Padma Lakshmi’s Touching Tribute to Her Daughter Has Us Teary Eyed

Bravo’s Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi is many things — an actress, food expert, model, and even author — that it’s often hard to forget that she’s also a mom to 8-year-old Krishna Lakshmi. Padma affectionately refers to her daughter as “little hands” (adorable!), and occasionally shares really sweet moments between the two, like Christmas or beach vacations online. It’s clear the two have a very special bond, but we clearly had no idea how close they were… that is, until Padma made us pretty much cry with her latest Instagram post.

Showcasing a black and white picture of the mother-daughter duo holding hands and skipping on a cold winter’s day, the post is what we envision pure joy to look like. Padma and Krishna are all bundled up in furry jackets and boots, but they look super happy despite the chilly weather.

“It was bitter cold that day, just like today,” Padma wrote about that moment. “I had been doing a photo shoot and #littlehands came and was patiently coloring on the side not complaining at all even though it was getting late. We decided to skip to keep warm. When you have a ray of sunshine like #littlehands beside you, even a cold January day is bearable.”

Isn’t that one of the sweetest things you’ve ever read? Clearly, Padma’s so in love with her little girl — in fact, she even revealed that Krishna actually grew up on set. So, it’s no wonder she knew exactly how to behave.

"Now she’s old enough to where she has a scooter, and she scoots around the sound stage and everybody knows her and she knows everyone. She feels a great possessiveness or proprietorship over the set, over the cast and crew. She feels like she’s a member of the crew," Padma said. "And now that she’s getting older, she actually babysits one of the little puppies that one of the other makeup artists brings to set." Talk about helpful!