‘Top Chef’s’ Padma Lakshmi and Melissa King Continue Fueling Dating Rumors on Their Socials

Former Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi might not be on the Bravo hit reality show anymore, but, as she said herself to People in 2025, she still keeps in touch with some of the chefs whose career she helped launch. One of them in particular is Top Chef: All Stars LA champion, Chef Melissa King.

"Melissa is somebody whose cooking I always loved," the foodie told the outlet. "She's fun and we enjoy each other's company. She tends to be my plus one sometimes so people will see us on the red carpet together.”

Padma wasn't exaggerating when she said her and Melissa often run in the same circles. However, fans of theirs have seen them together so much, they're convinced the two fabulous cooks share more than just recipes. So, are they actually dating? One significant sign suggests they might be.

As of this writing, neither Padma nor Melissa have confirmed they're dating. However, the former reality stars are having too much fun keeping us guessing. In November 2025, the two made their social media followers do a double take while filming a cooking video for Padma's cookbook, Padma's All AmericanTales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond: A Cookbook. While cooking, Melissa acknowledged Padma's nails and told her they, "look so gay right now."

The author laughed as she held her nails up for the camera, showing off that her pointer and middle fingers had short, bare nails, even though the rest of her nails were long, pointed, and painted with burgundy nail polish. For those uninitiated, many people in sapphic/women love women relationships wear their nails short to handle their business in the bedroom, if you catch my drift. Padma clearly knows this, as she responded to Melissa by warning her “Stop starting rumors."

The "should we get you two a room?" convo between Melissa and Padma came weeks after they further hinted at being a couple in October 2025. For Halloween, the two of them dressed as Morticia and Gomez Addams from The Addams Family. Underneath Melissa's post of the costumes, which also included Padma's daughter, Krishna, dressed up as Wednesday Addams, she wrote a cryptic quote that turned the Mrs. and Mrs. community into a frenzy.

"I would die for her. I would kill for her" — Gomez Addams," she wrote.

The possible social media soft launches had some fans wondering when they were finally going to admit they're dating.

"ONCE AGAIN THE LESBIANS NEED TO KNOW IF THIS IS A HARD LAUNCH PLEASE AND THANK YOU," one user wrote under Padma and Melissa's Halloween post.

"No one is playing Gomez and Morticia unless they're shipped so I'm just going to let my heart believe y'all are a couple and have the happiest Halloween ever," another cheered.

"I mean at this point I think we all know the deal… love to see it ladies!!" a third user cheered.

If Padma and Melissa are dating, it wouldn't be the first time they've been in public relationships. Padma's exes include her three-year marriage to author Salman Rushdie, followed by high-profile relationships with businessman Teddy Forstmann and venture capitalist Adam Dell, who is also her daughter's father. According to Us Weekly, the host has also admittedly dated women before Melissa came into her life.

Chef Melissa also announced in June 2025 that she was dating fellow Top Chef contestant Nini Nguyen, though they appear to have broken up.