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Padma Lakshmi Weighs in on Mariah Carey, Dishes on the Top Chef Guest Judge With the Worst Manners
Lakshmi also shares funny Top Chef gossip in a "Hot Ones" interview.
If anyone can stand the heat better than Padma Lakshmi, we'd have a hard time believing it. The Top Chef host just appeared on First We Feast's Hot Ones Challenge, where guests—like Tom Colicchio recently—sample ever-more-scorching varieties of hot sauce in front of the camera. Some celebrity guests keep their composure better than others as their mouths catch fire, but it's safe to say no one so far has pulled off the challenge more photogenically than Lakshmi.
The tongue-burning condiments are enough of a no-big-deal to Lakshmi that she still manages to tell funny stories about her friendships with stars like Shaq, her racy Instagram account, her memorable Top Chef moments, and her eclectic onscreen career (yes, she's even been on Star Trek) as she licks hot sauce of her fingers and bites into incendiary chicken wings.
Just a few choice nuggets from her saucy interview with First We Feast's Sean Evans:
Who is the worst-mannered guest judge on Top Chef so far? "Sam Nazarian, who is a restaurateur and not an actual chef. In the Napa finale he had bad manners. I'll leave it at that," is Lakshmi's quasi-diplomatic diss.
What was the deal with her appearance in Mariah Carey's notorious 2001 flop "Glitter"? Lakshmi said that since most of her scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor, "the good news is that you only have to watch the first half an hour" to catch a glimpse of her. She also calls Carey a "freak of nature"—as a compliment.
Watch the video for all the juicy tidbits, including how she describes her Top Chef co-host's "most annoying habit," why she loves "bed picnics," and what exactly goes into her famous "Cranberry Drano" cleanse.
As for her favorite Top Chef host city so far? She starts out saying "New Orleans," then quickly changes her mind to.... Charleston. That's where you can still catch her, in Top Chef Season 14 on Thursdays at 9/8c.
