Padma Lakshmi On Leaving ‘Top Chef’ After 17 Years: ‘It Was Just Exhausting And Untenable For Me To Continue’

etcanada.com:

Padma Lakshmi feels it’s the perfect time to close the door on “Top Chef”. While speaking with Variety in an interview published on Thursday, the Emmy winner explained how “exhausting and untenable” her hosting duties and professional schedule became. “I had been on location for eight months out of the year.

And when I wasn’t on location, I was in pre- and post-production for both my shows,” she explained, nodding to her 2020 series, “Taste the Nation”. READ MORE: Padma Lakshmi Reveals The One Condition That Excused Her From Spitting Out Food During ‘Top Chef”s Judging Scenes “And I was looking at edits of one show while on the set of another show.

It was just exhausting and untenable for me to continue that way. I also felt I’ve done everything I set out to do and more at ‘Top Chef.'” Lakshmi believes she’s departing the show at a “very high point,” feeling it’s in “very capable hands now.” Her next goal is to “challenge myself creatively,” aiming to land another season of “Taste the Nation”. READ MORE: Padma Lakshmi Exits ‘Top Chef’ After 17 Years: ‘I Feel It’s Time To Move On’ “Many people close to me were saying, “Well, why don’t you just wait until you get another season of ‘Taste the Nation’ before you stop ‘Top Chef’?” Other complex factors went into me just being done with ‘Top Chef’, which we don’t have time to go into here.

But I think I just thought, if I’m feeling this way, then I’ve got to trust my gut. I’ve also got to make room in my life and my schedule for new things to bubble up.” One thing she may be open to after hanging up her chef hat is a relationship, admitting: “Totally off-topic, but I haven’t had a relationship in a long time either, because I’m always working.” She also wants to be