Padma Lakshmi on stripping down for Pirelli Calendar 2025: ‘You can do it in a beautiful, elegant way’
Padma Lakshmi is turning up the heat.
On Tuesday, Pirelli unveiled its annual steamy calendar photoshoot at London's Natural History Museum, with Lakshmi, 54, in attendance to celebrate her debut in the "Refresh and Reveal"-themed pics.
In the 51st edition of the calendar, photographed by Ethan James Green and styled by Tonne Goodman, the former "Top Chef" host stripped down, revealing a lot of skin in a gauzy sheer dress.
Meanwhile, in another photo, Lakshmi is halfway in the water at Miami's Historic Virginia Key Beach Park in a soaking-wet white tee. She previously gave a behind-the-scenes look at the steamy pics in August, expressing her excitement at fulfilling her dream of gracing the calendar.
In the calendar's accompanying interview, Lakshmi was asked, "How do you approach nudity when modeling in our age and society after the MeToo movement?"
The New York Times best-selling author responded, "It's hard. I was modelling in the 1990s and it was much freer then. I think we've become much more conservative today."
"And some of that is good; a lot of the stuff that was happening in the 1990s needed to go away. But I don't think that nudity is anything to be afraid of because I think a woman's body is one of the most beautiful creations in nature."
When chatting about the photoshoot with People, the activist got candid, saying she didn't feel that vulnerable during the process.
"I may have 30 years ago, but I am fully in command of my body and how I look."
Lakshmi explained to People, "I really just was so happy to be a part of it and I felt beautiful. I felt cared for. I felt safe. I felt elegant. The pose in the water is really ... it's one of serenity. I think that's how I feel at this point in my life, and that's a great feeling, which I didn't always have."
According to the interview, Lakshmi was so thrilled with the imagery that she couldn't wait to share the pictures with her 14-year-old daughter, Krishna.
"They're beautiful. I want her to see womanhood in all its stages, so I'm very free with my body at home. I'm also very honest and blunt with her, but I always have been in an age-appropriate way."
This year's calendar also features Hunter Schafer, Simone Ashley, Jodie Turner-Smith and more.
This isn't the author's first time stripping down in recent months; Last year, the beauty showed off her curves in a seashell bikini for 2023 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue .
After releasing a lingerie collaboration with Bare Necessities in June, Lakshmi spoke to Page Six Style about her current relationship with her body.
"I'm more confident now, physically and otherwise," she explained. "And I would never go back to my 20s, even if it meant I had a body that was more fit and skinny and tight and high in all the right places. You know, I look OK now!"
