Padma Lakshmi, 49, bares all in jaw-dropping photo shoot: 'More beautiful every year'

Padma Lakshmi may be best known as the host of Top Chef and a cookbook author, but the 49-year-old star got her start as a fashion model. And while she’s swapped the catwalk for the kitchen, the India-born beauty is still clearly very comfortable in front of the camera.

Case in point: Her steamy black-and-white shoot with photographer Priscilla Benedetti, which shows Lakshmi covered by nothing but a strategically placed sheet. Both Lakshmi and Benedetti posted the revealing image on Instagram on Saturday, causes fans’ jaws to collectively drop.

“Holy HOTNESS!” one follower raved, while many hailed Lakshmi as “truly stunning” and “breathtakingly beautiful.”

“Wow and wow. What a gorgeous picture of a gorgeous woman,” read a comment.

Another commenter called Lakshmi, who turns 50 next September, “the Benjamin Button of Indian beauty.”

“More beautiful every year!” agreed another fan.

The sexy shoot comes just over a month after the famous foodie posted a shot of herself in the bath — which caused its own stir.

Of course, it hasn’t all been fun and games on social media. On Saturday Lakshmi called out the New Yorker for mistakenly tagging her photo with the account of fellow Indian star Priyanka Chopra.

“I know to some we all look alike, but ... “ she wrote, prompting commenters like Natalie Portman to respond “oh no.”

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