Before Padma Lakshmi’s close friendship with chef Melissa King raised eyebrows, the author shed light on her sexuality in an excerpt from her 2016 memoir.

Lakshmi, 55, recalled in Love, Loss and What We Ate that during her modeling days in Milan and Paris she “acted out my curiosities and fantasies,” one of which was having a brief affair with a woman.

“Some I regret, but not all, like knowing what it’s like to touch and be touched by a woman,” she wrote via the New York Daily News.

Lakshmi further touched upon her sexual exploration during a Q&A session with Andy Cohen in March 2016.

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“It was the first time I was far away from home and I was surrounded by the most beautiful women in the world,” she recalled of the experience. “I’m not sorry. It was the first time I was an adult. I was experimenting with my sexuality.”

The Top Chef host remembered, “I never had had an emotional, romantic relationship with a woman. But I’m not sorry. It was a beautiful experience. It happened a few times and that’s it.”

Despite Lakshmi’s hookup revelation, she has historically dated men, including Salman Rushie, whom she was married to from 2004 to 2007. The Padma’s Passport and Planet Food host later dated late billionaire Teddy Forstmann in 2009 while romancing Adam Dell.

Lakshmi welcomed her only child, daughter Krishna, in February 2010, and began raising her with Forstmann. Prior to Forstmann’s death in November 2011 at the age of 71, Dell was revealed to be Krishna’s father. Lakshmi and Dell, 55, rekindled their romance in 2017, but she confirmed in 2021 that she was single.

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Last month, Lakshmi caused a stir when she and season 17 Top Chef winner King, 42, appeared very cozy while dressed up as the couple’s costume Morticia and Gomez Addams for Halloween. Two of their other friends joined them as Wednesday Addams and Lurch from The Addams Family.

“I would die for her. I would kill for her. 🥀🖤- Gomez Paddams,” King wrote alongside an Instagram video from the holiday on November 1.

She captioned a second upload of photos with Lakshmi, “Cara Mia! 🥀,” which is the Italian phrase for “my dear.”

Days prior to their group costume reveal, Lakshmi gushed about her friendship with King and a few other former Top Chef contestants.

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“Melissa is somebody whose cooking I always loved,” Lakshmi told People on October 28. “She’s fun and we enjoy each other’s company. She tends to be my plus one sometimes so people will see us on the red carpet together.”

Earlier this month, King was by Lakshmi’s side at the launch party for her new book, Padma’s All American Tales, Travels, and Recipes from Taste the Nation and Beyond: A Cookbook.

In a video shared via the DelishYES Instagram account on November 4, Lakshmi was spotted laughing with King as the Cook Like a King author sat on her lap and placed her hand on Lakshmi’s arm.

Us Weekly previously reached out to Lakshmi and King’s reps for comment.

The duo fueled speculation that their friendship was not strictly platonic days later, as they filmed a cooking video together. During the Sunday, November 9, Instagram clip, King joked that Lakshmi’s nails “are so gay right now.”

Lakshmi started to laugh, replying, “Stop starting rumors.”