Are Padma Lakshmi & Adam Dell Still Together? What to Know About Their Relationship
Padma Lakshmi is returning to television on the new CBS series America’s Culinary Cup, which premieres on March 4. For 20 years now, she has been a known staple in the cooking world, having hosted Top Chef from 2006 to 2023.
Of course, that also means that Lakshmi’s love life has been in the spotlight, too. One of her most notable relationships was with Adam Dell, whom she shares a child with. Dell is a venture capitalist whose brother is the founder of Dell Inc. the computer manufacturing company.
Scroll down for more to know about their relationship and where they stand today.
Are Padma Lakshmi and Adam Dell still together?
No, Lakshmi and Dell are no longer together. The two were first linked in 2009, and she was also dating Teddy Forstmann at the same time. “I was presented with two very different, very interesting men,” Lakshmi later said on the Today show. “Men do it all the time. I chose to do it, and I was open with the men involved.”
Although they eventually split, Lakshmi and Dell rekindled their relationship in 2017. However, by 2021, she confirmed she was single.
The two remain on good terms as coparents to their daughter, Krishna. They have spent holidays together since their split, and as she told Us Weekly in 2020, “I don’t know that there is a perfect balance. Every day is different.”
How many kids does Padma Lakshmi have?
Krishna is Lakshmi’s only child. She was born in 2010. Because Lakshmi was dating both Dell and Forstmann at the time she conceived Krishna, a prenatal paternity test was done to determine the baby’s father. It confirmed that Dell was Krishna’s dad.
Following Krishna’s birth, Lakshmi and Dell were involved in a highly-publicized custody battle. Dell sued Lakshmi for custody, accusing her of trying to “minimize” or “eliminate” his role in their daughter’s life. Lakshmi claimed that she found out about the lawsuit in the press.
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“She is saddened and gravely disappointed that Mr. Dell has chosen a very public means of filing his petition with the court rather than doing so in a confidential or sealed manner, which is customary in cases involving a very young child,” her rep said at the time.
The two eventually settled out of court in 2012. While Lakshmi did not publicly comment on the settlement “due to a confidential settlement agreement,” a source close to the former Top Chef host told People that Lakshmi retained “all decision-making power, which is really what matters most to her. She makes all the decisions on education, health, everything.”
Who has Padma Lakshmi been married to?
Lakshmi was previously married to author Salman Rushdie. “The fact that somebody of that stature and caliber was even interested remotely enough in me to want to take me to lunch was kind of unbelievable,” she recalled in her 2016 memoir.
Lakshmi claimed that Rushdie was not able to handle how her star power began to grow. “I just wanted my own identity,” she said. She also added that the chronic pain she was in from endometriosis led to a lack of intimacy, which also took a toll on the marriage.
“Endometriosis was definitely a major reason that my marriage failed, and I don’t think either of us understood it at the time,” she shared. “I think that’s also because I hid it to a certain degree, not intentionally, but you know, it’s weird to talk about your period all the time. It’s like the least sexy thing in the world to do. Ithink that Salman took it personally, and I think that he felt rejected.”
Is Padma Lakshmi in a relationship now?
No, Lakshmi does not currently appear to be in a relationship. However, in the fall of 2025, Top Chef fans were sent into a frenzy when she and Season 17 winner Melissa King wore coordinating Addams Family costumes on Halloween.
“Melissa is somebody whose cooking I always loved,” Lakshmi told People. “She’s fun, and we enjoy each other’s company. She tends to be my plus one sometimes so people will see us on the red carpet together.”
Shortly after the holiday, they filmed a cooking video together, and King told Lakshmi her nails were “so gay right now,” which prompted Lakshmi to respond, “Stop starting rumors!”
There has been no confirmation that there is anything more than a friendship between the women. Lakshmi previously spoke about her sexuality in her memoir, where she wrote about “knowing what it’s like to touch and be touched by a woman,” which she said she experimented with to “[act] out [her] curiosities and fantasies.”
In an interview with Andy Cohen, she added, “It was the first time I was far away from home, and I was surrounded by the most beautiful women in the world. It was the first time I was an adult. I was experimenting with my sexuality. I never had had an emotional, romantic relationship with a woman. But I’m not sorry. It was a beautiful experience. It happened a few times and that’s it.”
America’s Culinary Cup, Series Premiere, Wednesday, March 4, 9:30/8:30c, CBS
