<\/p>\n
Padma Lakshmi<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s relationship history is as spicy as her crab cakes with chili<\/a>, from her high-profile marriage to novelist Salman Rushdie<\/strong> to her on-again, off-again romances with powerful businessmen.<\/p>\n Reflecting on her storied romantic<\/a> past, Lakshmi, now 55, shared<\/a>, \u201cI think when I was young, I was looking for a mentor and a mate perhaps or just felt lost. It’s really hard to find a man who keeps your attention, regardless of age, and that’s what I’m looking for now.\u201d<\/p>\n With her new competition series, America\u2019s Culinary Cup<\/em>, premiering March 4 on CBS<\/a>, take a look back at who Lakshmi has called a husband, who she\u2019s dated, and why some fans now think she\u2019s now in a relationship with fellow chef Melissa King<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac<\/strong>SIGN UP for Parade\u2019s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\ud83c\udfac\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n No. The former Top Chef<\/a><\/em> host has been married once, to author Salman Rushdie. The two wed in 2004 after dating for several years, and were divorced in 2007.<\/p>\n She also had a long-term on-off relationship with venture capitalist Adam Dell<\/strong>, with whom she shares a daughter, that ended in 2021, but the couple was never married.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t feel I need to be married,\u201d she told Wendy Williams<\/strong><\/a> in 2018, when she and Dell were still an item. \u201cI think my life is great. I don\u2019t need a certificate to prove anything.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: \u2018Top Chef\u2019 Star Joins Padma Lakshmi\u2019s New Culinary Competition Show<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Nope. They were married for about three years, from 2004 to 2007. At the time, their relationship drew major media attention, both for their roughly 23-year age gap and Rushdie\u2019s literary fame, which was defined in part by the threats he received to his life: In 1989, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini<\/strong> ordered a fatwa\u2014a religious edict\u2014calling for the author\u2019s death in response to Rushdie\u2019s supposedly \u201cblasphemous\u201d novel The Satanic Verses<\/em>.<\/p>\n Decades later, in 2022, the fatwa culminated in Rushdie being stabbed multiple times, including in the neck, as he was about to give a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. After he was confirmed to be pulling through following surgery, Lakshmi showed support for her ex on Twitter (now X). \u201cWorried and wordless, can finally exhale,\u201d she wrote<\/a>. \u201cNow hoping for swift healing.\u201d<\/p>\n Related: Salman Rushdie Shares How He Found Joy in Writing Fiction Again After His Near-Fatal Attack<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The two first crossed paths at a party in New York in 1999. At the time, Rushdie was still married to his third wife (he\u2019s had five total) and Lakshmi was a cookbook author building a multi-hyphenate career as a model and actress.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us Indians, he\u2019s like Hemingway,\u201d Lakshmi told People<\/em> in 2016. <\/a>\u201cImagine a young woman in her twenties, who loves books and who had published her little cookbook and in comes this guy. I mean, he was the best thing that ever happened to me by a mile. The fact that somebody of that stature and caliber was even interested remotely enough in me to want to take me to lunch was kind of unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n According to her 2016 memoir, Love, Loss And What We Ate, <\/em>Rushdie assured Lakshmi that his marriage was already over when they met, and filed for divorce. In 2000, they moved in together and in 2004, they wed in New York among 275 very fancy guests.<\/p>\n They tied the knot in 2004 and split in 2007, making for a three-year marriage. As the story goes, Lakshmi had asked for a divorce in private, but Rushdie responded via a public statement issued by his literary agent. \u201cSalman Rushdie has agreed to divorce his wife, Padma Lakshmi, because of her desire to end their marriage,\u201d the statement read<\/a>.<\/p>\n In her memoir Love, Loss And What We Ate<\/em> and the press surrounding it, Lakshmi opened up about how her undiagnosed endometriosis was a major reason for the collapse of her marriage: As her condition grew worse she was often in too much pain to have sex, leading to many fights over their lack of intimacy.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that Salman took it personally and I think that he felt rejected,\u201d she said<\/a>. “I can understand that.\u201d At one point, she claimed, Rushdie called her a \u201cbad investment.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite any hurtful exchanges, the couple remained friends over the years, and Lakshmi gave him a heads up about her memoir before it came out.<\/p>\n \u201cI told him, \u2018I just want you to know that I talk about the demise of our marriage and I talk about it because I really wanted to talk about endometriosis and also that you were a huge part of my life,\u2019” she told People<\/em><\/a>. “And he said, \u2018You have the right to tell your side of the story as you see it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Also, she rightly pointed out, \u201cHe\u2019s the most famous proponent of free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n Lakshmi has one daughter with Adam Dell<\/strong>, a venture capitalist and tech entrepreneur known for launching financial platforms like Clarity Money and Domain Money. He also comes from a well-known business family: His brother is Michael Dell<\/strong>, the founder of Dell Technologies.<\/p>\n Lakshmi began intermittently dating Dell in 2009, about two years after her split from novelist Salman Rushdie and while also in an on-off relationship with billionaire investor Teddy Forstmann<\/strong>, whom she dated from 2007 until his death from brain cancer in 2011. In October<\/a> 2009, she revealed she was pregnant without publicly naming the father, instantly kicking off a tabloid frenzy. \u201cIt was just about as horrible as is possible to be,\u201d Lakshmi told the New Yorker<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI mean, talk about slut shaming.\u201d<\/p>\n Because Lakshmi had reunited with Forstmann, and because he was by her side when she gave birth to her daughter, Krishna, some assumed he was the baby\u2019s dad\u2014and, by all accounts, he wanted to be. (He even left the girl a trust when he died.) But there was always uncertainty around the situation.<\/p>\n “It probably wasn’t the best choice, but it was the choice that I made at the time,\u201d Lakshmi said<\/a> of being with two men at once. \u201cI didn’t want to be in a serious relationship. I was still really hurting from my divorce. “<\/p>\n In 2011, Dell filed for custody and asked that his name be added to Krishna\u2019s birth certificate, making it public knowledge that he was, in fact, Krishna\u2019s biological dad.<\/p>\n Despite going through a bitter custody battle, which settled out of court in 2012, Lakshmi and Dell rekindled their romantic relationship in 2017. \u201dThey both love that child so much, they\u2019re putting the past behind them,\u201d a source told Page Six<\/em><\/a> at the time. \u201cShe just is being very cautious and private to protect Krishna, regardless of what happens. She\u2019s forgiven the past and is giving this a try.\u201d<\/p>\n On an episode of Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry <\/em>in 2018, Lakshmi asked Henry if she had Forstmann’s \u201cblessing\u201d to be in a relationship with Dell, given that the two men were on bad terms before Forstmann’s death.<\/p>\n \u201cHe does not want you to be alone,\u201d Henry responded<\/a>. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t want you to have to parent alone. And he\u2019s acknowledging this feeling that he will always be connected to you, but you should absolutely feel like you have permission to love who you want to love.\u201d<\/p>\n She and Dell split amicably in 2021.<\/p>\n Related: How to Watch \u2018Top Chef\u2019 Season 23 Early on Peacock and YouTube<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The celebrity gourmand was 39 years old when she gave birth to Krishna.<\/p>\n Born Feb. 20, 2010, Krishna turned 16 this year. And unlike some<\/em> teens, she still seems to enjoy her mom\u2019s company. The two make frequent (and funny) appearances together on Lakshmi\u2019s Instagram, and for Krishna\u2019s recent milestone birthday<\/a>, they took a mother-daughter trip to Miami.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes we have to not hang out so you can make your bedtime in school,\u201d Lakshmi said in conversation with Krishna for The Cut<\/em><\/a>, underlining their bond. \u201cYou make it anyway, but we never want to go to sleep, and we never want to get up in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n Lakshmi briefly dated actor Richard Gere <\/strong>in 2020, poet Terrance Hayes<\/strong> in 2021 and black-ish<\/em> creator Kenya Barris<\/strong> in 2023, although she kept the details of these relationships to herself.<\/p>\n Unclear. If the Padma\u2019s All American<\/a><\/em> author is seeing someone, she hasn\u2019t shared that publicly. Some fans have speculated that she\u2019s in a relationship with fellow chef Melissa King, who won Top Chef: All-Stars L.A. <\/em>in 2020, but she hasn\u2019t confirmed as much.<\/p>\n “Melissa is somebody whose cooking I always loved. She’s fun and we enjoy each other’s company,” Lakshmi told People<\/em><\/a> in October 2025. “She tends to be my plus one sometimes so people will see us on the red carpet together.\u201d<\/p>\n Later that month, she and King stunned fans by going as Gomez and Morticia Addams for Halloween<\/a>. The costumes were, well, chef\u2019s kiss<\/em>!<\/p>\n Next: Padma’s Net Worth in 2026<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n This story was originally published by Parade<\/a> on Mar 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the Celebs<\/a> section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.aol.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Padma Lakshmi\u2019s relationship history is as spicy as her crab cakes with chili, from her high-profile marriage to novelist Salman Rushdie to her on-again, off-again romances with powerful businessmen. Reflecting on her storied romantic past, Lakshmi, now 55, shared, \u201cI think when I was young, I was looking for a mentor and a mate perhaps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2313145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25177],"tags":[448155,448156,403196,356099],"class_list":["post-2313144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrities","tag-adam-dell","tag-michael-dell","tag-padma-lakshmi","tag-salman-rushdie"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Exploring-Padma-Lakshmis-Romantic-Journey-From-Salman-Rushdie-to-Recent.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2313144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2313146,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2313144\/revisions\/2313146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2313145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2313144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2313144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2313144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Does Padma Lakshmi have a husband?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Is Padma still married to Salman Rushdie?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How did Padma Lakshmi and ex-husband Salman Rushdie meet?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How long was Padma Lakshmi married to Salman Rushdie?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Who is Padma Lakshmi\u2019s baby daddy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What happened with Padma Lakshmi and Adam Dell?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How old was Padma Lakshmi when she had her baby?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How old is Padma Lakshmi\u2019s daughter, Krishna?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Who else has Padma Lakshmi dated?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Is Padma Lakshmi currently in a relationship?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n