Padma Lakshmi was a twentysomething model when she met and fell in love with author Salman Rushdie (The Satanic Verses). They were in a relationship for five years before they got married. Three years after the wedding, they divorced in 2007. In his 2012 memoir Joseph Anton, Rushdie referred to his ambitious ex-wife as a “bad investment.”
Lakshmi, now Top Chef host, has released her memoir Love, Loss, and What We Ate. She writes about her chronic pain caused by endometriosis, which according to Lakshmi, Rushdie said was an excuse not to have sex, and “reflected a rift in our relationship that grew ever wider.” Lakshmi also writes about having “daddy issues.” Lakshmi was not raised by her father and Rushdie was 23 years her senior.
