Padma Lakshmi Is Transparent With Fans About Many Aspects of Her Life

If you have followed the modeling, TV hosting, and cooking career of Padma Lakshmi over the years, then you might have noticed something else other than her talent in literally everything she does: the long scar on her right arm. Padma has never really hidden the scar in photos or tried to divert questions about it, but it has still remained something of a mystery to some of her fans.

To be fair, there are a breadth of other things about Padma that probably deserve talking about, like her cookbooks, activism for women's rights, and ongoing role as the host of Top Chef. But if you're still wondering about the pesky scar and how she got it, you definitely aren't the only one with questions.

When Padma was just 14, she was involved in a car accident, which led to a gash on her arm. Now, it's a seven-inch-long scar that she has talked about for years. In 2001, Padma wrote an essay for Vogue detailing the accident and how she had been in a car that had flown off the freeway and down a 40-foot embankment.

"An ambulance carried me to the hospital. My right arm had been shattered and my right hip had been fractured," she shared. "After surgery, I regained the use of both of them but was left with a long scar on my arm. It was half-an-inch wide and seven-inches long."

But the scar is something Padma is no longer ashamed of or shy about discussing, for those who remain curious.

"I love my scar. It is so much a part of me," Padma said. "I'm not sure I would remove it even if a doctor could wave a magic wand and delete it from my arm. The scar has singled me out and made me who I am."

Although she had spent the years following her accident being self-conscious about the scar and fearing for her modeling career, it's now as much of a part of her as anything else.

From 2004 until 2007, Padma was married to author Salman Rushdie. And in her memoir, Love, Loss, and What We Ate, Padma was candid with readers about their marriage, sharing both the good and the bad.

When she spoke with The Quint about the book and their relationship, she let it be known that, despite having been a model when they met, she and Salman had a legitimate and deep relationship.

However, she also explained in her book that her undiagnosed endometriosis weakened her sex drive, which drove a wedge between herself and Salman, and she wrote that he once called her a "bad investment."

Salman hasn't said much publicly about their relationship but, for all intents and purposes, Padma seems to have thrived outside of their marriage.