Who's the Father of Padma Lakshmi's Baby Anyway?

For whatever reason, Padma Lakshmi hasn't publicly named the father of Krishna, her newborn baby. Most gossips initially thought it was tech investor Adam Dell. But now they're second-guessing themselves. So who is the dad?

A long profile of Padma's love life in the UK's Daily Mail suggests the father might actually be Teddy Forstmann, Padma's billionaire boyfriend. Another possible scenario: Forstmann didn't want to sire the child himself (or couldn't), so he allowed the former Mrs. Salman Rushdie to dally with another man (like Dell) for the sole purpose of getting knocked up.

Dell remains the most likely candidate (especially since there have been reports in recent weeks that he's seeking visitation rights). But the Top Chef hostess has yet to confirm or deny that he's the actual father. Why the secrecy? It could just be savvy PR strategy. The media doesn't want to be told that it can't talk about something, so when that happens, reporters go out and dig up their own answers expecting that once they guess correctly, the truth will come spilling out. Padma has denied them (and all of us) that pleasure up until now. And so now the equivocating begins, because no one wants to be the one to stand behind the wrong theory when this high-end episode of Maury comes to an end and the real father is revealed. And this gives Padma just what she wants: oodles of press as the big ol' mystery plays itself out.

The only problem with this tactic is that it won't last forever. Reporters will continue to hound her until one of them gets the scoop, and one day—probably in the not too distant future—someone will. So, who is it, Padma? We're listening...

[Image via Getty]