Reality TV’s Double Threat: Padma Lakshmi Talks Dual Emmy Noms for ‘Top Chef’ and ‘Taste the Nation’

Kirsten Chuba
·4 min read
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Padma Lakshmi is leaving Top Chef at the peak of her game, landing her fifth nomination for outstanding reality or competition program host as she steps away from the Bravo series after 19 seasons. She also secured her first nomination for her Hulu food travel series Taste the Nation, up for outstanding hosted nonfiction series or special in her capacity as host and executive producer. The double nominee talks to THR about saying goodbye to the competitive cooking series, expanding Taste the Nation and why it’s an honor just to be nominated: “I don’t think I have a snowball’s chance against Michelle Obama.”

What does it mean to be nominated for your last season of Top Chef?

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It’s beautiful. It’s really sweet and wonderful, and I’m so glad for all of our cast and crew. It was very hard to film overseas [in London and Paris], and I’m really happy we pulled it off — to get a nomination for host as I leave my tenure there is just icing on the cake. We got a nomination for the show and for editing and casting and directing, and me for host. It’s the best way to go out: on top.

You also received your first nomination for Taste the Nation. I’m sure that’s exciting too.

It’s something that I fought for for so long, and we all worked so hard to get it right. I’m so thankful to all of our participants most of all because they really have to open themselves up and bare their souls. And they do it with grace and elegance and vulnerability, and that is such a privilege. I didn’t know if people would open up to me — I really didn’t. I’ve probably only interviewed a handful of people, either at a literary festival or at a food festival. Barbara Walters, I’m not. And oh my gosh, did you see the other nominees for that category? I was such a small person, a little girl, when I first saw Oprah. I grew up staying up late at night to watch Late Show With David Letterman. Even Stanley Tucci, I’ve grown up watching him. I don’t think I have a snowball’s chance against Michelle Obama, but I’m so, so thrilled to just be in their company.

Padma Lakshmi on Top Chef: World All-Stars, the final season featuring the Emmy nominee as host and the first shot entirely abroad.
Padma Lakshmi on Top Chef: World All-Stars, the final season featuring the Emmy nominee as host and the first shot entirely abroad.

How do you feel like season two compared to the first season of Taste the Nation?

This season, we got our groove a little bit. I’m learning on the job not only as an interviewer, but also I’m doing it as a producer and creator of the show. I write my voiceover; I go to every sound mixing session, every color correction — that nerdy stuff is super, super important to me. I’ve learned so much in the past three years creating the show and working on it — both in front of the camera [and] behind the camera — and long after the camera’s turned off.

Do you have a list of dream places you want to go for Taste the Nation?

I want to go to Berlin — I want to eat Turkish food in Berlin. I don’t want to just be in America. I think a natural progression for the show would be to expand and go international and see what it looks like when two different cultures bump up against each other. We’re at an inflection point in our civilization where there’s more migration than ever before. I really want to explore that. Our show is about food, but it’s also about culture and history.

We’re talking on the day that the SAG-AFTRA contract expires. How are you feeling about a potential strike and the reasons for that strike?

I think a lot of the things are the same as what we’re fighting for in the Writers Guild. I’m a member of Writers Guild East — I don’t think I’m an active member because I haven’t written anything in three years — and I’m certainly a member of SAG. Everyone on set is important to the creative process, especially the people who originate the material as well as the people who interpret the material. I’m looking forward to a fair resolution on both fronts, and soon. I think it’ll not be soon, but I hope it is soon.

Interview edited for length and clarity.

This story first appeared in the Aug. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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