Kristen Kish Announced As The New Host Of Top Chef

When news broke in June that Padma Lakshmi was ending her 17-year run as the host of Bravo's "Top Chef," many fans were left wondering who could and would take her place alongside judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. Speculation ended today when it was announced that joining the show as the new host will be show alum Kristen Kish.

"I am so thrilled to be coming back to 'Top Chef' as your new host," said Kish in a video on the Bravo Top Chef Instagram page. "To be coming back in this ... way is new and exciting. It's also familiar and somewhat feels like a homecoming and a full circle moment for me. I am most excited to get to know an incredible group of chefs, to sit alongside Tom and Gail, and to be reunited with a lot of friends that are on and off camera in the production."

Season 21 of the Bravo hit will see "cheftestants" take their knives to Wisconsin, with Quickfire and Elimination Challenges to take place in Milwaukee and Madison.

Kish was a competitor on the show's tenth season. Though eliminated during the competition, she won multiple rounds of the show's Last Chance Kitchen redemption segment and made it to the finale where she bested fellow chef Brooke Williamson to become the second woman to be named Top Chef. Since then, Kish has made appearances over the years as a guest judge.

Her TV credentials also include stints hosting the Travel Channel show "36 Hours" with former soccer star Kyle Martino, TruTV's cooking competition "Fast Foodies," the Netflix reboot "Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend," and National Geographic's "Restaurants at the End of the World."

Born in South Korea, Kish, 39, was adopted and raised in Kentwood, Michigan. She attended Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Chicago, and worked for noted chefs Guy Martin and Barbara Lynch, eventually serving as chef de cuisine at Lynch's Boston fine-dining restaurant, Menton. Kish opened her own restaurant, Arlo Grey, in Austin, Texas, in 2018.