Padma Lakshmi

Lakshmi in 2009, photo by Featureflash/Shutterstock.com

Birth Name: Padma Parvati Lakshmi

Place of Birth: Madras, Tamil Nadu, India

Date of Birth: September 1, 1970

Ethnicity: Tamil Indian

Padma Lakshmi is an Indian-American author, activist, actress, model, philanthropist, and television host. She is known for hosting Top Chef, and for her show Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi.

Padma was born in Madras, now Chennai, into a Tamil Brahmin family. Her mother, Vijaya, is an oncology nurse. She moved to the U.S. at the age of four, and was raised in New York City, New York, and then La Puente, California.

Padma has a daughter with her former partner, venture capitalist Adam Dell. Adam is the brother of businessperson Michael Dell, of Dell Technologies.