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Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi has done an amazing of job keeping her baby-daddy's identity under wraps, until court filings recently made public changed everything.

Venture capitalist Adam Dell (he's the younger brother of Dell Inc. founder Michael Dell) filed legal papers Wednesday for custody of 11-month old daughter, Krishna. He requested to change the baby’s last name from Lakshmi to Dell, and submitted a paternity test to prove he's the father of the baby girl.

This left Ms. Lakshmi completely blind-sided, as she has taken great pains to keep these custody matters out of the public eye. Her rep released a statement after the case was made public, revealing:

    "It appears to us that Mr. Dell remains more interested in garnering media attention than working out details to see Krishna or in her welfare. 24 hours after the New York Post was told about Adam Dell's lawsuit, neither Padma Lakshmi nor her lawyers has received a copy of it; they only learned of it through a statement Mr. Dell provided to the press."


Never a good way to find out you're getting served legal docs. Apparently this custody filing comes after Dell's long frustration with the Top Chef beauty's busy schedule, and the fact he reportedly gets to spend only seven hours a week with his daughter.

Dell's lawyer, Bill Zabel, says of the filing:

    "Above all else, Adam Dell wants to have an active and substantial role in the upbringing of his daughter along with Padma Lakshmi. Unfortunately, Ms Lakshmi has severely limited his time with their daughter and has refused to negotiate a reasonable co-parenting agreement. Mr Dell has tried his best to avoid going to court, but Ms. Lakshmi has given him no other choice at this time."


We hope the pair can solve this without any further public drama!