Padma Lakshmi on 'Top Chef' Season 19 and How Her Daughter Has Grown Up on Set (Exclusive)
etonline.com, which returns for season 19 on Bravo, Padma Lakshimi has seen – and tasted – it all. “There have been a couple of doozies,” she tells ET’s Rachel Smith, explaining that “any chef, as great as he or she may be, can have an off day because you want to push the envelope.” And for every failed dish, there have been that many more savory successes that have led to 18 previous winners.
And with the reality cooking competition set in Houston, Texas, this season, there’s bound to be many highs and lows as 15 new cheftestants are immersed in the diversity that represents the city’s culinary identity. “That really influences the challenges,” Lakshmi says, revealing that there will be challenges built around the Nigerian community, local Asian markets as well as the state’s beloved BBQ and Tex-Mex flavors. “It’s really, really infused the show with a lot of flavor, you know, literally and figuratively.”Not only that, but the format changes introduced during season 18, with previous cheftestants – Dawn Burrell, Tiffany Derry, Melissa King, Kristen Kish, Shota Nakajima, Kwame Onwuachi, Brooke Williamson and others – returning as guest judges and mentors, will continue here.
They, of course, will join returning fixtures, head judge Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. “We also have a lot of alumni back,” Lakshmi says, explaining “that’s something that we pivoted and did in Portland because of COVID.”She adds, “That was something the producers came up with creatively that I actually think even though it was out of necessity really made the show much better.”Because Lakshmi spends between six to eight weeks each season filming, she really gets to know the chefs competing on the series. “We have a lot of memories,” she says. “I’m with them.
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