‘Top Chef’ Host Kristen Kish Breaks Down Her First Season Finale

Last spring, when I spoke to Kristen Kish about a new travel show she was promoting, she let it slip that she had turned down an opportunity to compete on the 20th World All-Stars season of Top Chef. Less than four months later, Bravo announced she would be replacing Padma Lakshmi as host for Season 21.

So naturally, when I got Kish on the phone this week to talk about the cooking competition show’s season finale, I asked if the possibility of taking over hosting duties played into her decision not to compete.

“No, no, no, no!” Kish replies, laughing. “Completely, completely unrelated. I turned down All-Stars because I simply did not want to cook.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.