Former Top Chef Star Padma Lakshmi's Daughter Looks Just Like Her Stunning Mother

Older fans of "Top Chef" may have a hard time grasping it, but Padma Lakshmi's daughter, Krishna Lakshmi-Dell, is a teenager now — and she's growing up to be a stunner like her mother. It may feel like just the other day speculation surrounding the identity of the father of Lakshmi's baby was all we heard about, but a decade and a half has passed, and Krishna can now legally drive a car. Born in February 2010 during Lakshmi's on-again, off-again relationship with Adam Dell, Krishna is no longer the baby girl we used to see glimpses of on her mother's socials.

As the March 2026 picture from the America's Culinary Cup premiere below shows, Krishna is turning out to be nothing short of gorgeous. We aren't surprised, as Lakshmi is a stunner herself. Luckily for Krishna, she inherited her mother's almond eyes and expressive eyebrows. She also has prominent cheekbones that give her a model-like facial structure that immediately stands out. Social media users see the resemblance, too. "Pretty girl is your mini-me," an Instagram user commented under a February 2025 post marking Krishna's 15th birthday.

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Other fans were simply impressed by the good-looking girl she grew up to be. "She is stunning. Happy happy Birthday," another netizen gushed. Others reminisced about the time Lakshmi shared snippets of her miracle baby, whom she dubbed Littlehands. "I remember when she was [a] little girl. Time flies!! She's absolutely stunning!!" another Instagram user raved under a February 2026 post. As beautiful as Krishna has become, she has no plans to follow in her mother's footsteps in the modeling industry.

While Krishna starred alongside Padma Lakshmi in a 2025 pajama campaign for Soma Intimates, she has no plans to become a professional model. Instead, she wants to be a musician and an actor. As of 2026, she is a student at a New York City performing arts high school, with plans to get into The Juilliard School to complete her training. "This has been my plan since I was three," she told Vogue India in August 2025. That's not to say she didn't consider it. "Obviously people have approached her," Lakshmi told People after the Soma campaign.

But she's happy with Krishna's decision to pursue acting and singing instead. "I'd rather she wind up alone on the cover of a magazine because of accomplishments in those areas, rather than just because she's a pretty face," she continued. Just because Krishna has no plans to be a model doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy fashion or looking as good as she can. She is a teenager, after all, a fact Lakshmi pokes fun at on her socials from time to time.

In December 2024, Lakshmi shared an Instagram video (seen above) in which she gave her daughter a hard time over her low-rise jeans (which were Lakshmi's, btw). "A tale as old as time! Shall we start a 'moms of teenage girls' support group in the comment section??" she joked. Their banter aside, the mother-daughter duo bond over their love of fashion, often giving each other painfully honest advice. "Before we leave the house, we're pretty brutal with each other," Krishna said in a 2025 Vogue India "Tell the Truth" video. "I will be like, 'You can't wear that in public with me.'"