef' After Years as a Judge, but Is She a Professional Chef Herself?

Most Top Chef fans expect the judges and hosts to be professional chefs themselves. How else could they appropriately judge and guide the contestants? But when it comes to Padma Lakshmi, who was part of the series from Season 2 in 2006 until she left in 2023 after Season 20, is she a chef, too?

At the very least, the judges have to have a vested interest in food and experience with certain cuisines. That's standard for any competition reality show where contestants are rated or judged for something they cook. Since Padma was on the Bravo and Peacock show for years as a presenter and judge before she made the decision to leave, what is her experience in the food industry?

Food writer Gail Simmons and celebrity chef Tom Colicchio are as synonymous with Top Chef as Padma herself. Although they both have plenty of experience with food and cooking, Padma is not a professional chef. She is, however, a food expert, and her experience in different foods from different cultures helped her in her role on Top Chef for years before she stepped away.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Padma originally approached NBCUniversal with an idea for a dinner party-style unscripted series. At the time, Top Chef was already in development. Instead of greenlighting Padma's idea for her series, executives asked Padma to join Top Chef. Due to some scheduling issues, she wasn't able to officially join the show until its second season.

Eventually, Padma went on to write cookbooks. But, unlike other judges and hosts on Top Chef, she didn't have a history of high-end restaurant work or professional cooking before she was cast in the show.

"Food was a path I fell into, but because I fell into it, I was always a little insecure because I didn't go to culinary school," Padma told Interview Magazine. "I've never worked a line in the back of the restaurant. But I worked as a waitress since I was 15."

Now, Padma is considered a culinary expert herself. Working on a food competition series for more than 15 years will probably do that for you. Technically, she released her first cookbook, Easy Exotic: Low-Fat Recipes from Around the World, in 2000. She released Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet: A World of Recipes for Every Day in 2007.

Although Padma was not a professional in the food industry before she joined Top Chef as a judge, she apparently became one through her role on the show and through her own world travels. However, in June 2023, she announced her departure in an Instagram statement. According to Bravo at the time, Padma wrote that she wanted to "make space" for other opportunities.

Another reason, she explained to Harper's Bazaar in 2024, was that the food intake on the show and filming had taken "a toll" on her physically. She was also going through perimenopause and was ready to leave the show because of its impact on her health.