Padma Lakshmi is celebrating her recently-announced replacement for host of “Top Chef.”
On July 11, Bravo announced that Kristen Kish would replace the longtime culinary competition show host, who announced her departure from the show after 17 years last month on June 2.
Lakshmi celebrated the news on Twitter with an enthusiastic post shared on Twitter.
“I’m so proud of you @KristenLKish and am over the moon that you’ll be taking over for me on @BravoTopChef,” she captioned the post. “!!! I’ll be rooting for you and our whole crew next season. Congratulations!!!”
Kish — who prevailed as the culinary show’s Season 10 winner and later returned as a guest judge —responded to the post with gratitude for the former host’s guidance in previous years.
“Thank you for your friendship and mentorship over the years,” she replied to the tweet. “Love you I hope to do you proud!”
In its July 11 announcement, Bravo shared that Kish would join the ranks of judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons for Season 21. The upcoming season will be shot in Wisconsin.
Lakshmi became the second host of the show when she joined the competition series in 2006 and replaced host Katie Lee. She announced her “difficult decision” to leave the decision with a post on Instagram explaining her desire to focus more on her pursuits outside of the show.
“After much soul searching, I have made the difficult decision to leave Top Chef,” she wrote in part at the time. “Having completed a glorious 20th season as host and executive producer, I am extremely proud to have been part of building such a successful show and of the impact it has had in the worlds of television and food.”
While Lakshmi became the first woman of color to host the show, Kish became the show’s first woman of color to win the series.
According to her biography on the Bravo website, Kish was born in South Korea and raised in Michigan by her adoptive parents. Her work as a chef has brought her to kitchens of high-profile restaurants like Michelin-star Chef Guy Martin’s Sensing and Barbara Lynch’s Stir. She is the author of the 2017 book “Kristen Kish Cooking: Recipes and Techniques: A Cookbook.”
