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Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi bagged her third Emmy nomination on Tuesday, July 12, 2022, in the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program category. The nominations were announced by Curb Your Enthusiasm's JB Smoove and Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Melissa Fumero in a virtual ceremony.
However, in an exclusive interview with E! News, the host revealed that she might have to attend the 2022 Emmy Awards virtually as she will be occupied with production abroad. The Emmy Awards will be held on Monday, September 12, 2022. The Bravo star said nothing would make her happier than attending the ceremony virtually while filming Top Chef Season 20 overseas.
Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi opens up about her Emmy award, says the show is filming another season
While speaking to E! News on her nomination and on hosting Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi revealed that the team worked hard on the show and are overwhelmed with the amount of love they have received from viewers since the series was on air. She also confessed that they were filming another season, so the award "definitely puts a bounce in their step."
When asked about the possibility of Top Chef being physically present at the Emmy or their plans for virtual celebrations, the host confessed that they could have a similar ceremony that they would've had if they were in the U.S., however, she wasn't sure what Bravo had planned for them.
"I think being international and going all the way to L.A. is a little difficult because we do have a really big crew and it's very expensive to just have people waiting around while we go and walk red carpets."
Padma Lakshmi admitted that she never thought "this little food show" would still be getting Emmy nominations nearly two decades after it launched. She confessed that the team initially thought Top Chef would last three or four seasons but were humbled that it lasted this long. For the host, the show is like a "second family." She said:
"My daughter has grown up on set, we've all been through a lot together and so to share in such a recognition from the Television Academy is a really big deal for us. I'm just so pleased and so thankful that the Academy and all its members still are enjoying Top Chef and find that it is best in class enough to nominate us."
Dishing details on the twentieth season of the hit cooking competition, she revealed that it was the first time that the show was entirely filmed outside of the U.S. She believes that this would make the series "bigger and better" and give it a new experience. The host said:
"I personally am really excited. I think it'll give us new terrain. One of the reasons I believe the Top Chef is always fresh and evergreen and really upping itself is because we move locations and so those locations inform the challenges and also really play into the episodes of the season. So I'm glad that we're going international."
Padma Lakshmi confessed that there were places in America that they wanted to film in, including Atlanta, Memphis, and more. But the team felt it was time for the show to go international.
The 2022 Emmy Awards will be broadcast live on September 12 at 8.00 pm ET on NBC and will be streamed live on Peacock. Other reality competition show nominations include The Voice, RuPaul's Drag Race, The Amazing Race, and Shark Tank, among many others.
