Padma Lakshmi

Padma Lakshmi poses for Playboy this December. Yes, really.

Some readers might wish she were a little more ... what's the word ... nude. But still, it's Padma Lakshmi posing for Playboy. Cause for celebration.

The Top Chef host shares that she's "a truck driver trapped in this body" and that she might just be "one of the last women with real boobs."

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Padma Lakshmi is an expert in the kitchen, but the model/author has been taken to court by ex-boyfriend Adam Dell.

This venture capitalist has filed a lawsuit against the Top Chef host and is seeking custody of the pair's daughter, Krishna. At issue? How much time Dell can spend with her after she turns a year old next month.

"Adam Dell, above all else, wants to have an active and substantial role in the upbringing of his daughter with Padma Lakshmi," his lawyer tells The New York Post. "Mr. Dell has tried his best to avoid going to court."

While a rep for Lakshmi says she wants this matter to remain private, the star's attorney, Jay D. Silverstein, has released the following statement:

"The facts in the court papers are inaccurate and misleading. Ms. Lakshmi looks forward to correcting the record in the courts, not the press.  She is saddened and gravely disappointed that Mr. Dell has chosen a very public means of filing his petition with the court rather than doing so in a confidential or sealed manner which is customary in cases involving a very young child.

"Ms. Lakshmi believes that the manner in which the papers were filed as well their dissemination to the media is antithetical to the welfare and long term emotional well being of their daughter."

Halle Berry is not the only beauty in a custody battle with an ex.

Adam Dell, the ex-boyfriend of Top Chef judge Padma Lakshmi and the father of 11-month old Krishna, has filed documents in a Manhattan court that seek to make the former couple's custody agreement official.

Dell and Lakshmi had arranged a legal system-free deal that allowed the former to visit his daughter nine days per month, but that contract will be nullified when she turns a year old on February 20.

With the relationship between the two having turned sour - partly, TMZ reports, over Dell's hatred of his child's name - the pair will now go to court to decide parental guidelines.

Friends of the model/author says she feels "bullied" by her ex and fears this is Dell's way of forcing her into a relationship with him.

UPDATE: In a statement, the star's rep says: "Ms. Lakshmi believes that family matters should be kept private. She asks that those who join her in wanting the best for her daughter do the same."

She's still mum on her baby's father, but Padma Lakshmi can't hide the fact that she's a new mother.

The Top Chef host gave birth to a girl named Krishna on Saturday. Confirmed her rep:

"Model, author and Emmy-nominated host of Top Chef Padma Lakshmi gave birth to a baby girl named Krishna Thea Lakshmi on Saturday. Mother and baby are well and happy."

As first reported in October, the pregnancy itself was considered "a medical miracle" because Lakshmi has struggled with endometriosis, a uterine condition that often results in infertility. 

In 2007, Padma got divorced from author Salman Rushdie. We wish her and her daughter noting but the best.

Thanks to what her rep is referring to as a "medical miracle," Padma Lakshmi is pregnant with her first child.

The Top Chef host has struggled for years with endometriosis, a problem in which the uterus' lining grows irregularly, causing pain, bleeding and possible infertility.

"As a result of her condition, this pregnancy has been referred to by her physician as nothing short of a medical miracle, and due to its delicate nature, we ask/implore the press to respect Ms. Lakshmi's privacy at this time," said her representative.

The father is unknown at this time, but please join us in wishing Lakshmi a hearty congratulations!

Allure lives up its title this month.

In the May 2009 issue of the magazine, which goes on sale April 21, a quintet of beautiful women bare it all. They are:

• Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi;
• Comedian Chelsea Handler;
• Dollhouse star Eliza Dushku;
• Actress Sharon Leal;
• True Blood star Lynn Collins.

Why pose nude, Lynn?

"Women with confidence in their bodies are the sexiest thing, so I put on my cape of courage and did it. It was quite liberating!"

It was quite sexy, as well.

FOLLOW THIS ARTICLE'S JUMP TO DROOL OVER EACH WOMAN IN HER BIRTHDAY SUIT...

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