Padma Lakshmi posts pics with daughter Krishna Thea© Padma Lakshmi

Padma Lakshmi and daughter Krishna Thea pose on Paris vacation

“Paris is lovely, even in August”


AUGUST 12, 2021 2:52 PM EDT

 Padma Lakshmi  is enjoying a trip to Paris, France with her daughter, 11-year-old Krishna Thea.

The model, activist, and TV host posted a series of photos from her latest trip, which features snapshots of her and Thea, the amazing food they’re eating, and the gorgeous sights they’re seeing.

“Paris is lovely, even in August,” Lakshmi wrote in her caption before adding the hashtag #littlehands.

Fans couldn’t control their excitement in the comments, gushing over just how beautiful both Lakshmi and her mini-me are.

“This mother/daughter level of beauty is absolute insanity!!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭,” makeup artist Carola Gonzalez commented.

“So gorgeous it hurts!!” said another fan. “She is a stunner.”

Back in 2012, when Krishna was just 2 years old, Padma Lakshmi lost her battle with her former partner over their daughter, meaning the toddler took his last name.

It was then that Adam Dell, the brother of Dell computer firm founder Michael Dell, succeeded in being recognized as Krishna‘s father. That’s when the child took the name Krishna Thea Lakshmi-Dell.

In addition to that battle, he was also fighting the Top Chef host, who he dated for two years, for full custody, securing extra custody and visitation rights.

© Padma Lakshmi

At the time, the venture capitalist sued Lakshmi in Manhattan Supreme Court, claiming she refused to put his name on the birth certificate. Dell also claimed she forced him into signing a restrictive visitation agreement so he only saw his daughter for a few hours a week.

Not only that, Lakshmi allegedly told him she hoped her billionaire boyfriend, Teddy Forstmann, who died the year before, “was the child’s biological father.”

According to court papers, she was aiming “to minimize, if not eliminate [Dell’s] role in Krishna’s life and to install Forstmann as Krishna’s father.”

© Padma Lakshmi

But, in the end, DNA tests proved Dell was the father. He demanded full custody and sued his former girlfriend to get his daughter’s name changed.

A source told the New York Post at the time, “Their dispute was settled privately, out of court. Dell got improved visitation and custody rights. He had wanted full custody, but they came to a compromise. Padma maintains the same rights she always had.

Luckily, a decade later, things seem to be running much more smoothly for their family.