‘Top Chef’ names Kristen Kish as new host for Season 21
By Ryan General
July 12, 2023
“Top Chef” Season 10 winner Kristen Kish has been named the new host of the popular culinary competition she once competed in.
New role: Kish, 39, is also set to join head judge Tom Colicchio and perennial judge Gail Simmons in the judges’ panel for “Top Chef’s” 21st season.
The news comes after Padma Lakshmi bid farewell to the series, having served as both host and judge for the past 20 seasons.
“Like coming home”: Kish expressed her enthusiasm for her new role in a statement.
“‘Top Chef’ is where I started my journey — first as a competing chef, then a guest judge and now as host I have the honor of helping to continue to build this brand,” Kish said.
“I’m thrilled to sit alongside Gail and Tom as we get to know new incredible chefs and see what they cook up. It feels like coming home,” she added.
After winning “Top Chef” in 2013, Kish went on to co-host a Travel Channel show, release her first cookbook and launch her first restaurant, Arlo Grey, in Austin, Texas. Kish also served as a co-host of “Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend,” a co-star of “Fast Foodies” and the host and producer of “Restaurants at the End of the World.”
“Perfect host”: NBCUniversal Senior Vice President of Current Production Ryan Flynn welcomed Kish to her new role, noting that she “represents everything that makes ‘Top Chef’ incredibly special.”
“Her experience as a cheftestant, winner, and judge, alongside her culinary curiosity, makes Kristen the perfect host for the next chapter of ‘Top Chef’ as we take on a new region of the country we haven’t explored,” he said in a statement.
“Top Chef” Season 21, which will be filmed in Wisconsin, is set to premiere on Bravo TV in 2024.
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