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Kristen Kish Says Being Nominated For an Emmy Award For Top Chef Season 21 Is "Wild" (EXCLUSIVE)
The Top Chef Season 21 host opened up to The Daily Dish about her first time Emmy nomination in 2024 and what the show means to her.
Kristen Kish was "wholeheartedly shocked" when she found out she was nominated for her first Emmy Award for hosting her first season of Bravo's Top Chef in the most recent Season 21.
"It's wild," she told The Daily Dish in a recent interview. Now, she's very excited to walk the red carpet on Sunday, September 15, when the 76th Emmy Awards takes place. "Holy sh-t. I still can't believe I get to go to the Emmys," she said.
This came as an honor to the Top Chef Season 10 winner, who was "nervous" about the audience's reception when she replaced Padma Lakshmi to host Season 21. "There's a lot of pressure you put on yourself especially when you are a very visible part of a huge change on such a well-respected, long-run show that has been recognized year after year after year," she said.
How did Kristen Kish find out she was nominated for an Emmy Award?
The chef was feeling nervous ahead of the news. Kristen deliberately chose to ignore the fact that the nominations were coming up. "My wife [Bianca Dusic] and I didn't talk about it for days leading up to the announcement," she noted. But, an hour before the nominations were announced on July 17, Kristen decided to hop on the treadmill "just to distract" herself.
It was there, on the treadmill, listening to music and "ignoring" her phone, that she found out she was nominated for "Outstanding Host For A Reality Or A Reality Competition Program-2024." Top Chef was also nominated for "Outstanding Reality Competition-2024." The food competition series is also up for Outstanding Picture Editing For A Structured Reality Or Competition Program.
"As soon as the good news came through I was like, I don't need to work out anymore," she told The Daily Dish with a laugh.
How did Kristen Kish celebrate her Emmy Award nomination?
Although the Top Chef host has tried a number of out-of-this-world dishes over the years, she celebrated her Emmy nomination with a night on the couch with her wife, eating chicken wings.
The couple ordered "a dozen chicken wings and french fries" from a "local chicken wing place," she told The Daily Dish. "It was fabulous."
"My wife was like, 'What do you want to do? Do you want to do anything?' We are joyfully happy just being at home in sweatpants and I was like, 'You know what? I think I'm just going to order something to be delivered,'" she said. "And that's exactly what we did."
Kristen's decision to celebrate the nomination with a new tattoo is to be determined. Yet, she told The Daily Dish that there is a tattoo out there for her "to mark this moment of time." "I don't know," she admitted. "We're going to see what happens."
How Kristen Kish's experiences as a chef helped her host Top Chef Season 21
Although hosting is new for Kristen, the adjustment from Top Chef winner, to going on to own restaurant, to present the Bravo series wasn't too difficult for her as she Kristen cited longtimeTop Chef judges, Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio, as the people who helped her make the transition easier.
"As Tom reminded me, I've done this a million times over the course of my career, almost...over two decades in the industry," she said. "I've done this before. I've talked to chefs before, I've cooked before, I've given feedback before, I've had dinner parties before where you talk about the food," she added. "It's exactly what I've been doing."
What Kristen Kish learned by hosting Top Chef Season 21
Kristen had plenty of experience being in front of the camera when she got eliminated from Top Chef Season 10, won Top Chef Last Chance Kitchen, and came back to the competition to win the title of Top Chef that same season. But, seeing the "production side more" really helped her as a host.
"When you're a chef you just really hope that everyone has your best interest at heart and that food will always come first and the chef's story," she explained. "And it was completely solidified and confirmed when I got to sit on the other side for an entire season."
"It's exactly why Top Chef has withstood the test of time, why it's well respected, and why so many chefs want to come on the show," she concluded.
-Reporting by Abby Feiner
