‘Top Chef’ reveals who is replacing Padma Lakshmi as host — and it's a former winner

The new host of “Top Chef,” taking Padma Laksmi's place, will be a familiar face: Kristen Kish, who won the Bravo culinary competition in Season 10.

Bravo announced July 11 that Kish will join Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons at the judges’ table for Season 21, which takes place in Wisconsin.

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“‘Top Chef’ is where I started my journey — first as a competing chef, then a guest judge and now as host I have the honor of helping to continue to build this brand,” Kish, 39, said in a statement.

“I’m thrilled to sit alongside Gail and Tom as we get to know new incredible chefs and see what they cook up. It feels like coming home,” she added.

Ryan Flynn, senior vice president of current production for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said Kish “represents everything that makes ‘Top Chef’ incredibly special.”

“She’s an acclaimed chef and her experience as a cheftestant, winner and judge, alongside her culinary curiosity, makes Kristen the perfect host for the next chapter of ‘Top Chef’ as we take on a new region of the country we haven’t explored," Flynn said in a statement.

The announcement about Kish's joining “Top Chef” comes a little more than a month after longtime host Lakshmi announced June 2 that she was leaving the series after 17 years.

“After much soul searching, I have made the difficult decision to leave Top Chef,” Lakshmi wrote at the time. “Having completed a glorious 20th season as host and executive producer, I am extremely proud to have been part of building such a successful show and of the impact it has had in the worlds of television and food.”

The former model joined “Top Chef” in its second season in 2006, replacing original host Katie Lee.

Kish will be the third person to host the reality competition and the first former contestant to do so.

Born in South Korea and adopted by a family in Kentwood, Michigan, Kish showed a talent for cooking at a young age. She was encouraged by her mom to attend Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago.

Kish spent a decade working at several high-profile restaurants in Boston and became the Chef de Cuisine at a Relais & Chateaux property.

After becoming the first woman of color to win “Top Chef” in 2013, she went on to co-host “36 Hours,” a Travel Channel show that partnered with The New York Times. Shorly after, in 2014, she came out as lesbian.

In 2017, Kish published her first cookbook, “Kristen Kish Cooking: Recipes and Techniques,” and in 2018 partnered with LINE Hotels to launch her first restaurant, Arlo Grey in Austin, Texas, which specializes in Kish's signature blend of playfully refined cuisine.

Kish is also the co-star of “Fast Foodies,” a co-host of “Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend” and the host and producer of “Restaurants at the End of the World.”

In 2021, Kish married Bianca Dusic in an intimate backyard ceremony.

“I never thought I’d be able to impact more than just the circle around me,” Kish told TODAY.com in 2020. “The amount of messages from the LGBQT community, the Asian American community, the Asian American adoptee community ... It empowers me to talk about it more.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com