After months of rumours, two weeks after her husband received a controversial British knighthood that got extremist Muslims riled up--and hours after terror attacks in the UK that some speculate could have been a response to the honors-- the beautiful, stoned-out host of Top Chef has gotten the big man to admit officially that he's lost his sexpot trophy of a (fourth) wife.

The great writer broke the news today... and worded it as only a great cuckolded author could"

"Salman Rushdie has agreed to divorce his wife, Padma Lakshmi, because of her desire to end their marriage," spokesperson Jin Auh said in a statement today. "He asks that the media respect his privacy at this difficult time."

Because of her desire to end their marriage...

Continue reading "Top Chef: Top Chef's Padma no longer cooking Salman" »

Posted by Tabloid Baby at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

After the cook-off, the teams will serve their concoctions to the fifteen contestants of Top Chef 3: Miami.

Stoned beauty Padma Lakshmi returns as host, and Ted Allen, the cooking expert from Queer Eye for The Straight Guy joins Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons as judge.

The contestants will live in the legendary Fontainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach, which is best known as the place where Jerry Lewis filmed his masterpiece, The Bellboy. The competing chefs include:

Continue reading "Top Chef: Top Chef 3 to kick off with cook-off" »

Posted by Tabloid Baby at 6:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bravo continues to feed that upscale reality competition machine. Last night's finale of Top Design was followed by the premiere of the top hairstylist series Shear Genius, with old Jaclyn Smith and the woman who created Meg Ryan's messy hairdo-- who for the first fifteen minutes of the show we thought was Steven Cojocaru-- in the Todd Oldham-Jonathan Adler roles. (Or is it the Padma Lakshmi-Tom Colicchio roles? Or Heidi Klum-Tim Gunn?)

Bravo's announced that season three of Top Chef will kick off in the summer-- probably after the finale of the haircut show. Sublime hostess Padma (who's allegedly splitting from trophy husband Salman Rushdie) will have to find a Florida pot connection, because the production will be moving from los Angeles to Miami Beach. Queer Eye's Ted Allen will join Tom and Gail Simmons as judge. The show's expected to air in the time Project Runway last year.

So when will we see the Big Kahuna?

Continue reading "Reality TV: Bravo works that formula" »

Posted by Tabloid Baby at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The New York Times' restaurant critic could be in for an ass-kicking now that his snarky words this week about Top Chef's belly-baring sleepy beauty Padma Lakshmi are spreading around the world and back to her homeland (Padma is a Hindu Brahmin, born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India).

India's DNA newspaper writes in tomorrow's editions that their native daughter has received "mixed" reviews for her performance as host and judge in the second season of the Bravo cook-off. But they quote, in full, Timeser Frank Bruni's words nasty shot:

"Top Chef offers the reliable, although perhaps not always intentional, hilarity... of its host, Padma Lakshmi, aka Mrs Salman Rushdie, a model-turned-actress whose epicurean musings are less riveting than her sluggish, mouth-full-of-molasses style of speech and strenuously come-hither poses. As she makes her costume changes, you can almost read her thoughts: Does this skirt go with hamachi? Is this too much cleavage for a chicken liver canapé?"

Hey, doesn't he know she was stoned?

And was he deliberately taunting Padma's sugar daddy, the author Rushdie? If so, DNA adds a warning:

Continue reading "Top Chef: Pick on Padma? Beware the Rushdie Fatwa!" »

Posted by Tabloid Baby at 7:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This should be a great week for the folks at Bravo's Top Chef. The second season finale is tomorrow night, two nasty antagonists are vying for the title, and the series has been full of nice twists and surprises. But for the second season in a row, someone's gone and spoiled the suspense by revealing the winner in advance.

And this spoiler comes days after charges that the reason the show's host and judge Padma Lakshmi has been so laid back and lovely all season--is that she's been stoned out of her gourd.

Continue reading "Top Chef: Top Chef party spoiled!" »

Posted by Tabloid Baby at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)