The new host of “Top Chef” will be a familiar face: Kristen Kish, who won the Bravo culinary competition in Season 10.
Bravo announced July 11 that Kish will join Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons at the judges’ table for Season 21, which takes place in Wisconsin.
“Top Chef’ is where I started my journey — first as a competing chef, then a guest judge and now as host I have the honor of helping to continue to build this brand,” Kish said in a statement.
“I’m thrilled to sit alongside Gail and Tom as we get to know new incredible chefs and see what they cook up. It feels like coming home,” she added.
Ryan Flynn, senior vice president of current production for NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, said Kish “represents everything that makes ‘Top Chef’ incredibly special.”
“She’s an acclaimed chef and her experience as a cheftestant, winner and judge, alongside her culinary curiosity, makes Kristen the perfect host for the next chapter of ‘Top Chef’ as we take on a new region of the country we haven’t explored,” Flynn said in a statement.
The announcement about Kish’s joining “Top Chef” comes a little more than a month after longtime host Padma Lakshmi announced June 2 that she was leaving the series after 17 years.