Padma Lakshmi is getting candid about the toll of being away from her daughter while she films the next season of Top Chef in London.
The TV host, who shares 13-year-old daughter Krishna with ex Adam Dell, posted an emotional video to Instagram on Sunday, in which she opened up about feeling distant from the teen as she eats her way around the world.
"I've been on the road since February, on and off, and I'm very lucky to do what I do and get to travel everywhere, but some days, it's really hard," a weary-seeming Lakshmi, still lying in bed, said in the video. "I am so full of food."
"This is hard, and I miss my kid," Lakshmi, 52, admitted. "I just want to sleep in my own bed."
Lakshmi also shared how Krishna (whom she often refers to as "Little Hands") is mostly "monosyllabic" when they talk on the phone, making the single mom feel disconnected from her child. Every time I phone home, Krishna is, like, pretty monosyllabic," the frustrated mom added. "I mean, not all the time, but most of the time; she does tell me stuff. I just feel separated from her and kind of not part of her life."
The former model continued, "I'm tired, I'm spent, I am done. I am so close to the finish line, and yet it seems like I'm still so far. And some days it's just harder than others to get up, and today is one of those days."
In her post's caption the Taste the Nation host wrote that "as a single working mom, finding a balance between all the moving parts of your life can be exhausting."
"I’m road weary," she continued. "And lonely. And I miss my little girl. One more stop before home, to hold her tight. The end seems so close and yet, still so far."
Lakshmi's post drew support from many, including fellow single moms Mindy Kaling and Drew Barrymore.
"Thank you for the real! Thank you for being you," wrote Barrymore, a divorced mom of two. "Thank you for being an amazing mom. Thank you for showing all these peoples stories. And I have a pizza salad waiting for you after you have had ample time with #Littlehands. Hurry home."
Speaking to Yahoo Life's So Mini Ways series last year, the Tomatoes for Neela author shared why raising Krishna is "the most important, fulfilling and time-consuming job I have."
"I'm not always the most popular person in her life, but that's OK," the famed foodie said. "I have a specific role to play, so I'm not looking to be liked at all times ... I'm not her best friend. I'm a good friend whose primary role in her life is as her guardian and her caregiver and her parent. So I have to be the disciplinarian. I have to be the person making the rules and making sure the rules don't get broken. The onus is on me to explain why a lot of those rules are in place. At the end of the day, I'm the adult that's responsible for her. And so she may not always like me, but hopefully she'll thank me later."