‘Top Chef’ Host Kristen Kish Reveals Tom Colicchio’s Advice That Helped Her Through First Day (Exclusive) – ryan

Top chef fans first met the cool, calm and collected Kristen Kish as season 10’s winner and now watch as the Emmy-nominated host of the award-winning series.

The South Korean-born and Michigan-raised chef’s career in food started working at a pretzel stand at her local mall and took a winding road before the model manned her Austin restaurant, Arlo Grey, or starred on the Bravo series.

The current season of Top chef is the cookbook author’s second one in Padma Lakshmi’s place and her new memoir, Accidentally on Purpose (out Tuesday, April 22), details how she got there.

But the book is not all about feeling the heat in kitchens or on the competition series. Kish openly describes sensitive life events — like coming out to her loved ones on her own timeline or using cocaine to cope with her anxiety — as thoroughly as her public career peaks.

“My TV career wasn’t part of the plan,” Kish tells PEOPLE. “It felt more like an accident, moments I said “yes” to that slowly defined the plan. With each new on-screen opportunity, I am encouraged to be more myself in front of people I may never meet.”

“I feel proud to represent myself and to be an on-screen representative for communities I belong to,” she continues. “I’ve been learning what it means to take up space and stand in my own light — not just for myself but for others as well. Working on Accidentally on Purpose also feels like another way to take up that space, in an off-screen moment, too. My wish is for readers to see that a non-linear path can still be full of purpose, and how accidents can actually make our lives more interesting.”

In the excerpt below, Kish dishes on her first day on set as the show’s host in 2023, alongside Top chef judges Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio.

Read on for an exclusive excerpt from her book, Accidentally on Purpose.

After so much buildup, starting the show was a total trip. Tom and Gail are such pros by now that they only need to show up and roll. I, on the other hand, opted to fly in four days early to try to get comfortable with my surroundings. Even though there was a welcome familiarity to the franchise, and even though I’d hosted TV before, this was a completely different animal. I wanted the time to go through the motions of setting up my hotel room, mapping out my routines, removing some of the guesswork and variables that might make me anxious when it was go time.

That first morning, as we prepared for filming, everyone was so supportive. Gail set my mind at ease, emphasizing that I could do as many clean reads as I needed, assuring me that everyone would be patient and accommodating. I replayed her words from that day in Aspen in my head, reminding myself that I belonged there. The crew— some of whom I knew well and others whom I was meeting for the first time— were all welcoming and enthusiastic. Whatever opinion they might have had of the torch- passing, I was fresh blood, and this was a new season. It was such good vibes all around as we prepared.

And then, just before we got rolling, Tom pulled me aside. I was already in full hair and makeup, shaking out my hands, trying to move energy and adrenaline around and expel some nervousness. Tom had always been kind to me, but this was a different side of him— I could tell from the way he approached me. There was an air of ceremony, a weight to the scene that reminded me that I was living through a pivotal moment in my life.

“Listen,” he said once we had a little peace. And whether sensing my nerves or reading my mind, he gave me the brief pep talk I needed. “All you have to do is just talk to these chefs like you would talk to your cooks at your restaurant. It’s preshift. That’s all this is. Just talk to them.”

It was such simple advice, to strip away the flash, to zero in on what matters, what’s real. This is the objective not only of the show but also of life itself. To make a meaningful connection to other humans. I was once so accustomed to forging those connections at a dining table, in a restaurant, where I could see how people were doing, whether they were enjoying themselves, whether my work was landing. Where I could tell for sure if I was reaching them. And here I was, in this entirely new capacity, yet the goal was the same. Tom was helping me pull back, take a breath amid the chaos, and recognize that.

I thought about the experiences that had come from my time on Top Chef. The opportunities. The adventures. But above all, the connections. I thought about the way the Asian American and queer and adopted communities came out for me, how they reframed my sense of self, how supporters shifted my priorities and my intentions for the work I do. I thought about the small moments with humans like Gail, Tom, and Padma that had happened behind the scenes — on studio lots, on walks, on phone calls from family homes.

The show wasn’t all cameras and dramatic challenges and flash-bulbs and fanfare. It was a conduit for connection. That was something I held sacred, on-screen and off-screen.

When we finally got out in front of the camera, I was positioned in the middle, with Gail and Tom on either side. I looked around at the crew— the AD, the camera operators, the set photographer, the audio team. I knew a lot of these people and had built a rapport with them over time. I could feel their pride in me, which made me so emotional and proud of myself, in a way, for participating in the creation of this network. And when we finally started rolling tape, I took a deep breath from a well of confidence, secure in the knowledge that I was surrounded by so much support, mutual respect, and love.

Later, after we’d filmed all the episodes for the season and arrived at the finale, I geared up for a major moment, one in which I’d be the one to deliver the iconic closing line: You are Top Chef. This was to be the first time since Padma had assumed her role in season 2 that this message would not come from her.

I felt the exuberance of the whole cast and crew waiting for that moment around the set. It was an immense responsibility. This single sentence was a brand- new starting point for the winner, a first impression in a way, a launchpad for possibilities they might have never imagined for themselves. It was a place I remembered very well.

After the cameras had been switched off, after the celebrations and congratulations and hugs and laughter and toasts, when I went back to my room and was able to sit and reflect and hear my thoughts clearly, a phrase passed through my head — one that had found its way into so many conversations about my returning to the show.

Full circle.

The thing is, that phrase indicates closure, completion. But for me, returning to Top chef wasn’t about closing a loop or arriving at a conclusion. As I sat there thinking about all I’d learned, how I would apply it all in my new role and in my life going forward, I was reminded of how many surprising, unimaginable new beginnings I’d had in my life. I could recognize the feeling now, like taxiing on a runway, preparing for takeoff. This was in no way an ending. It was just the beginning.

Excerpted from Accidentally on Purpose by Kristen Kish. Copyright © 2025 by Kristen Kish. Used with permission of Little, Brown and Company. New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Accidentally on Purpose is on sale April 22 and available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.