Rushdie, 'Top Chef' Lakshmi seek divorce

New York -- Writer Salman Rushdie, recently knighted in Britain, and his wife, "Top Chef" host Padma Lakshmi, are divorcing after three years of marriage.

"Salman Rushdie has agreed to divorce his wife Padma Lakshmi, because of her desire to end their marriage," an agent said on the 60-year-old "Satanic Verses" author's behalf. "He asks that the media respect his privacy at this difficult time."

He married the 36-year-old Indian model in New York in 2004.

But Lakshmi said the decision to part was mutual and not hers alone, E! News said. In a statement, publicist Christina Papadopoulos said Lakshmi "has agreed with her husband-author, Salman Rushdie, to end their marriage."

Lakshmi's statement said she regretted "that their mutual efforts failed to make the marriage work," ending a relationship that lasted eight years.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.