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Top Chef is all set to return with a brand new season next month on Bravo. A total of 15 talented chefs will participate in the culinary competition series to compete for $250,000.
Author and model Padma Lakshmi will return as the host and judge of the cooking show, while the head judges will be Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. The trio have been on the judges’ panel for a long time.
They have all made a fortune through their respective professions, and Bravo’s salary comes as an added bonus. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Lakshmi’s salary per episode is $50,000. Colicchio and Simmons’ remunerations cannot be found online, however, are expected to be around the same as the host’s pay.
Padma Lakshmi is the wealthiest judge on Top Chef
Lakshmi started her career as a model and worked hard towards becoming a successful author, actress and culinary expert. The 51-year-old was raised by a single mother and now she herself is one. Her determination helped her survive many childhood traumas and now Lakshmi is one of the millionaire hosts of American reality shows.
Celebrity Net Worth reports her estimated net worth as $40 million. The Tamil Nadu-born host has worked for multiple big designers including Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and Gianni Versace.
She garnered immense appreciation for her books Love, Loss, What We Ate and Easy Exotic. Top Chef made her one of the most popular television personalities.
Tom Colicchio
Colicchio’s culinary skill comes from his mother. He began his career in the kitchen at the age of 17 and now the 59-year-old chef owns a couple of restaurants. He is the co-founder of Gramercy Tavern (Manhattan), the founder of Craft and Colicchio & Sons and recently opened his first Italian restaurant, Eater New York.
The celebrity chef has earned recognition including five James Beard Foundation Medals and an Emmy Award. He is popularly known as the head judge of the bravo’s culinary TV show. Over the years, he has made a significant fortune through his restaurant career and thus his net worth is reported to be $20 million.
Gail Simmons
The lowest net worth among Top Chef judges is of Simmons, i.e., $2.5 million (as reported). She is a Canadian author, food critic and TV personality. At the beginning of her career, she wrote restaurant reviews for publications like McGill Tribune, Toronto Life magazine and the National Post newspaper.
Simmons pursued culinary training from a well-known institute, the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). Her Top Chef journey began in 2006, which gave her the opportunity to host Top Chef: Just Desserts. The special project director for Food and Wine magazine has also appeared in multiple TV shows. Some of them include Good Morning America, The Today Show, and Fox & Friends.
Meanwhile, Season 19 of the cooking reality show is all set to premiere on Bravo on Thursday, March 3 at 8.00 pm Eastern Time (ET).
