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"Top Chef" Contestants No Fans of Padma Lakshmi

Looks like we're not the only ones who aren't fans of Padma Lakshmi.

New York Magazine recently spoke to some of the remaining contestants on Bravo's cutthroat culinary series Top Chef about their opinions of the denim vest-clad Padma, a.k.a. Mrs. Salman Rushdie, who acts as the show's main host/product placement shill:
Asked if he trusted Lakshmi’s culinary taste, Ilan Hall, a line cook at Casa Mono, asked a Bravo flack, “Um, are we allowed to say disparaging things about Padma?” No. “She’s beautiful,” Hall offered. “Mostly, she just explained things, and she did a good job at that.”
As for Padma's, um, ensembles of leather or denim vests and midriff-baring shirts, the fiery tempered Cliff Crooks had the following to say: “Some of the things she wore, I wouldn’t suggest anyone wear around a working kitchen. Either she’d be a fire hazard or she’d get hurt.”

While no one could be worse than former Top Chef host/automaton Katie Lee Joel, I'm surprised that the chefs would be as candid as they were in this piece. Will the third time be the charm for Top Chef? Or will Bravo finally realize that they've always had the epitome of poised and polished foodie host in Tom Colicchio?

Personally, I'm hoping that Top Chef fans will finally get the culinary equivalent of Tim Gunn that we deserve. But Padma certainly isn't it.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Padma wears ridiculous clothing, sometimes more inappropriate than Tyra Banks! She is better than the last host but they could do much better, especially if they just gave the job to Tom.
Anonymous said…
well, as a host, she dresses like she should. but that would be like, vanna white. she goes on about being a foodie. now, someone who looks like her? come on. i wish they WOULD jsut give the job to Tom, he is awesome and surprisingly pretty levelheaded.
Anonymous said…
Padma HAS got to go. She's better than Katie Lee, but that's like saying dying by fire is better than dying by cold. (You're dead either way.)

Tom would be a great host and a mentor to the chefs... why won't Bravo see sense and make it happen already?
Anonymous said…
I can't stand Padma!! Every time her horse face appears, I just cringe. There is a certain whore-ness about her that is simply inapporpriate for the show. She makes the show "cheap".
Anonymous said…
My experience w/the show would be much better if Padma was replaced. Needed is a host whose personality is warmer, has experience in a professional kitchen, has enough sex appeal, and blends well with Tom who happens to be the best! It pains me just to look at her..... i think i'll go vomit now!
Anonymous said…
Padma, ugh...She really urks me...When she talks, she slurrs or sounds like she smoked a big fatty and can barely speak anymore. I looked up some pictures of her and damn she can be gorgeous, but she looks like an anorexic that's has a bad heroin habit on the show. They need to get someone else on the show, someone like Anne Robinson from the Weakest Link, LMAO!! But seriously, get someone that actually fits the part!
amadine said…
Some of you guys say the show needs a mentor Tim Gunn for the contestants. Well sure enough that's the purpose Tom Colicchio serves when he does the rounds in the kitchen and checks up on the contestants' progress. Padma's chief function is that of a presenter - who updates the viewer on the next segments of the program.

Sure, she may be doing her duties in a rather deadpan manner compared to your average reality tv host, but therein lies her appeal and individuality as such.
Some of you subject to doubt her credibility as a presenter on a reality show platformed on food and cooking. I'll have you know that apart from her modeling background, she has produced a cookbook which merited a World Cookbook award. Experience wise, she had hosted several Food network shows like Padma's Passport and Melting pot.

Another thing, Padma's sartorial choices are not a valid basis for judging her effectivity as a host.

That being said, Padma does have credible hosting rights to Top Chef regardless of her clothing preferences or the monotonic nature of her voice.

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