‘It caught me off guard’: new Top Chef host Kristen Kish on being offered the role, and not seeking Padma Lakshmi’s help

After Padma Lakshmi stepped down as host of Top Chef after 19 seasons, previous contestant and 2013’s winner, Kristen Kish, was chosen to take her place

Kish talks about having big shoes to fill, her first day on set, and putting herself ‘out there to be judged’. So far she’s had more support than trolling

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New host Kristen Kish (centre) joins judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons in season 21 of Top Chef. Kish reveals what she was doing when she received the news about hosting and why she has not called former host Padma Lakshmi for advice. Photo: TNS

Published: 4:15am, 29 Mar 2024Updated: 8:15am, 29 Mar 2024

Kristen Kish was going through airport security in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, when the call came that provoked the sort of clock-ticking, accelerated-heart-rate feeling the former Top Chef winner was familiar with during all those Quickfire elimination challenges.

Like most fans of Bravo TV’s cooking competition, Kish was stunned to learn last June that Padma Lakshmi was stepping down as host of Top Chef after 19 seasons. “I couldn’t believe it,” Kish says.

Not long after the announcement, while travelling home to New York from a work trip in Thailand, Kish and her wife landed in Dubai. They were scurrying to catch their connecting flight when Kish powered up her phone and saw texts from her manager trickle in.

She called her back, thinking something was wrong, only to find out that Bravo wanted to talk to Kish about hosting the show.

Kristen Kish attends the 2023 Time100 Next, which recognises the world’s rising stars, in New York. Photo: TNS

“I call her as I’m waiting in line for security to push my suitcases through,” Kish recalls. “She was like, ‘They would love for you to fly to LA on Tuesday’ – and it was a Sunday. I was like, ‘Sure’. That was it.”

Kish takes over as host on Season 21 of Top Chef, which is now streaming on Bravo.