Padma Lakshmi enjoys herself while filming Top Chef. The foodie and Bravo judge posted a bikini pic on Instagram on Friday, June 9, revealing her weight gain while filming the hit food competition show.
“Week 5 of filming and hips getting rounder, thighs getting thicker…#topchefmemories #eatingmywaythroughcolorado,” she captioned a shot of herself in a blue bikini.
Lakshmi told The Cut in 2015 that she understandably gains weight each season. The former model, who is the mom of daughter Krishna Thea Lakshmi-Dell, has been the host of Top Chef since season 2. In 2016, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program.
“I usually gain about 10 to 15 pounds every season. It’s the only bad part about my job,” she told the site. “We actually buy clothes in three different sizes so that you don’t notice my clothes getting tight. Everybody tries to squeeze into the size 6 jeans or the size 8 dress, but who’s looking at the tag to see what number is on it?”
After filming wraps, Lakshmi puts in the work to lose the weight. “I try to lose 15 pounds — they take me six weeks to gain and 12 weeks to lose,” she told The Cut.
“I either box three times a week or lift weights — just old-school weights, lunges, crunches, squats, and leg-presses,” she said of her post-filming workouts.
