Padma Lakshmi Admits She Initially Didn't Know Who Fathered Her Daughter
Padma Lakshmi has no regrets about her dating past.
The 45-year-old Top Chef host appeared on The Today Show on Tuesday to promote her new memoir, Love, Loss and What We Ate, and got candid about dating two men at the same time after her divorce from novelist Salman Rushdie in 2007. Lakshmi said she initially didn't know who the father of her baby was when she became pregnant in 2009.
"It probably wasn't the best choice, but it was the choice I made at the time," Lakshmi said about playing the field. "I didn't want to be in a serious relationship. I was still really hurting from my divorce."
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Lakshmi has dated venture capitalist Adam Dell -- the brother of computer mogul Michael Dell -- and the late Teddy Forstmann, who was the Chairman and CEO of IMG. A paternity test eventually revealed that Dell is the father of the model's daughter, 6-year-old Krishna Thea Lakshmi-Dell.
Dell and Lashmi were engaged in a year-long custody battle before eventually settling in March 2012.
Looking back, Lashmi still completely owns her decision.
"I probably shouldn't have been with anybody and just taken the time I needed for myself, but I was presented with two very different, very interesting men, and you know, men do it all the time," she pointed out. "I chose to do it. I was open with the men involved, and I'm gonna own my history. That's what I did."
Lakshmi also had nothing but kind words for her ex-husband.
"It was a wonderful relationship, and like any marriage, it had its ups and downs," she said of her 3-year marriage to Rushdie. "By the way, I think Salman did the best he could. There was a lot of love there. It just didn't work out."
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Watch the video below to see the seven friendliest divorces in Hollywood.