TOP Chef host Kristen Kish has opened up about her challenging childhood, revealing she was abandoned as an infant.

The TV personality briefly summarized her tragic backstory, reflecting on bouncing between orphanages before being adopted by an American family.

Top Chef host Kristen Kish in a light jacket and dark cap, sitting in a leather chair.
Top Chef host Kristen Kish opened up about being abandoned as an infant on a podcast episodeCredit: YouTube/Dive Studios/DAEBAK SHOW
 

Mei Lin, Kristen Kish, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons sitting at the judges' table on the "Top Chef" set.
Kristen has been hosting Top Chef since 2024Credit: Getty
Kristen, 42, appeared on the Daebak Show, hosted by Eric Nam, to discuss an array of topics including her upbringing.

“Do you know my backstory?” she asked the show’s host, who happens to be a close friend, after showing him her Korean tattoo.

“I was born in a clinic outside of Seoul, South Korea. The actual location is undetermined. A woman went in, she went into room No. 2, she gave birth to me, she left,” Kristen continued.

“They waited four days for her to come back. She never came back, and then the hospital gave me my number and then the officials – the police or whatever – gave me a name, which was similar to like, a Jane Doe.”

The celebrity chef continued, “I was put in orphanages. Shuffled around. I don’t know how many of them. And then I found my family – or my family found me – and I moved to Michigan.”

Kristen revealed that she was four months old at that time.

“I was abandoned. Someone left this in a room and didn’t come back,” she said, kind of joking.

Kristen has gone on to enjoy major success.

She won Season 10 of Top Chef, which aired in 2012 into 2013.

The chef then went on to be named host of the show in March 2024, taking over for Padma Lakshmi after her Season 21 departure.

She continues to host the show to this day, and fans enjoy having her.

Top Chef host Kristen Kish during an interview.
The celebrity chef revealed that she was abandoned and bounced between orphanages before being adoptedCredit: YouTube/Dive Studios/DAEBAK SHOW
 

Top Chef host Kristen Kish in a white jacket and black baseball cap, sitting in a brown leather chair.
Kristen was adopted by an American family in MichiganCredit: YouTube/Dive Studios/DAEBAK SHOW
 

Kristen Kish in a black chef's jacket and black pants, standing in a kitchen with a bag in one hand.
She went on to win Season 10 of Top Chef and is now the show’s hostCredit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via