“It just may be their close-knit friendship and professional respect for one another.

“It’s hard to say.

It’s not like we’re doing anything differently.

Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio smile together.

Listen, it’s good to be recognized.

And obviously, you know, Padma does all the heavy lifting there.

She works a lot more than I do and she does all the quick fires and all the eliminations.

Padma Lakshmi smiles in a yellow dress with Tom Colicchio in a suit.

So, she’s doing the heavy lifting there.

“He’s lived a different life and he has a different background than I do.

And I’m not a chef.