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Padma Lakshmi Said Her SI Swimsuit Shoot Was the First Time in Her Modeling Career That Her Skin ‘Looks Like it Looks’ in Real Life
Padma Lakshmi was photographed by Yu Tsai in Dominica. Swimsuit top by NAVY RAY. Swimsuit bottom by Lola & Lamar.
Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated
Culinary TV personality Padma Lakshmi appeared on an episode of Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s Dinner’s on Me podcast to talk all things regarding season two of her show Taste the Nation, being a latchkey kid in NYC in the 80s and the surreal experience of her SI Swimsuit shoot.
The Modern Family star welcomed the longtime Topchef host, who made her debut with the magazine this year after being photographed by Yu Tsai in Dominica for the 2023 issue, and described her as “brilliant, curious and kind.”
The New York Times best-selling author modeled for major brands in her 20s, she’s pointed out numerous times that landing in the pages of SI Swimsuit at 52 is so much “sweeter” after having lived three more decades of a “fruitful” and “productive” life and having a healthy and wise body that shows it.
Lakshmi noted on the podcast that the results of her SI Swimsuit shoot were extra special for another reason—they really looked like her.
“I love those pictures because it had been a long time, like over a decade and a half, since I had done any photo shoot like that—and for the first time, my skin looks like it looks,” she explained. “It looks brown. This is the first time that I saw this beautiful pictorial where the skin just looks dark and really beautiful. And I was really happy about that. I had a childhood in the country looking at only white people. I don’t want the littler girl version of me, whether she’s Latina or Asian, to have that same experience. I want them to see people of all colors because that’s what America is.”
Listen to the full episode here.
Ananya Panchal is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit, where she covers fashion, beauty, pop culture and the internet’s favorite personalities and trends. She joined the brand in 2022 after roles at Bustle, the San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. Panchal loves to write about fashion in all its forms—from standout runway moments and evolving street style to the best accessories to elevate each season’s wardrobe (she rarely goes anywhere without a stack of jewelry and a coffee in hand). A self-proclaimed beauty fanatic, she’s always on the hunt for must-have products and loves breaking down viral trends. Her favorite series at the moment is spotlighting female founders and the stories behind the brands they’ve built—especially those shaping the future of fashion, wellness and tech. She is based between New York City and San Francisco and, when she’s not writing, can be found rewatching One Tree Hill, playing sudoku, trying new restaurants or ranking her favorite Disney Channel Original Movies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism with a minor in criminal justice from Boston University.