Padma Lakshmi: I feel more confident than ever
Padma Lakshmi feels "more confident" than ever.
The 53-year-old star is happier today than she was at the height of her modelling career - despite "not being as thin" as she once was.
Padma - who has just launched her own lingerie collection - told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "I’m more confident now, physically and otherwise. And I would never go back to my 20s, even if it meant I had a body that was more fit and skinny and tight and and high in all the right places. You know, I look OK now!"
Padma wishes women felt more comfortable about having open conversations about their bodies.
She explained: "Nobody tells you this stuff. And I think we should talk about it. I mean, everybody goes through it."
In May, meanwhile, Padma revealed that she feels "so much sexier" than she did 30 years ago.
The TV star weighs about 35 pounds more than she did at age 23 - but she still feels very proud of her body.
Padma told Us Weekly: "I love it. I wouldn’t go back to that body."
The model also insisted that she's happy to reveal her age to strangers.
Padma - who appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2023 - said: "I love saying I’m 53. And people are like, ‘Oh, you don’t look like you’re 53.’ And I’m like, ‘No. This is also what 53 looks like.’"
What's more, the 'Taste the Nation' star has rubbished the idea that beauty can only look one way.
She explained: "Our culture really has a way of telling women that there’s this narrow window and this narrow size or narrow appearance that you have to look to feel attractive, and that is complete bull****."
