People Magazine has just confirmed that Padma Lakshmi’s mystery baby-daddy is… Adam Dell (photos here). Padma gave birth to her daughter Krishna back in February, and Padma had seriously kept the baby-daddy a secret for months and months. She hasn’t even really confirmed it at this point, but since People is reporting it, I’m going with it. Adam Dell is shockingly not an old dude, not weird and not somehow insanely inappropriate for Padma, so I have no idea why she was so hellbent on keeping his identity a secret. Dell is a 39 years old venture capitalist and brother of Michael Dell, of Dell Computers (CB wants me to mention that Dell Computers SUCK ASS). Anyway, now that we know the baby-daddy, there’s a new layer of drama:

The identity of Padma Lakshmi’s daughter has finally been revealed: Adam Dell, a venture capitalist who splits his time between Austin and New York City, fathered baby Krishna, a source confirms to PEOPLE.

Though the Top Chef host announced her pregnancy in October, she was mum about the father’s identity.

According to the source, Lakshmi, 39, and Dell, 40, are trying to work out visitation rights with their daughter, who will be a month old March 20. Dell would like “more time and involvement with the child,” says the source. “It’s all in negotiations. They are trying to work it out. They are trying to avoid anything messy.”

Lakshmi, meanwhile, has been spotted recently with Krishna. On March 11, the two were photographed together on a New York City bench.

The baby’s father was first reported by the New York Post.

[From People]

Yes, People is quoting from yesterday’s Page Six. Here’s the original piece:

Adam Dell is a proud papa with photographs of his daughter, Krishna, all over his house in Austin, Texas — and he wants a larger role in his child’s life. The venture capitalist is said to be negotiating with Padma Lakshmi for visitation rights, weekends and vacations with the little girl.

A source said Dell told guests at a barbecue at his home “how excited he was to raise her, but that Padma wasn’t being entirely accommodating.”

A friend of Lakshmi snips back, “An agreement was made with the biological father that was very fair. It’s unfortunate if anything inappropriate is being said.” Her rep could not be reached. Dell’s spokes man, Howard Rubenstein, had no comment.

[From Page Six]

Oh, drama! I wonder what the hell happened between Padma and Adam that she’s all “not without my daughter”. It sounds like Adam really wants to be involved, and he sounds like a pretty decent guy. But I don’t know the backstory. Padma and Adam don’t seem to be together, and they haven’t been together for a while, I guess. Maybe he dumped her when she got pregnant? But that doesn’t make sense either, because I was under the impression that she was very open about wanting to get pregnant and really trying for it for a while. Eh. I give up.

Padma on March 17, 2010. Credit: INFphoto.com