Kish, now 39, previously won the show’s 10th season and has starred as a guest judge on the series. She opened up to The New York Times about how, while she’s excited to take the new spot, she is also very nervous: “I have severe social anxiety and I’m on television, which is wild,” she said. “I know I’m a walking contradiction.”

Either way, she’s got a world of support, including Lakshmi herself who sent her well wishes for the upcoming season 21, which will debut in 2024.

Here’s everything we know about the culinary talent.

Kristen Kish was adopted from South Korea

Kish was an adopted child from Korea and she grew up in Michigan, per Women’s Health. “My parents helped me explore my Korean heritage,” she wrote in an article for the publication.

She had an early interest in cooking as a kid

As a kid, Kish was always drawn to the culinary world, per Today. She told the publication that, while most of the chefs she’d see on TV tended to be white men in the 1990s, it didn’t stop her from wanting to pursue the craft. By age seven, she was merging cultures, making burgers with home-made kimchi, states the source.

She faced plenty of struggles in early adulthood

Getting to where she is now didn’t come easy. According to her interview with Today, she struggled with drugs, alcohol and her own sexuality in her early adulthood: “I was insecure, nervous and unsure of who I was as a person. Barbara [Lynch, a restaurateur] was the one who told me I had to go on Top Chef. I will never forget her saying that to me: ‘We need more women on TV.’”

She’s worked for several prestigious restaurants

Kish is already an icon in her own right, reaching several milestones in her career. In 2013, she became the first woman of colour to win Top Chef, per NBC News.

Before this incredible moment though, the budding chef attended Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago at her mother’s recommendation, per Warner Bros. Discovery. Kish then moved to Boston and worked in many well-known restaurants including the Michelin-star chef Guy Martin’s Sensing and Barbara Lynch’s Stir as chef de cuisine, states the source.

She’s written a cookbook – and has her own eatery

After winning the title with the Bravo show, Kish became chef de cuisine of Menton, then left in 2014 to pursue her dreams of travelling the world and writing a cookbook, per Warner Bros. Discovery.

But that’s not all. The multitalented chef became a co-host to 36 Hours, a travel channel show associated with The New York Times. In 2018, she partnered with Line Hotels to launch her first restaurant Arlo Grey in Austin, Texas, which combines French and Italian cuisine with a nostalgic twist.

She’s happily married

Talk about the ultimate foodie power couple!

Kish is married to Bianca Dusic, who was working as the VP of food and beverage at The Standard Hotels when they first got engaged, per Distractify. The two tied the knot in an intimate backyard celebration with their family attending virtually in 2021, as seen in a post on Facebook. According to Dusic’s LinkedIn, she now works as a mindset and transformation coach at bWithin.

She’s an icon for representation in the industry

As an openly queer, adopted Asian female chef, Kish is blazing a trail for aspiring cooks with similar backgrounds in the industry. She’s received plenty of support since she came out after winning the competition back in 2013, according to a blog called Queer Forty.

“I never thought I’d be able to impact more than just the circle around me. The amount of messages from the LGBTQ+ community, the Asian-American community, the Asian-American adoptee community, from kids struggling with their sexuality, drugs and alcohol. That was me,” Kish told NBC News. “It empowers me to talk about it more. Most rewarding is that people know it’s OK.”