Heidi Klum may be found on NBC these days as a judge on Season 18 of NBC's America's Got Talent, but the latest buzz about the supermodel-turned-TV personality has to do with her eating habits. Rumors began circulating recently that Klum only consumes 900 calories per day, prompting her to speak out and debunk them with some support from fellow AGT stars. Now, her longtime Project Runway and Making the Cut pal Tim Gunn is speaking out as well in her defense!

Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum have been collaborating for nearly two decades now, starting with Project Runway on Bravo back in 2004 and continuing with Making the Cut for Amazon Prime subscribers after they jumped ship from Project Runway. In light of the accusations that Klum consumes less than 1,000 calories per day, Gunn shared this with TMZ:

How many people would know Heidi Klum's snacking habits better than Tim Gunn at this point in their partnership? He clearly didn't take the rumor seriously in the slightest, which echoes what her fellow America's Got Talent stars said. Sofia Vergara, who has been making headlines of her own for her personal life due to her divorce from Joe Manganiello, said that Klum comes into her dressing room to snack, and Terry Crews said he had no trouble believing that. 

For his part, Howie Mandel said to ET that she "should be in the Guinness Book of World Records for someone who can consume that many calories and stay that fit." It really seems that there's been much ado about nothing, but Heidi Klum explained why she responded to the rumors about calorie-counting rather than just ignoring them. She shared that reading that she only eats 900 calories per day could make other people want to do the same, and she didn't want other people's health to suffer because of a baseless rumor. 

On the whole, kudos to Tim Gunn and her other showbiz friends for sticking up for her. Gunn's support could be particularly helpful, as they've joined forces over the years for fashion shows that of course put a lot of emphasis on appearances. Here's hoping that more people listen to what she and those close to her have said rather than the rumors about 900 calories per day, for the sake of their health! 

If you want to revisit Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn's collaborations, you can find their sixteen seasons of Project Runway streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription now, and all three seasons of Making the Cut so far streaming on Prime Video. Klum can also be found two nights a week on NBC now that America's Got Talent has entered the qualifiers! Tune in on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET to see her sharing her input alongside Sofia Vergara, Howie Mandel, Simon Cowell, and host Terry Crews. 

Reality competition shows offer their contestants fame and fortune if they can make it to the end and come out victorious. But do the judges always get it right?

Look at Project Runway, for example. A lot of the design show’s most successful alums didn’t even win their season!

For this article, we’re looking at seven Project Runway designers who made it big after their time on the show, whether or not they actually came out on top at the end.

Mondo Guerra

An all-time fan favorite, Mondo Guerra achieved Project Runway fame as a runner-up on Season 8 and as the very first winner of the spinoff Project Runway All Stars. He stole viewer’s hearts with his heart-wrenching confession that he had been hiding his HIV-positive status from his friends and family, revealing on the runway that the custom textile he’d made, which was emblazoned with plus signs, was really his way of revealing this secret about his identity.

Fans (and Tim Gunn himself) were outraged that Guerra lost to Season 8 winner Gretchen Jones, but Guerra has arguably achieved more success in the fashion industry than Jones. Post-Project Runway, he’s designed many looks for drag queens, with his work having appeared on several episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race, including the Season 10 finale.

In addition to his successes in the design world, Guerra has also become a spokesperson for Project I Design and Dining Out for Life, two national HIV awareness campaigns.

Austin Scarlett

Though Austin Scarlett didn’t win Season 1 of Project Runway, he did get his own spinoff series, which was called On the Road With Austin and Santino where he and Season 2 designer Santino Rice traveled the country making couture looks with local supplies. Needless to say, Scarlett’s personality on the show was a hit with fans.

Scarlett remains a successful bridal designer, with his gowns even being seen on TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress. He has also designed costumes for Broadway, the Juilliard ballet, and Shen Wei Dance Arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Arts.

Scarlett still sells ready-to-wear garments at Neiman Marcus stores across the country.

Candice Cuoco

A finalist from Season 14, Candice Cuoco became known for her edgy looks and utilization of black and leather. She’s shown her designs at New York, Paris, London, and Los Angeles Fashion Weeks, and has dressed a number of celebrities, including Nicki Minaj and Kat Von D. Her most famous celebrity look, however, is probably her 2020 custom look for Lady Gaga’s acceptance of the Tri-Con VMA lifetime achievement award.

In another collab with Gaga, Cuoco created some of the custom pieces worn in the singer’s “Stupid Love” music video. She might not have won Project Runway, but she definitely won over the Little Monsters’ hearts with the heart-shaped nipple pasties Gaga wore in the video.

Leanne Marshall

Unlike many of the others on this list, Season 5 contestant Leanne Marshall actually won her season of the massively popular design competition. The self-described “ethereal” designer swayed the judges with her Mercedes Benz Fashion Week collection of turquoise, ivory, and sand-colored pieces. In the years since, she’s dressed a number of big name celebs including Ariana Grande, Solange, Julianne Hough, and Jane Fonda.

For the past ten years, Marshall has been working as a successful bridal wear designer. However, in May of 2022 she announced on her website that she planned on leaving the bridal industry to launch an inclusive ready to wear line that will debut in 2023. We can’t wait to see it!

Irina Shabayeva

Another Project Runway winner, Irina Shabayeva came out on top during Season 6 of the series, becoming known for her luxurious coat and outerwear designs. Shortly after winning the title, Shabayeva designed well-known looks for Selena Gomez (her butterfly dress at the People’s Choice Awards) and Carrie Underwood (the ombre-gray look seen on the cover of Underwood’s album Blown Away.

Shabayeva still sells “made to measure” bridal couture on her official website. She’s also currently the creative director for Maison MJZ, a French couture brand, and works as a stylist for celebrities.

Michael Costello

Despite not being popular among his fellow Season 8 contestants, Michael Costello has turned into one of the most prolific designers from Project Runway. 

In the past, Costello has dressed Cardi B, Lady Gaga, the Kardashian/Jenners family, and Meghan Trainor, but he’s arguably most well known for his work dressing Beyoncé. Costello has created Bey’s looks for a number of events and performances, including her On The Run tour as well as her The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour. 

You’ll certainly hear Michael Costello’s name the next time you watch red carpet coverage. The designer’s recent collections include his 2022 bridesmaid collection and his Reserved 2023 collection.

Christian Siriano

It’s hard to argue that anyone other than Christian Siriano could be Project Runway’s most successful alum. The designer is the youngest winner of all time, and since his win in 2007 he’s gone on to create looks for some of the most prestigious events in fashion.

A member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Siriano’s collections have been sold at Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, and Puma. He’s dressed Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift (among MANY others), most recently dressing Wednesday star Jenna Ortega for an appearance in Bello Magazine:

Siriano also returned to Project Runway to take over Tim Gunn’s position as mentor. You can shop his looks on his website, although his prices are certainly out of my price range.

Okay, so Project Runway’s most successful designer did win their season—but I still think it’s cool that anyone who’s really talented has the chance to become successful afterwards, even without having won the competition!

Episodes of Project Runway and Project Runway All Stars are available to stream with a Hulu subscription. You can also watch episodes of both series on the Lifetime app in between streaming Christmas movies.

Along with friendship drama, the Real Housewives franchise has also become synonymous over time with... interesting fashion choices. (Of late, there has been a lot of Meredith Marks’ signature blazers with shoulder pads on Salt Lake City and Erika Jayne’s skin-tight dinner latex on Beverly Hills.) But a few Housewives alums took their aesthetics to new heights in a Project Runway crossover episode. Guest judge Andy Cohen had an especially interesting seat on the panel – because he remembers the absolutely horrible outfit choices in the very early days of the franchise and more.

In the crossover episode on Project Runway’s Season 19, contestants were paired with notorious Real Housewives stars to design a reunion dress in keeping with their styles and personalities. Potomac’s Wendy Osefo, Karen Hugert and Gizelle Bryant, New York City's Luann de Lesseps and Leah McSweeney, as well as Orange County’s Gina Kirschenheiter and Shannon Beador were among the “models.” The results were certainly... interesting. But regardless of what viewers really thought of the final pieces, Bravo executive producer/reunion host Andy Cohen knows how much worse it could really be. He reflected to Vanity Fair:

A little shade from Andy Cohen is to be expected. But really, though. Early Real Housewives fashion is in a league of its own – even beyond Gizelle Bryant’s often-critiqued style. But then again, the franchise launched in 2006, so in all actuality, their Snooki-like up-dos and lack of team-sized “glam squads” are simply signs of bygone times. In fact, the same could be argued of the old Bravo reunion sets as well.

Longtime Project Runway host Christian Siriano called the crossover episode “chaos” and “one of the most intense groupings of personalities ever in the show's history.” He also added a little more shade to Andy Cohen's pile, saying that the contestants’ “elegant approach” to dressing the Real Housewives' finest is “not always the case when the reunions happen.”

Ouch. Real Housewives reunions indeed feature looks that can be less-than-elegant. Yet, not as much lately, in comparison to those early aughts days. They've evolved, according to Andy Cohen, who continued,

A best dressed winner was already crowned in the Jan. 6 episode of Project Runway. However, the debate will probably continue for some time as to which Real Housewives castmate is really the worst dressed of the bunch. (A certain controversial star comes to my mind.) In the meantime, one person has since snagged the title for supposedly being the Most Successful of the franchise, and the answer might surprise you…

Cruella is one of Disney’s most highly anticipated films. Emma Stone takes on the role of Disney’s legendary evil-doer. Cruella takes place in 1970s London and follows Cruella de Vil as she tries to make it in the fashion world as a young designer, with a preference for Dalmatians skin designs. Cruella’s supporting cast includes Paul Walter Hauser, Mark Strong, Joel Fry, and Emma Thompson.

Filming wrapped on Cruella in 2019 and it had an original premiere date of December 2020, but has since been moved to a May 2021 release. If you’re like me, then you’re very disappointed about the release delay, probably because you were looking forward to Emma Stone’s spin on the fashion icon Cruella, and you enjoy a good villain origin tale. Cruella’s delay isn’t ideal, but Disney+ and other streaming services have plenty of movies and TV shows available to keep you busy while waiting for Cruella’s release.

Here are a few movies and shows to check out.

101 Dalmatians (1996, Disney+)

Before Disney basically started to make live-action adaptation films every year, they took a chance in 1996 with a live-action remake of the 1961 animated film 101 Dalmatians. Glenn Close took on the role of the infamous Cruella de Vil. The cast also includes Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, and Hugh Laurie. In 2000, it had a sequel called 102 Dalmatians.

For many growing up in the 1990s and early 2000s, Glenn Close is the standard for Cruella de Vil portrayals, so naturally, people will compare Emma Stone’s version to Close’s version. It’ll also be interesting to see if Stone takes any notes from Close’s campy version or creates her own unique, style and character for Cruella.

Stream it on Disney+ here.

Once Upon a Time (Disney+)

Once Upon a Time is an ABC series that ran from 2011 to 2018. It follows the residents of Storybrooke, a town full of fairytale characters. Everyone in Storybrooke is originally from various fantasy lands, including the Enchanted Forest, but the whole town was put under a curse which caused them to believe they’re all just regular people. Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison), the daughter of Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas) must break the curse, but she doesn’t quite believe she’s the savior. It’s up to her son, Henry (Jared S. Gilmore), to convince her.

The best element of Once Upon a Time is that it adds complexity to villain characters. In the series, Victoria Smurfit plays Cruella. She is one of the series' most fun and devious villains. She first entered the series in season 4. Cruella fans might enjoy Once Upon a Time for the twists on fairytales and taking them slightly away from their animated counterparts, but still paying homage to their animated roots, which I assume Cruella will do as well.

Stream it on Disney+ here.

101 Dalmatians (1961, Disney+)

101 Dalmatians originated as a 1956 children’s book of the same name. Disney’s 1961 classic animation tells the story of a litter of Dalmatian puppies kidnapped by evil Cruella de Vil. She wants to use them to make fur coats. The Dalmatians' parents go on an adventure to retrieve the puppies and then end up with 84 additional children.

101 Dalmatians was a box office success for Disney and received a direct to DVD sequel in 2003. Fans of Cruella should watch the original Disney film to see how director Craig Gillespie will tie in both stories. Cruella is a prequel, so viewers will get to watch how Emma Stone’s Cruella grows into the Cruella in the 101 Dalmatians films. Knowing Disney, they’re also likely to include some Easter Eggs for fans of the other Dalmatians movies.

Stream it on Disney+ here.

Cinderella (Disney+)

Ella (Lily James) must deal with two wicked stepsisters and a wicked stepmother when her father dies. One night, she gets the chance to go to the ball with the help of a fairy godmother. She impresses the prince who goes on a quest to find her. Richard Madden, Helena Bonham Carter, and Cate Blanchett also star in Cinderella.

In my opinion, this has been one of the best Disney live-action adaptation movies of recent years. It follows the traditional Cinderella story but adds its own personality where it doesn’t feel like the exact same movie as the animated one. Cruella fans might enjoy watching this one to see what Disney is capable of when they execute a good live-action remake. Cruella and Cinderella are also likely both stories about young women trying to find their place in the world, one just picks the path of puppy murder.

Stream it on Disney+ here.

The Favourite (Max Go)

The Favourite is a period piece about Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) and the two cousins trying to win her affection, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz), and Abigail Masham (Emma Stone). The Favourite won Olivia Colman a 2019 Academy Award for Best Actress.

Emma Stone gives one of her best performances ever as Abigail. Stone plays a more villainous character than her normal roles, and she makes you despise Abigail, but also admire her cleverness. The Favourite is probably the closest Stone fans may get to a glimpse of how her version of Cruella may play out. Like Abigail, I expect Cruella to be a ruthless opportunist who is also the victim of her situation and ambitions.

Stream it on Max Go here.

Maleficent (Disney+)

This Disney original film tells the story of Maleficent (Angelina Jolie), the infamous villain of Sleeping Beauty. The film gives a more layered look at this character and explains how her villainy began. It’s supposed to make viewers have some sympathy for Maleficent and root for her. It also stars Elle Fanning and Sam Riley. In 2019, Disney made a sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

Of the Disney live-animated features, Maleficent is probably the most similar to Cruella in concept. They’re both films that are reimaginings that show a different perspective of these once pure villainous characters. We’re sure Cruella will still be evil, I mean she wants to kill puppies, can’t get more evil than that, but the audience will get added depth and intricacies to Cruella that’s not there in the animated version.

Stream it on Disney+ here.

Descendants (Disney+)

In 2015, Disney launched its Descendants series on The Disney Channel. The first movie follows a group of children who are offsprings of Disney villains, like Maleficent (Kristin Chenoweth)’s daughter Mal (Dove Cameron), Cruella de Vil (Wendy Raquel Robinson)’s son Carlos (Cameron Boyce), Jafar (Maz Jobrani)’s son Jay (Booboo Stewart), and the Evil Queen (Kathy Najimy)’s daughter Evie (Sofia Carson). The children are released from their prison world and allowed to join the good fairytale citizens. The villain children don’t have an easy time adapting at first, but they start to find their place in this new world.

Disney currently has three movies in the Descendants franchise. Cruella fans may enjoy this one because it’s another Disney film that reexamines the ideas of Disney villains and gives them more of a 3D depiction, instead of allowing them to be one-note, as portrayed in many of the animated films.

Stream it on Disney+ here.

I, Tonya (Hulu)

I, Tonya is a black comedy about the events of the 1994 Olympics and the attack on Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver). It’s about Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) and her quest for Olympics gold. For many years, Tonya Harding has been painted as the villain of this scandal, but I, Tonya takes a more sympathetic approach to the story and the real-life figure. It portrays Tonya as much as a victim as Nancy Kerrigan. Tonya is shown suffering years of abuse from her mother LaVona (Allison Janney) and husband Jeff (Sebastian Stan).

We’ll never know the whole truth about what happened and Tonya’s involvement, but the film really tries to clear Tonya’s name and tries to de-villainize her. Cruella will be about a fictional villain, but it will probably take a similar approach of giving the character more of a sympathetic portrayal, maybe even showing her as a victim of society, circumstances, or one thing or another,.

Stream it on Hulu here.

Into The Woods (Disney+)

This musical, based on the Stephen Sondheim Broadway show of the same name, follows various fairytale characters as they deal with different life issues and battles giants, wolves, and witches. Into the Woods features an ensemble cast that includes Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Chris Pine, and Anna Kendrick.

Into the Woods is a more adult retelling of beloved fairytales like Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood. One of the most interesting parts of the original musical and the movie is how it makes The Witch (Meryl Streep) so much deeper and one of the most fascinating characters. She’s evil but also grown deeply attached to her daughter Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy), and like any good overprotective parent wants to shield her from the cruel world. Cruella fans might enjoy Into the Woods for its imaginative take on typical fairytale stories, both showing the villains and heroes as people with character flaws, but also doing what they feel is right.

Stream it on Disney+ here.

Project Runway (Hulu)

Project Runway is a reality series about designers, usually undiscovered, competing for a chance to show at New York Fashion Week, a feature in a global fashion magazine, and a cash prize to start their own collection. Each week, contestants have a themed challenge and must design outfits based on that theme. The series has been on air since 2004.

Cruella will deal with the fashion industry and Ms. de Vil’s desire to make it during the 1970s, so Project Runway could be a good series to binge if the fashion element of the movie appeals to you. It’s also a good show to see how ambition and fashion could lead to some shady reality TV behavior. Hulu currently has season 8 to 16 available to stream.

Stream it on Hulu here.

I also recommend The Devil Wears Prada, which unfortunately isn’t available to stream but is available to rent or buy. I think Cruella may take a lot of inspiration from that film. Cruella is set for a May 28, 2021 release. This may feel like a long time, so make sure to binge-watch as many of these movies and shows as possible to speed up the wait.

The Project Runway motto "one day you're in and the next day you're out" matched a little too perfectly to host Heidi Klum and mentor Tim Gunn. Project Runway is now airing Season 18 on Bravo, but fans still miss Heidi and Tim. The pair left after Season 16, before the Lifetime show made its move back to Bravo with a new host and mentor. Why did they leave Project Runway? To start their own show, Making the Cut, on Amazon. That show is finally ready to premiere March 27 on Amazon.

To promote Making the Cut during the TCAs, Heidi Klum explained why she decided it was time to jump ship from Project Runway, and convinced Tim Gunn and producer Sara Rea to jump with her.

And so they jumped together, and called Sara Rea, who is now the executive producer of Making the Cut.

Making the Cut has several differences from Project Runway. For one thing, it's global and instantly shoppable, with the winning look from each episode available on Amazon Fashion in the Making the Cut store. The winning designer from the finale will earn a $1 million prize to invest in their brand, and an opportunity to create an exclusive line on Amazon Fashion.

That Amazon can afford something like a $1 million prize -- and send designers around the world -- was part of the appeal over Project Runway. As Heidi Klum added:

In terms of how her hands felt tied at Project Runway, Heidi Klum mentioned the show set up a formula in Season 1 that they felt compelled to continue in Season 2 and beyond.

Each winning look on Making the Cut will cost around $100 or less, and the inclusive sizes are said to go from triple-X small to triple-X large, and some actually extra-large.

The 10-episode fashion competition series will visit New York, Park, and Tokyo, with designers facing challenges that test their abilities to run an entire business. Unlike Project Runway, Making the Cut will show designers working with seamstresses -- so they won't have to sewn their own garments.

That was something Tim and Heidi had to get used to, since construction is always key for designers on Project Runway. As Tim Gunn put it during the TCA winter press tour:

Heidi Klum said she's living proof that designers don't need to sew themselves:

Joseph Altuzarra is one of the judges and he said it was very exciting to him that Making the Cut wasn't going to be a sewing competition, it was about finding the next global brand.

Other judges on Making the Cut include Naomi Campbell, Nicole Richie, Carine Roitfeld, and Chiara Ferragni. Making the Cut premieres March 27, 2020, with two episodes airing weekly over the course of five weeks only on Amazon Prime Video. Keep up with everything premiering in early 2020 with our handy TV schedule.

SPOILERS ahead for Project Runway Season 18's premiere, which first aired Thursday, December 5, 2019 on Bravo.

Last night's Project Runway premiere ended with a shocking double elimination. It was rough. And it included two big lessons for every future designer -- or, really, reminders of what they should already know by Season 18!

I always feel sorry for the designer who goes home first, and I always feel sorry for the designer who leaves on a team challenge. For the 2019-2020 season, we got both in one -- Asma Bibi of Atlanta and Jenn Charkow of Seattle were both eliminated after the premiere's space-centric team challenge.

Christian Siriano now has the Siriano Save -- and I approve -- but he also has a post-Project Runway aftershow on BravoTV.com with eliminated designers, discussing what went wrong. Asma said the whole challenge went downhill with the fabric selection. Both Asma and Jenn said they didn't know how fast the time would go in Mood, they didn't know where to find things, and they panicked at the end. They ended up grabbing fabrics that Christian warned them were very different and not cohesive. Asma also picked a cotton despite having no experience working with cotton.

Christian Siriano -- who won Project Runway Season 4 back in 2007-2008 -- said isn't it interesting that it always comes down to Mood, it's the most important part of the process. Plus, Mood is three stories of fabrics.

It may seem obvious, but even in Season 18, there are clearly things Project Runway should know going in:

1. Know Your Fabrics Before You Come On Project Runway

How do you make it on to Project Runway without having worked with cotton ... and then you pick cotton for the first challenge? There are so many things that will be new in the first week. First time in the workroom, first time with the sewing equipment, first time with the hair and makeup team, first time doing little interviews during the whole process.

Don't add stress by using fabrics you're not used to. But more than that, experiment with fabrics before you get there! Assume Project Runway is going to test you and take you out of your comfort zone, so get used to different materials in your own space first, before you even apply to be on the show. Team challenges and unconventional materials challenges are staples of Project Runway. You know this.

2. Get To Know Mood Before You Come On Project Runway

Mood Fabrics NYC -- with its iconic Swatch sightings -- is another staple of Project Runway. Mood is overwhelming with its many options, but it's also open to the public. Potential Project Runway designers can and should familiarize themselves with Mood before getting there. Have a gameplan ready so you're not just wasting time when there are three floors of stuff to cover. Probably most designers already do this, but clearly some PR designers still need the lesson.

During Christian Siriano's after-show, he noted the judges were completely deadlocked on eliminating Asma or Jenn after their garments disappointed for very different reasons. Asma and Jenn said they didn't really pick each other as teammates, they were the remaining leftover designers. I feel bad for them that they had this experience -- thrust into a team for the first challenge, not really a good match for their partner, and both punished for everything going wrong. But having more familiarity with Mood and fabrics definitely would've helped.

So who is doing well on Project Runway Season 18? Brittany Allen ended up winning the challenge with her jumpsuit, with teammate Sergio Guadarrama also in the top. Asma and Jenn were asked who they thought would win this season. Asma said maybe Sergio since he was so calm the whole time. Jenn said she thought Geoffrey would pull it out. He was also one of the top two couples, and also did well with a jumpsuit. (Jumpsuits can be tricky, but the judges love them more often than they hate them.)

Here's the full list of Project Runway Season 18 designers:

I liked a lot of the jumpsuits in the space-inspired first challenge, but it's too early to really single out a favorite. Sergio's ego makes it difficult to root for him, and I wasn't impressed with his dress, but we'll see. I also didn't much like the new Project Runway setup in Season 17 but the finale redeemed it for me.

Project Runway Season 18 continues Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. on Bravo. Keep up with everything premiering in early 2020 with our handy TV schedule.

Brace yourself, Project Runway fans! Season 18 is making a significant change that you should love! The reality competition is poised to return, and it will do so in high fashion thanks to a former accessory making its trendy return. Do not worry, you will love what the Bravo series has planned. That is because it is bringing back a former feature!

Okay, enough hype. Time for this bit of news to strut its stuff! Project Runway will be bringing back the “Tim Gunn Save” for mentor Christian Siriano. Hence, it will be retooled as the “Siriano Save.” It has a ring to it! The feature allows Christian Siriano to save one eliminated designer and bring them back into the heat of the competition, per Bravo.

Longtime fans will remember that the “Tim Gunn Save” was brought into play during Gunn's run on Project Runway. Tim Gunn left the series back in Season 16. Project Runway’s Season 4 winner, Christian Siriano, subsequently took over as the show’s mentor for Season 17. He will return for the series’ upcoming eighteenth installment.

While Christian Siriano has shared some aspects that have separated him and Tim Gunn as judges on Project Runway, this news gives them something in common. Whether or not Siriano and Gunn would have saved the same designer, if faced with the same circumstances, is another matter. This news does mean that someone who went from the low of getting eliminated will get a second chance at fashion glory.

CinemaBlend’s Gina Carbone felt like the Season 17 finale redeemed the season for her. Will this news bring further redemption for long-time fans of Project Runway? Time will tell, as sixteen new contestants will be vying for their chance to win! They will be joined by returning host Karlie Kloss, who replaced former host, Heidi Klum.

Season 18’s judges will be Nina Garcia, Brandon Maxwell, and Elaine Welteroth. Interestingly, Project Runway is bringing back the save feature as another reality show recently introduced its own version. This year, well after Project Runway had introduced the feature, Dancing with the Stars did something similar for Season 28. Fans will have to see if it gets used less controversially by Christian Siriano.

Along with waiting to see which contestant returning mentor Christian Siriano will save, there is a lot to look forward too, including the possibility of other changes! Will there be no more “old lady” insults? Stay tuned. It is certainly something many Project Runway fans are ready to be done with.

For now, fans can take comfort in knowing that the “Siriano Save” will be going into effect! Season 18 of Project Runway premieres Thursday, December 5, at 9:30 p.m. ET on Bravo. The reality competition has its designs on being one of this winter’s premieres.

I have been tough on Project Runway Season 17. Halfway through the 2019 season, I wasn't sold on the new judges or the great Christian Siriano as post-Tim Gunn mentor, and I wasn't happy with how some of the decisions had played out. But after last night's Thursday, June 13 finale, I am sold.

I'm not an "all's well that ends well" person, but there's no question a reality competition show with a good winner can elevate the whole season. Project Runway Season 17 ended with two very strong collections (and some good pieces from Gary Sparo), and ended with the right winner: Sebastian Grey.

Just about every fan poll before the Project Runway Season 17 finale leaned toward Sebastian Grey as the winner, with the Colombian born designer getting a lot of support out there. He truly seemed to be in a league of his own. However, I have to give props to Hester Sunshine for her solid finish.

I know her aesthetic is not everyone's cup of tea, but you know a Hester design the minute you see it, and she does have a lot of fans out there who would wear her stuff. You might even be able to afford her stuff, because I have a feeling Sebastian's meticulously crafted pieces will go for thousands upon thousands.

Not only did we get the "right" winner, in my opinion, the finale showed how comfortable, confident, funny, and just plain right Christian Siriano has become as the mentor. He's not a new version of Tim Gunn, the Project Runway Season 4 winner is entirely his own fierce self. He brings his attitude, and he brings tough love. I loved his withering sarcasm at Sebastian for going to Mood for threads. (They could at least say they were going to Mood to try for a good luck pat from Swatch.)

I also appreciated how Project Runway Season 17 brought back some old school favorites like watching the final designers choose their models. But we also got some new twists, like having the full cast and the finalists' favorites sitting behind the final 3 when the winner was called. (They didn't announce the runner-up on screen, unless I missed it in the excitement. I kinda teared up looking at Sebastian's husband be so proud. It seems obvious Hester was second place, though.)

Hester seemed to be the judges' favorite for most of the season, and with print-loving Diane von Furstenberg as the finale guest judge, it seemed like maybe the win would lean in Hester's direction. (DVF better give Hester a job, like she said she would.) But host/judge Karlie Kloss basically wore a dress to the finale that looked like it could've been in Sebastian's leather-based collection, so that couldn't have hurt.

Check out all of the Project Runway Season 17 finale collections at Bravo's official site.

There are still some things Project Runway can work on, including the fashion industry rethinking some terms completely, but overall I'm won over and hopeful for the direction of the franchise from here.

Project Runway just returned to Bravo after several years on Lifetime, so I have to imagine Bravo won't let it go so easily. I still miss Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum, but the good news is that they have their own fashion show coming to Amazon. In January, they issued a casting call for fashion designers, so we'll have to see how that turns out. The more the merrier, I say, even if it's hard to imagine there's really a place in the fashion industry for ALL of these designers.

So stay tuned for any and all updates on Project Runway Season 18. In the meantime, keep up with everything coming to TV this summer 2019 with our handy guide. Are you happy with who won Season 17? Vote in our poll below.

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I tried. I'm still trying to Make It Work. I've seen every season of Project Runway and was thrilled to see the show move back "home" to Bravo for Season 17, even without Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn. I didn't boycott the show from their absence. I gave it a chance, and I'm always rooting for Christian Siriano. Change can be good.

But this season is just off.

It's not just one thing. I do think it's a combination of the judges' opinions, the challenges, the designs, the designers' comments on "curvy" models, the mentoring, the unfocused role of stylist Marni Senofonte, and the lack of anything like Tim Gunn or The Tim Gunn Save.

The lack of Tim Gunn alone is a flaw. His guidance, his honesty, his "I'm concerned" face, his questions without telling the designers what to do, just his presence. Christian Siriano was never really meant to replace him, he's taking a different approach as a designer himself, but as a mentor we could use the steady hand of Tim Gunn.

Nina Garcia is the only judge returning from the previous rendition of Project Runway. She was apparently sick and absent from the judging of the May 2 episode. I wish I had called in sick and missed it too. Almost all of the frustrations I've felt about Season 17 so far showed up in this week's episode. I consider Episode 8, "Blame It On Rio," a near total disaster -- except for seeing actress Morena Baccarin on screen.

Team challenges are better known for drama than for bringing out the best in Project Runway designers. Season 17's three teams were not very successful in creating mini collections for Morena Baccarin. But it was baffling to see the judges deem the best collection "safe." (Christian Siriano tweeted that he also disagreed with the judges on the top team.)

It's not new for Project Runway's judges to choose an early favorite I just don't quite get, and Hester Sunshine is that favorite for Season 17. I know I am not the only one who did not understand why her Rio bathing suit won. Tessa Clark's comments can occasionally grate -- there's an open condescension in general this season against curvy women and older women -- but I shared Tessa's confusion on Hester's winning look. And so we lost Renee Hill, in part because we couldn't lose Jamall, who had immunity from the last challenge.

I'm not a fan of immunity in a team challenge without the safeguard of something like a Tim Gunn save. If I were going to save someone this season, it probably would've been Afa Ah Loo a few episodes ago, but either way, the episode just left me confused on every front. Confused about the judges' favorite team. Confused about the judges' favorite look. Confused about who to root for at this point, with the judges seeming most high on Hester, who is giving me Season 15 Erin Robertson flashbacks.

Normally at this point, about halfway through a Project Runway season, I am invested in at least a couple of designers. So far, I have liked a few garments by remaining designers Sebastian, Bishme, Garo, and Tessa, but I'm finding it hard to get excited and root for anyone. I only really feel something if it's displeasure -- if the judges make a mean-spirited comment about a design right in front of the designer and model, or if the designers make a comment about the models, or if the judges just make a bizarre win/lose decision.

I don't want to be negative. I don't enjoy being cynical about a show I've loved for years. I want to be impressed and inspired. I don't want to look at Brandon Maxwell and just wish he could magically become Michael Kors (or even Zac Posen). That's not being fair. But it does feel like Project Runway has lost its shine for me -- maybe only for me, but based on comments I've seen, I don't think I'm alone.

I do want this universe to continue, since I actually enjoyed Project Runway Junior and Project Runway All Stars as much as the flagship show. If anything, I'm now rooting even harder for Project Runway to get a Season 18. This is not how the franchise should end. Get back on the horse, make a few tweaks, and try to bring back the magic of old school seasons like the one Christian Siriano won.

It's not like every season of the OG Project Runway was a success either, and Tim Gunn himself has been open about hating Season 14. We all have our opinions.

Whatever happens with Project Runway, I know Tim Gunn and Heid Klum have a new fashion show lined up at Amazon. There's no guarantee I'll love that one, but I'm looking forward to giving it a try. How are you feeling about Season 17 so far?

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Project Runway Season 17 is back on Bravo with a new host in Karlie Kloss, a new mentor in Christian Siriano, new judges in everyone except Nina Garcia, and of course new designers. However, some things never change -- even if they should. Many fans are ready to say auf wiedersehen to using ageist terms like "old lady," "matronly," "mother of the bride," "grandma," etc. to describe designs considered unflattering and unattractive.

One viewer even got so angry after a third reference in the current season that she called the AARP and wrote to Bravo and Christian Siriano. She also apparently contacted The Washington Post, since the paper did a story on the fan's frustration, and got comment from Siriano.

Christian Siriano, who won Project Runway back in Season 4, made a comment in Season 17, Episode 3 that a designer should avoid a look that was too "old lady" or "Golden Girls," even though he loves The Golden Girls.

The fan in question, Carolyn Dry, told The Washington Post she knew what Christian Siriano and the other designers meant. She knew they didn't intend to insult an entire group of women. But she spoke up to challenge the broader societal use of such terms as shorthand for unattractive. After all, 73 might be considered an "old lady" age to some, but have you taken a look at Helen Mirren? Age is just a number. "Old lady," however, is a dismissive insult.

Carolyn Dry was reportedly aiming for an apology from Christian Siriano. He did write to the Post that he dresses women of all ages, and his clients often use the same terms. He said he'd never equate the term "old lady" with anything negative, it's just a way to describe something that looks dated. Here's one key thing he added:

Yes. He's not the only one to use these terms, as he noted, even if he's the one in the hot seat in this instance. Just last night, for instance, judge Elaine Welteroth made a comment in the "Survive in Style" episode about winning designer Renee Hill's survival chic garment. Welteroth said she really needed to see that high-scoring design from Renee because "she sometimes can go a little bit matronly."

So this isn't really about Christian Siriano as much it's hoping for a cultural shift away from age-shaming behavior -- the way Project Runway has kinda sorta gotten better at embracing women over size 2. Then again, even with "curvy" models in the mix, we've seen how quickly and easily they can be diminished too.

In Season 17, Episode 3, Nadine Ralliford was shown getting frustrated that she got a curvier model for the head-to-toe print challenge. She was called out for that by the judges, but the judges do seem to gravitate toward looks that are worn by thinner models. A few years ago, Tim Gunn called out his own show for the "tokenism" of giving Ashley Nell Tipton a win with the first plus-size collection, when he personally found her collection "hideous."

There's a delicate balance of wanting to recognize and support something different without being patronizing about it. That's something Project Runway has struggled with during the "real women" challenges that always seem to frustrate designers. "Real women" usually means shorter, heavier, and often older than traditional models. Over the years, designers have found it difficult to design for such women -- you'd think we came from another planet -- and the judges also often struggle to avoid sounding condescending.

As Project Runway reinvents itself again in the absence of Tim Gunn (age 65) and Heidi Klum (45) (who are launching their own Amazon fashion show), it might be worth considering adding older models to the mix, in addition to the occasional young curvy model. After all, that's a major market to serve -- Christian Siriano designs for them too -- and after Project Runway is over, these designers are going to want to find clients. Wouldn't it help to show they can design beautiful, flattering garments for women over 40, 50, 60, 70, etc. while they have the ideal marketing opportunity of weekly TV time?

In the meantime, Project Runway Season 17 is continuing Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo. Fans were upset with Nadine last week, and this week many are so upset that Afa Ah Loo was eliminated they're hoping for a revival of The Tim Gunn Save ... even without Tim Gunn.

Move over Tim Gunn, there’s a new era of Project Runway coming. Following the departures of mainstays like Heidi Klum and Gunn, former contestant (and famous designer in his own right) Christian Siriano is taking over. He’s not afraid to talk about how he will be different than the old guard either, speaking out at TCA to explain exactly how he’ll be different than Tim Gunn.

Look, Tim Gunn has been known for his flawless taste and the graceful way he gave hints to the contestants over the years, but he has never been a person known for designing himself, which is why judges like Michael Kors and Zac Posen were invaluable on the series. It looks like Christian Siriano hopes to bring that sort of flavor to the new Project Runway. He also noted:

In fact, Christian Siriano also promised audiences that he won’t say anything to contestants on the new season of Project Runway that he wouldn’t say to his own creative team in real life. Siriano does put his mouth where his money is. He’s dressed dozens and dozens of celebrities in the past few years specifically for red carpets.

Last year at the Oscars he notably dressed 17 different women in totally different ensembles, from Janelle Monae’s pantsuit to gowns for Kelly Ripa and Amy Adams.

He should theoretically bring an additional component into his judging: He’s already been in the contestants’ shoes.

As for the new project he is embarking on, in some ways Project Runway won’t be wholly different from the old. Veteran Nina Garcia will be back, and the show will actually be returning to its original home Bravo for the new season. Christian Siriano also told CinemaBlend and other outlets at the TCA Winter Press tour that he did learn from Tim Gunn during his own run on the popular series. Still, he wants change for the contestants, at least in the understanding that they can build their own brand, even if it’s hard work.

We hope the new crop of Project Runway contestants hears that. It takes talent to make it onto Project Runway, but after that, building a business can be a long, hard slog. We'll have to wait and see how the new cast, which also includes Karlie Kloss, Brandon Maxwell and Elaine Welteroth, pan out. The new show will hit the schedule on March 14 at 8 p.m. ET, only on Bravo. See what else is coming up with our midseason schedule.

Well, this is a disappointing way to close out Project Runway All-Stars. Season 7, the final season, just premiered on Lifetime. It's a global all-winners season, and the first challenge was won by two-time Project Runway champ Dmitry Sholokhov. His new take on a bohemian look, inspired by his home country of Belarus, was supposed to be available right away on JCP.com. That's how it was promoted during the episode. They said every winning look would have a version made by JC Penney and be on the website immediately. So when Project Runway tweeted a look at the winning design...

... many viewers replied by asking how they could find Dmitry's design on JC Penney's website. Fans also wrote directly to JC Penney themselves, and got back a reply asking them to follow JC Penney and DM them so they could help. I did so, and got this reply when I asked about accessing Dmitry's garment:

Obviously, that has indeed confused and frustrated viewers -- and must be particularly upsetting for the designers themselves. In addition to getting a $5,000 bonus prize for weekly winning looks, the idea of having versions of their designs featured on JC Penney's site was a major draw. After all, the designers flew to New York from around the world for the chance at more exposure, to promote their own brands. And this was part of what they were promised.

At the start of the 2019 All-Stars premiere episode, host/judge Alyssa Milano told the designers the show had joined forces with JC Penney, who would be providing accessories for all the designs.

That's clearly not the case anymore -- since JC Penney just explained that it ended its collaboration with Project Runway after the taping of this season, and won't be producing any of All-Stars Season 7's winning looks. But it's why so many fans rushed out to find JCP's version of Dmitry's design. The JC Penney accessory wall was also featured in the first episode, and will presumably be seen every week, despite the end of the partnership with Project Runway.

The whole Project Runway universe has been shaken up of late, thanks mostly to the drama with Harvey Weinstein, aka the now ex-husband of judge Georgina Chapman. As part of the change, Project Runway Season 17 is expected to move back to its original home on Bravo. However, if there is a Season 17, it won't feature host/judge Heidi Klum or mentor Tim Gunn, who are making a new fashion competition show for Amazon. It's certainly the end of an era.

The Project Runway All-Stars champions season continues Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on Lifetime. Here's what else is ahead on the midseason 2019 TV schedule.

Warning! The following contains spoilers for Project Runway All-Stars Season premiere. Read at your own risk!

It's the final season of Project Runway All-Stars, and apparently, the show is looking to do things a bit differently. That's at least how things feel following the premiere, which featured not one, but two pretty big twists. After the week's winner, Dmitry Sholokhov, was chosen, it was announced that no one would be eliminated that week. If that weren't crazy enough, host Alyssa Milano added two other all-star designers to compete in the season, Sean Kelly and Juli Grbac.

The news that there would be no eliminations this week was particularly great for Anthony Ryan Auld and Anya Ayoung-Chee to hear, as they both had found themselves on the chopping block. Ayoung-Chee was accused of playing her selection for the challenge too safe, while Auld's design was, in general, viewed as a mess by judges. Auld explained that his grandma had passed away just a couple days prior, which meant his head really wasn't in the competition at the moment.

The judges were kind this week, but Project Runway All-Stars is sure to heat up with its two newest contestants. Australian Juli Grbac is known as the first winner of Project Runway Australia and has had a bit of success in the fashion world since winning the competition in 2008. Project Runway Australia Season 4 winner Christina Exie immediately recognized Grbac when she strolled out on stage and said they'll probably be really competitive due to their shared roots.

American Project Runway fans were undoubtedly familiar with the next addition, although Season 13 winner Sean Kelly isn't American. The New Zealand born fashion designer is now back on the program, and ready to win once again in what is shaping up to be a fairly competitive season. Neither Sean nor Juli competed in the first week, but one would imagine they'll be ready next week with their A-game and a winner's spirit.

Which may be bad news for the bottom two competitors this week, who some fans feel should have been eliminated. It appears the Project Runway All-Stars group hasn't forgotten about the controversial Anya Ayoung-Chee, who admitted during the episode it had been a long time since she last sewed clothing. Ayoung-Chee's lack of ability compared to other contestants has frustrated viewers in the past, and her survival in the opening round seems likely to be a point of ongoing frustration for some.

Project Runway All-Stars is back for its final season, which airs on Lifetime on Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. The new year has only just gotten underway, so be sure to keep tabs on all new television coming out over the next couple of weeks with our handy midseason premiere guide.

In the past 13 years, Project Runway fans have watched 16 seasons full of fashion successes, fashion faux pas, and everything in between. But the long-running reality hit's future is in jeopardy right now after its parent studio The Weinstein Co. declared bankruptcy, and there's a decent chance Project Runway may be over before Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn got the chance to show us what Season 17 would look like.

Back in 2016, Lifetime announced that it was ordering three more seasons of Project Runway to follow Season 15, with the most recent batch of episodes wrapping this past November. But the gameplan changed in the wake of the sexual misconduct controversy surrounding producer Harvey Weinstein. According to Variety, some bankruptcy paperwork filed this week noted that Lifetime apparently cancelled the three-season deal in January, citing The Weinstein Co. as having breached the agreement due to not operating a lawful workplace, for not having notified A&E of any potential legal claims, and for the failure to follow A&E's own standards and practices. (A&E claims to have alerted The Weinstein Co. of said breaches back in November.) Further, Lifetime had also pulled the plug on a different licensing agreement in place for a Project Runway movie.

Of The Weinstein Co.'s assets, the model-friendly series has quite a bit of value, but in part because of the deal with Lifetime and A&E. Without the cable entities behind the show, It's hard to know how valuable the property is. So quite obviously, if Project Runway has any shot at continuing on in its current form, changes will need to be made somewhere.

Luckily for fans, it's said that A&E is looking into acquiring the Project Runway library from The Weinstein Co., and is also reportedly negotiating with Lantern Capital to take over future seasons, with Lantern having bid upwards of $310 million for the majority of the Weinstein Co. assets. It would make a lot of sense for A&E to want full creative control over Project Runway after nearly a decade of producing it. That could even lead to more spinoffs beyond just Project Runway All-Stars and Project Runway Junior. But that's only if the acquisition goes through, and it's impossible to know how long it would take to make any of that happen.

So for now, Project Runway's future is still up in the air. While waiting to hear what happens next, you can stream Seasons 6-15 on Hulu. And head to our midseason premiere schedule and our summer premiere schedule to see all the new and returning shows that will be popping up soon.

Heidi Klum has said "Auf Wiedersehen" to Vito Schnabel, her 30-year-old boyfriend of the past three years. From the sounds of it, Klum is ready to catch her breath after the on-and-off relationship with Schnabel and her prior long-term relationships from before. The 44-year-old supermodel and mom of four kids told reporters,

As People tells it, Heidi Klum and Vito Schnabel had trouble making the relationship work as they live on opposite coasts. Plus, they both are busy bees. Klum has a hectic schedule balancing mom duties for her four kids---13-year-old daughter Leni, 12-year-old son Henry, 10-year-old son Johan, and 7-year-old daughter Lou. Additionally, Klum's work schedule keeps her moving as a judge on America's Got Talent and a host of Project Runway. And you can bet Klum is also working on whatever fantastic Halloween costume she will have this year. Meanwhile, Schnabel is a curator and art dealer whose work calendar is full like Klum's.

Therefore, it makes sense that Heidi Klum might want to press pause on romantic relationships. Still, Klum appears to be single and ready to mingle. The former Victoria's Secret Angel did not let the breakup get her down last week and instead flew to Las Vegas for the iHeartRadio Musical Festival, where she introduced Jared Leto and Thirty Seconds to Mars. While there, Klum went to Jennifer Lopez's All I Have show and even managed to get a photo with J. Lo. Check it out:

It is possible Heidi Klum and Vito Schnabel have been moving toward Splitsville for a while. This year, Klum took her kids on vacation in the islands off the coast of Cuba, and there were mixed reports about whether or not Schnabel joined them. Furthermore, there were rumors about a kiss Schnabel shared with another woman in June. Supposedly, the paparazzi caught him locking lips with someone other than Klum. However, Schnabel told reporters the situation was a "misinterpretation of an entirely innocent situation" as he was "simply saying goodnight to a family friend."

Heidi Klum began dating Vito Schnabel in 2014, two years after she finalized her divorce from singer Seal, the father of Henry, Johan, and Lou. (Italian businessman Flavio Briatore is Leni's dad.) Meanwhile, Vito Schnabel is the son of critically-acclaimed director Julian Schnabel, who directed The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Before connecting with Heidi Klum, Vito Schnabel dated Demi Moore, and he had ties to Elle Macpherson and Liv Tyler before then. Hopefully, the breakup will end up being a positive change for everyone involved, including Heidi Klum's four kids.

Tim Gunn has been on a roll lately. The outspoken Project Runway host recently went off about the fashion industries difficulties with creating clothing for women of all shapes and sizes, he's spoken out about his own show and this week he went off on a very specific fashion source: Kanye West. The rapper and entrepreneur recently revealed his fourth line for the Yeezy brand, and Tim Gunn doesn't get the costumes. At all. Here's the blunt statements he made about Yeezy:

Tim Gunn's a man who likes classic styles and really great tailoring. Even when the Project Runway hosts come up with avant garde or even skimpy designs, Tim Gunn is a man still looks at those garments and wants to see something new and unique---along with the great tailoring I already mentioned. During a recent appearance on Access Hollywood, the fashion critic was totally open about why these clothes don't work in the slightest. From what we've learned from watching Project Runway, it's okay to be a little bit risqué, but the judges on the Lifetime series are constantly touting that usually show off both butt and the upper chest area is not generally the best look. It's no wonder he's not fun of the thin and stretchy styles the Yeezy line prefers. Then again, maybe it's also the price tag that's so offensive...

Tim Gunn didn't really stop there, however. He also had some thoughts about the people willing to shell out money for the Yeezy line of clothing---which quite frankly, is very expensive. There's a pair of sweatpants that ran for $1,170 bucks a year ago. Sure, Yeezy's footwear is a little less silly-looking, but they are still quite expensive.

Luckily, this isn't a direct bash at Kanye's wife Kim Kardashian, as I'm assuming she doesn't actually have to pay for the items her husband designs. If we're being super honest, Kanye West's brand is intended to be more about the expensive shoe designs than the clothing, anyway. And the barely there clothing does sort-of supplement the shoes he has put out into the universe. Regardless, if you are putting out clothing along with the shoes, you might as well do it well.

If you'd like to hear more of Tim Gunn's blunt criticisms, you luckily can catch them over at Lifetime. Project Runway just returned to the schedule for Season 15 this week, along with judges Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and Zac Posen. New episodes air on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET. In addition, you can find out when the rest of your fall favorites are returning with our fall TV premiere schedule.

After 14 seasons, anyone who's watched Project Runway knows that design mentor Tim Gunn is never afraid to tell it like it is. Now, he's throwing some (additional) shade at the show that helped make him famous. It turns out that he's not too happy about the winner of the most recent season. Here's what he had to say about the most recent season and designer Ashley Nell Tipton's winning collection.

Woo, boy. Did Tim Gunn just trash that winning fashion collection, or what? The man is not happy people, and his editorial, which was written for The Washington Post, makes it abundantly clear that he thinks the whole fashion industry is missing the boat on clothes for plus size women. And, unfortunately, he also believes that the collection that won Project Runway is a symptom of that problem.

Tim Gunn starts his article by talking about how the fashion industry as a whole is more apt to ignore plus size customers than to try to cater to what happens to be the largest percentage of American women who buy clothes. He's actually got lots to say about how fashion is to blame for giving plus size women crappy clothes to choose from, as opposed to this being a problem of those women not knowing how to buy the right clothes for themselves. Then, the conversation dovetails, as I supposed it must, into the record breaking win for Ashley Nell Tipton in Season 14 of Project Runway. Tipton was the first to win the contest with a collection for plus size women, but Gunn, obviously, feels that she didn't quite deserve it because the clothes don't represent things that all women would want to wear. Take a look at some of her offerings.

OK, well, Tim Gunn is certainly right about the crop tops, the pastels and the see-my-panties skirts. Even though I'd never wear it as-is, I do think the middle ensemble is kinda cute, but my opinion isn't the issue here. Gunn feels the win wasn't a vote for the best collection, but a simple vote for its-time-a-plus-collection-wins-this-show, meaning that "tokenism" is the right phrase to use when referencing Tipton's win. The fact that someone actually told him they voted for her based on that idea is pretty damning.

Ah, well. Let's hope that Tim Gunn's words get through to people in the fashion industry, and especially to those who vote on Project Runway collections. Gunn will be super pissed if he has to have this same complaint about the show after Season 15, which starts up on Lifetime on September 15. Come on fashion people, make it work.

This season, Project Runway has actually signed on teens to try their hand at high-end fashion. It can be tricky to work with a new age demographic and it doesn't help that over the years Project Runway has created a reputation for producing a few challenges that are difficult for contestants. Recently, Tim Gunn revealed there was one challenge that Lifetime was very concerned about giving to the new teenaged contestants, as the network thought it would be too difficult. As it turns out, the challenge that was the big problem was the unconventional materials challenge. Here’s what Gunn had to say:

Although the team had to fight to include the iconic challenge, eventually Lifetime agreed to let it happen on the small screen. It’s a good thing, too, as Gunn notes that the challenge ended up being “fantastic.” He told Variety it worked out precisely because Project Runway didn’t dumb down the challenge for the younger contestants.

Teens might emotionally be dealing with synaptic pruning and a lot of other things that happen during puberty, but in a lot of ways they are equally as capable as adults. They’re creative, they’re innovative and they have a different viewpoint than a lot of the contestants on Project Runway have had in the past, thanks to coming from different generations and having different life experiences. You can take a look at a quick shot of the upcoming unconventional challenge, below.

Obviously, the new season of Project Runway, subtitled Junior, doesn’t hit the schedule until tonight and we won’t see the unconventional challenge hit the small screen until Episode 2. However, it should be interesting to see what the teenaged contestants bring to the table, especially when they are given tough materials to work with. After all, hard challenges and tensions on the set have certainly broken some adults in the past.

But I’m happy to see the show will be as tough on the new contestants as they have been in the past. Now, we’ll just have to wait and see if they get stuck with the real women challenge and other difficult concepts. Bring on the button bag.

Project Runway: Junior hits the schedule tonight at 9 p.m. ET, only on Lifetime.

It’s not often that the host or mentor of a reality competition series will straight-up talk about hating a particular season, but Project Runway’s Tim Gunn has always been a straight shooter. In a recent interview, the longtime mentor revealed that shooting this fall’s Season 14 was brutal. Here’s why he hated everything about shooting this season:

Over the course of its run, some seasons have featured contestants who are more innovative then others. Whether the contestants are good or not so good, Gunn has always been on hand to offer advice—of both the friendly and blunt variety—and to help the competitors when the going gets rough. But if there’s one thing that Tim Gunn hates, it is unmotivated whiners. There’s a reason his catchphrase is “make it work,” and apparently the contestants during Season 14 just weren’t cutting it.

Gunn also told EW that part of the problem may have been his lack of involvement in the auditions this season.

Honestly, since we don’t get every moment with the contestants, it’s hard to tell what many of them have been doing that could irritate him so much. I mean, yeah, there have been plenty of mistakes this season when contestants have not understood the challenges or attempted designs they weren’t comfortable with. (Remember Lindsey’s disaster during the Finding Neverland challenge?) But this kind of thing has happened during many, many seasons of Project Runway, although I will say the abundance of pasty use this season has been a bit overboard.

Gunn does admit that not everyone was crap and that there were a couple of competitors he really liked. Since Season 14 has technically not finished its run on Lifetime at this point, it’s hard to tell if he’s talking about the likes of Kelly and Edmond, who have had a bunch of wins this season, or if he liked the attitudes of a couple of contestants who have already been kicked off the show. Although since Edmond received Gunn’s save, I’m betting he’s on Gunn’s “nice” list.

If you’d like to tune in to find out who takes it all, you can catch the Season 14 Project Runway finale this week. Project Runway’s finale airs this Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, only on Lifetime.

During her career, Kelly Osbourne has made a successful transition from former reality star and rock singer to sartorial expert. However, after she loudly quit Fashion Police, we had no idea where Kelly Osbourne would land. As it turns out, there are other gigs in the TV fashion realm, and her newest probably won’t even require her to be catty. This week, Osbourne announced she has joined Project Runway Junior.

Osbourne is one of the last pieces of the Project Runway Junior puzzle. Tim Gunn is back in the hosting and mentoring capacity and supermodel Hannah Davis will host. In addition to Osbourne, former Project Runway contestant Christian Siriano and Aya Kanai will be judging the kid designers who appear on the show. All of the contestants on the series will be between the ages of 14 and 17, and I can’t wait to see if Tim Gunn has any knack for dealing with emotional kids in what is sure to be a pretty high-stress, competitive situation. Also, it should be pretty interesting to see what sort of imaginative concoctions the teens are able to create at that age.

The news was made on Osbourne’s Instagram account, and she even included a photo of herself along with the other members of the judging panel. The image is totally worth including, because Christian Siriano looks totally adorbs in the photo.

This isn’t the first time Project Runway has done something gimmicky. After 13 seasons on the air, the show has gone through numerous personality types and interesting challenges. To keep the show from growing stale, Lifetime has put together several All Stars seasons of the series, along with spinoffs like Under the Gunn and Project Accessory. The fact that now-popular designer Siriano and Kelly Osbourne are backing Project Runway Junior does seem to show that Lifetime really wants the latest spinoff to work out. Osbourne even has experience with this sort of fashion gig, having hosted Project Catwalk in the UK way back in 2007.

We won’t be getting Project Runway Junior episodes until later in the 2015-2016 TV season. Regardless, it’s nice that Osbourne has finally landed another gig, as she’s been out of the TV realm since quitting Fashion Police following the Giuliana Rancic/Zendaya controvery. You can learn more about that here.

There are numerous reasons that posters for television shows get banned and censored. Nudity and obscene phrases are often--but not always--the culprit, although TV posters don't usually push boundaries in quite the same ways as their movie counterparts. Still, TV posters can often be scandalous or cringe-inducing and these banned posters are definitely worth a look. From Heidi Klum to vampires we'd like to fuck, here are the 10 greatest banned TV posters of all time.

Project Runway, Lifetime

As a show about the making and modeling of clothing, it’s hard to imagine Project Runway could do anything that would earn the ire of the censors, except, say, have a bunch of nude individuals proffer themselves in front of Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn. The Lifetime drama put together a poster for Season 12 that was banned from going up anywhere in the City of Angels. The curmudgeons in this case? The Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, who decided the imagery was too “obscene” for buses, billboards and bus shelters. I have no idea how most of the American Apparel posters in Los Angeles haven’t suffered the same fate.

Six Feet Under, HBO

While The Walking Dead releases more gruesome imagery every season, these Six Feet Under posters were banned in the U.K. for depicting dead people. Everything about the angle of the woman’s neck is wrong in this poster, and the bright little image of the “wound filler” in the top right corner just makes the Six Feet Under advertisement even more grotesque. The UK banned the posters for causing “undue stress” for the consumer. Although I’m not sure this woman looks any more dead than the average person getting on the subway early in the morning.

Family Guy, Fox

Seth MacFarlane’s always been a man to push boundaries. Back in 2012 during Emmy consideration season, his team took out an ad that seems like an innocuous picture of the non-PC character Peter Griffin, until you read the text. Newspapers refused to publish the poster, which states, “Come on, you bloated, overprivileged Brentwood Jews.” The Family Guy team may have been dissuaded by the newspapers, but they reportedly still sent out the ads to Emmy voters. That’s one way to handle controversy, I guess. Interestingly, this South Park poster made it through the censors.

The Strain, FX

You’d expect there to be plenty of nudity on this list, but nudity is certainly not the problem that FX’s The Strain Season 1 poster dealt with. The series follows a CDC crew looking into an outbreak that causes vampirism, and the big poster for the drama featured a long worm working its way through a human eyeball. There aren’t enough cringe-inducing adjectives on the planet that can capably describe the feelings this poster induces. The gory, stomach-churning poster grossed out plenty of people in Los Angeles and other areas, and the network was forced to take posters down in a number of locations. One thing’s for sure: That poster is certainly a conversation starter.

Skins, Channel 4

While the American version of Skins was cancelled quickly, the British version stayed on the air quite a bit longer, occasionally causing controversy as it moved forward. While promoting the second season of the drama, the creative team came up with a poster featuring two of the leads on the show engaging in an orgy with a bunch of other teenagers. The channel said the series planned to “explore the consequences” of “hedonistic” lifestyles, but the Advertising Standards Authority banned the kinky poster, nonetheless.

The Girlfriends' Guide To Divorce, Bravo

While Bravo’s Girlfriends' Guide To Divorce is a cheeky ad, it doesn’t actually contain nudity or obscenities, preferring to just wink at them. The show is about a woman who writes self-help books and has to declare them a lie after getting a divorce herself. In the poster for the show, Lisa Edelstein is seemingly giving the finger to the camera, although it’s her ring finger rather than her middle finger. And the poster’s tagline is “go find yourself,” which is apparently too close to “go fuck yourself” for comfort. New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority banned the poster, and other locations across the country, including Los Angeles’ The Grove shopping center, followed suit.

Spartacus, Starz

Sometimes dudes who appear in tight or scanty costumes end up with promo images that end up being a bit controversial. Arrow’s first promo notoriously had to be edited and an early Andy Whitfield poster for Spartacus: Blood and Sand suffered the same fate. The loincloth was banned and replaced with a much more demure belted costume.

True Blood, HBO

While True Blood was known for nudity and gore during its seven-season run on HBO, the poster that really got controversial was the simple one above, which has no imagery and simply says VILF. The acronym, of course, is for “Vampire I’d Like To Fuck.” The London Tube system really didn’t appreciate the True Blood posters and banned them so British eyeballs didn’t have to look at them. For the record, fangy, sexy posters asking fans to “do bad things” are totally cool, though.

Paisean Faisean, TG4

Ireland’s TG4 channel came under fire for this Paisean Faisean series poster, which looks as if it came straight out of a Britney Spears video. Paisean Faisean's a dating show featuring potential suitors buying clothes (mostly) for women, but the lingerie-oriented poster was objected to as degrading to women. I also don’t think the slogan relating to that particular outfit or the fact that the woman is supposed to be an educator of young minds really helped. After the poster came under fire, the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland got involved, banning the poster for being “against code.” That outfit is certainly against dress code.

Red Band Society, Fox

Fox’s Red Band Society didn’t last long on the network, but it lasted long enough to get its first poster banned. It looks pretty innocuous, right? Apparently, people objected to the words “scary bitch” that are over Octavia Spencer’s head. The Academy Award-winning actress played the taskmaster and mentor of a lot of the kids on the show, but Metro Los Angeles yanked the ads after getting complaints regarding the foul language used. For the record, Los Angeles, you can say “bitch” on network television.

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More is not always better. Contrary to what those fine folks over at AT&T would have you believe, there is a limit to the amount we can handle of most things. Remember that chubby kid from Matilda? He learned there’s such a thing as too much cake after that heinous principal force fed pounds of it to him. Remember Augustus Gloop? He learned there’s such a thing as too much chocolate after he swam in a river of it and got sucked into that tube. And remember the esteemed writers here at TV Blend? Each and every once of us has learned recently that sometimes getting more of a good TV show isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.

Whether by forcing out a spin-off featuring too similar of a premise, not taking a long enough break between seasons or simply airing the show for too many damn hours during the week, television networks can get a bit greedy when it comes to on-air products they think can bring in eyeballs. So, almost invariably, they add more episodes, add more time or do something to increase the exposure. For fans, those increased orders are typically a good thing, at least until they get to a certain point and the show starts feeling less like a relaxing activity and more like a chore.

After some preliminary conversations (or bitch sessions) between our writers, we quickly concluded everyone has at least one show they would love to have less of; so, we decided to each put our thoughts down in writing. Without further ado, here are five good television shows we would love to have less of…

Kelly’s pick: The X-Factor

The X Factor arrived a couple years ago, not as an alternative to American Idol, but in addition to the long-running singing competition, filling the void in the fall season where there were no singing competitions cluttering up the line-up. And that’s just what The X Factor did. Sure, it gave us a modified format to the standard Idol mix, and it gave Simon Cowell back to us, but it also filled hours of the TV line-up each week, forcing us to choose between singing and scripted programming.

As much as I love the singing competitions, The X Factor requires three hours of its audience each week, which is too much for me to give for a show that isn’t nearly as must-watch as Idol was in its better seasons, especially during the fall when there are new shows to watch and returning favorites to keep up with. In the end, I decided at some point last season to stop trying to stay up to date on The X Factor at the expense of too many other shows I was enjoying more. Now, if The X Factor was an hour -- an hour and a half max -- each week, I might be more willing to make time for it. In the meantime, I’ll stick with American Idol.

Alicia’s pick: The Voice

This isn’t so much a tirade as it is a cautionary tale: The Voice is on its way to OverDoingItVille by hopping on the same train tracks that brought American Idol to its knees. Why? Well, because after season five ends on December 17, season six is slated to pick right up again in February. Which might seem great on paper, but if The Voice isn’t careful, it’s going to overstay its welcome and ruin the good thing its got.

Singing competition shows are slowly becoming an entertainment property of the past. So much of it is the same, dull format — which is where The Voice stands ahead of the pack, given its structure and the rotating judge dynamic. It is, however, still a show where the talent comes second to the twists, turns, and dramatics. Meaning, the audience will realize — with no clear Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood level success in their midsts — that the talent isn’t really important. They’ll shrug their shoulders, figuring “eh, it’s still a fun show!” and continue watching. Therefore putting an increased pressure enjoyment on the judges’ banter and general presence. Only that’s where the trap gets set for inevitable failure and over-saturation: just look at Idol and The X Factor.

Shows like The Voice work well because they feel special — almost event-like. Take away said specialness by making it too readily available and the audience will take it for granted. And with that goes the ratings. So slow your roll, The Voice, because ain’t nobody like an overeager beaver: you’ve already got enough of that on your hands with Adam Levine.

Jessica’s pick: Once Upon A Time

Bringing fairytale characters to life on the small screen was a fun and inventive idea when Once Upon A Time first hit the schedule. It helped the drama that many of the characters appearing on the show also happen to be part of the Disney canon, which has basically proved to be free advertising for the company. Then, someone had an idea to air a limited series focused on Alice and Wonderland that would air during network TV’s winter break. That could have been a good way for ABC to get some original programming on the air during winter hiatus while maintaining interest in a popular series. Regardless, the idea was later turned Once Upon A Time in Wonderland into a full-fledged series, creating two nights of television chock full of fairy tale characters on ABC.

Unlike the original OUAT, the spinoff is a self-contained story, which means it simply feels like a side narrative from Once Upon A Time, rather than a separate idea within a completely separate world. It’s true that Wonderland its own distinct place, but since that place has also appeared on Once Upon A Time, it’s ideas don’t break the mold enough to feel like a separate narrative, despite its completely separate storyline. Beyond this, there are simply too many fairy tale characters on ABC throughout the week. The Once Upon A Time/Once Upon A Time in Wonderland duo may not be the worst offender on this list, but it’s not doing anything to improve ABC’s schedule, and if it does return for a second season, I’ll eat the OUAT Mad Hatter’s hat.

Jesse’s pick: The Walking Dead

With Breaking Bad now off the air and Mad Men about to embark on its final season, AMC decided to pick up the slack by milking its highest rated series for a spin-off. How inspired. From a business angle, creating a companion series to The Walking Dead seems like a home run (and likely will be) but it does nothing except hurt the brand. I can't see the series bringing in too many new eyeballs. And with the inevitably of the companion show getting its own companion show in The Talking Dead 2, well, that's a lot of zombie centric programming.

I haven't even addressed the fact that simply having The Walking Dead: Georgia (retroactively added location based subtitle) and The Walking Dead: Michigan (subtitle in no way based on fact, simply where I would set the spin-off... companion series) will dilute the power of the original. Just ask CSI: Las Vegas. I feel the same way about the two versions of Anchorman 2 announcement. Why not put the funniest material all in one film? AMC and Robert Kirkman should be putting all their creative efforts into making TWD even better not robbing it of potential characters, storylines and set pieces. Soon Hell on Wheels will probably be getting zombies. Same goes for Low Winter Sun. Thank God for Better Call Saul. What? At least its source isn't still on the air.

Mack’s pick: Project Runway

I love Project Runway. Love it. It’s such a snappy watch, and for me, it’s the perfect balance between actual competition and goofiness/ drama between the reality show contestants. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Tim Gunn may well be the most likeable and kind-hearted personality on television, and while the show has only produced one honest to God fashion superstar in Christian Siriano, it regularly churns out talented winners who go on to great careers dressing celebrities and making custom high end dresses. That being said, I could still use a damn break between seasons.

PR used to take a few months off between seasons. One year it even put forward a spin-off series called Project Accessory, but recently, the show has alternated between a normal season and a season of Project Runway All-Stars that begins the Thursday immediately after. I’m all for bringing people back, but it’s nice to start missing a show a little bit. It’s nice to watch the opening credits and think, “Boy, I’ve really missed this.” That doesn’t happen without a break, and contrary to what the producers might think, an all-stars season isn’t a real break.

There are two types of challenges on Project Runway that usually spell disaster for the contestants. Those two types of programs are clearly the team challenges and the tasks where the contestants are asked to dress real women. In Season 12, we’ve seen partnerships go awry, as usual, but this week the remaining contestants really went out of their way to help make over a few Project Runway superfans, which may be a first example of a smooth "real women" challenge in PR history, or at least a good example of the show's stars being on their best behavior and working as hard as possible to create a commercial look to fit the real-life fan’s specifications.

In the past, there have been some notable contestants who have not fared quite so positively during the real woman challenge. In Season 9, a contestant named Olivier Green had no idea what the concept of a “double D” chest meant and really lacked the people skills to make his meeting with his client peaceable and productive. A year later, a designer named Ven got angry and couldn’t handle himself after finding out he didn’t get his first choice of a “real woman.” He eventually freaked out and couldn’t really handle the fact that she was a plus-sized woman or that she wasn’t as young as the models typically are on the series, talking on camera to anyone who would listen. Handling the catty infights of two contestants can be partly annoying and partly amusing, but dealing with contestants talking smack about women who don’t have perfectly thin figures is abhorrent and oftentimes hard to watch.

Which is why Thursday’s episode was such a breath of fresh air. Not only were the models superfans of the series this time around, but each and every one of the contestants was invested in trying to come up with an outfit and an overall makeover that suited each individual woman. Not all of the outfits were particularly inspired, and Alexander got a little ambitious and tried to make a complicated suit design that got away from him a little bit. Still, even the women on the bottom left with a positive experience and a new haircut and makeup look, meaning they ended up a lot happier than some of the “real women” in past seasons that we have seen. For the most part, it was an extremely pleasant hour of television.

Of course, this was marred a little bit by the fact that Ken freaked out on a contestant again this week. The man has a serious anger control problem, and while he’s quick to talk about the issue with his religious community and apologize to the slighted after he freaks out, he has no control over his behavior in a given moment. It kind of ruined an otherwise pleasant episode, but things really could have been far more out of control.

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article discussing how Tim Gunn has been taking the villainous aspect out of Project Runway. I still like getting to see how a high-stress reality competition program can affect those who are participating and those half-earnest makeup sessions Gunn puts on can feel a little false. However, this week I was quite happy he tried to make peace and kept the environment on a positive note when the Project Runway superfans were on the set hoping to have the experience of a lifetime.

All in all, it was pretty good week for Project Runway. You can check out all the runway looks over at Lifetime or catch next week’s brand new episode on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.

Season 12 of Project Runway has been full of petty infights, emotional breakdowns, and a few seriously threatening outbursts. None of this is unusual for Project Runway, or reality competitions in general, but the number of instances of duress have been pretty incredible, with freakouts occurring every couple of episodes. Typically, when this happens it means a villain can be found within the cast, but not this year. In Season 12, we have people who talk the talk and then meekly turn tail and apologize.

First we had the horrible catfight between Miranda and Timothy, in which Timothy behaved like an adolescent, freaking out and taking a giant unicorn toy into the hallway where he moped about Project Runway for a while. Meanwhile, Miranda was hugely mean to the young man, so they both earned villain points for their collaboration. Then they apologized to one another and made up, and over the course of several weeks, they were both sent home. Drama over.

Then, in probably what was the most prominent freak out of the season, Sandro quit at the end of a challenge after not getting a critique from the judges. He had had several moments of calling people out in anger, and eventually got into a bad fight with a member of the crew, slapping his camera away. Needless to say, Project Runway didn’t invite the man back for another round, but Tim Gunn did encourage Sandro to come back so that he could apologize to the other contestants (and probably the crew, too).

Here's a picture of his freakout...

And here's a picture of his surprisingly sincere apology. Villain nullified.

Call it the Tim Gunn effect or don’t, but with all of the infighting, I seriously expected a full-blown, dastardly character this season. I wanted a person to constantly complain about other contestants and constantly make mean remarks—without ever apologizing—to the cameras. I thought I had finally found this season’s villain in Ken Laurence, but then he proved to be a disappointment, too.

Ken didn’t look like a villain early on. He was a quiet contestant with an adorable bow tie tattoo, and he defended the team against Sandro. Then, the claws came out. He complained about “glamping” with his teammates, he got into petty fights with several of the leading ladies this season, and he freaked out several times over the littlest things. Case in point, Helen had a secret convo with Tim Gunn this week and wouldn’t tell any of the other contestants what she talked about. It’s pretty catty, but whatever. The other contestants didn’t seem to really care, except for Ken, who totally blew the whole thing out of proportion and got into a screaming match with Helen.

This was it. Ken had already gotten upset with numerous other individuals over the last few weeks and his fight with Helen was taking him into full-blown villainy. I finally thought we had found the Season 12 person to hate watch. Then, yet again, Gunn came in with his words of wisdom and spoke with Ken, who called up his spiritual advisor (yes, that happened) and then apologized to Helen.

Sure, Project Runway is about the fashion, but it’s also about sticking a dozen or so people into a room and asking them to compete against one another day in and day out. The competition aspect isn’t supposed to be easy, and getting along with people can be pretty difficult, especially when team challenges are involved. I know Gunn is trying to do the right thing here and keep people on task, but would it hurt him to let people deal with their emotional problems in their own ways? For once, I wish he wasn't so good at his job. It would make for a better hour of television.

Project Runway airs on Lifetime on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.

Lifetime has gotten through two action-filled seasons of Project Runway: All Stars with different hosts at the helm. Last season, fans were treated to the very wooden Carolyn Murphy as the host, and it’s no surprise the network would want to sign on a new famous face for Season 3. That’s right, Project Runway: All Stars will be returning for a third installation at the network, and this time, actress Alyssa Milano will be joining the series.

You would think Milano would be pretty busy at the moment, with her new series, Mistresses, hitting ABC’s summer schedule tonight. However, she’s apparently found the time for Lifetime’s hit reality competition series and will be joining returning judges Georgina Chapman and Isaac Mizrahi for the new episodes. Milano replaces Murphy and the Season 1 judge and host, Angela Lindvall.

Project Runway: All Stars is a little different than its counterpart Project Runway. The newer series features a slew of returning contestants who each are vying for the top designer prize. Additionally, other details are a little different, including the judges and the hair and makeup products used on the models. While Project Runway: All Stars has favored models as hosts in the past, Milano should be a pretty good choice for the role. According to THR, the former Charmed actress and mother has her own clothing line, as well as a jewelry line and a sports apparel line. She’s very much in the know about commercial clothes, and we’ll have to wait and see whether she can bring her knowledge to the world of high fashion.

We’ll let you know when Lifetime announces a return date for the series

Kendra Wilkinson made a splash this week when she opted not to take the plunge during the most recent episode of the celebrity diving series Splash. Her fear of heights prevented her from following through with the 23 foot drop head first into the water and she was subsequently eliminated from the competition. Whether or not Wilkinson's decision to quit the competition goes down in reality TV history as one of the most memorable early-exits a contestant has made remains to be seen. It's not always easy to predict which moments will stick and which ones will wash away in a sea of other seemingly vital pieces of pop culture. But the ordeal did get us thinking about some of the other reality TV participants who opted to quit, deciding for whatever the reason to cut their losses and give the show the old "Screw you guys, I'm going home." By comparison to these, Kendra's choice to quit Splash doesn't seem nearly as dramatic.

Andrea Katz Sneaks Away From Project Runway

Unlike a 23-foot drop off a plank, there’s nothing dangerous or even stomach-churning about making a color-blocked jersey dress. There are, however, internal pressures, limited sleep and flamboyant personalities to contend with on Project Runway. Most contestants are able to get through with only a few random cries and one or two Tim Gunn pep talks, but poor Andrea Katz just couldn’t take it. After two nondescript showings and a terrible team challenge in which she and partner Christopher almost got sent packing, she hit her breaking point and left in the most passive aggressive way possible—by creeping away in the middle of the night.

She didn’t tell producers. She didn’t tell her fellow cast members. She just snuck off like Joe Dirt’s parents. For awhile, the producers couldn’t even verify that she was safe. All they had were hopeful thoughts, footage of an empty bed and poor Melissa’s story about overhearing her getting up some time after the witching hour. Eventually, she had the decency to fire off an email, but not surprisingly, that gesture did little to ease the irritation of her fellow cast members who actually wanted to be there. (Video contains adult language)

Angelina leaves Jersey Shore. Again.

When Jersey Shore first premiered, it was Snooki who seemed prime to be the odd man out among the group, coming on a little too strong among her fellow "guidos and guidettes." As it turned out, getting punched in the face by a guy at a bar not only earned the then-new series a surge of attention, but also helped Snooki bond with her new friends, who were there to defend her and help her through the brutal ordeal. And in the end, Angelina turned out to be the one on the outskirts of the group, which led to her departure before the first season wrapped up.

When Angelina returned for Season 2, when the series moved down to Miami to enjoy the warmer weather - and allow the show to come back for "summer" faster than it would have if they were bound to Jersey climates - she seemed deliberately placed in the house as a means of inciting drama, which she did. Or her houseguests did. Were the issues her doing? Or did the house just gang up on her? Does anyone remember? Does it matter? It seems like there was so much editing in that show that we may never know the truth behind Angelina vs. the Jersey Shore house. Regardless, fights ensued, including the one in the video above (watch the edited version here), and Angelina, once again, took her ball and went home.

Susan Hawk leaves Survivor after telling Probst off.

Susan Hawk didn’t win either of the seasons of Survivor she appeared on, but she sure as hell left her mark on both. During the beloved reality show’s greatest episode, the Season 1 finale, she absolutely went off on Kelly, calling her a rat and casting the deciding vote for Richard. Years later, when she returned for all-stars, she quit in epic fashion thanks to an alleged sexual assault that viewers still argue over to this day.

Was Richard’s balls touching Sue’s leg gross? Yes. Was it a reason to quit the game? That answer depends on who you ask, but Sue would sure as hell say yes. When asked about the incident, she stepped forward and belligerently screamed at host Jeff Probst for a solid minute before getting in a boat and leaving the show for the final time. The whole thing may have been unexpected, but for a woman who always prided herself on shooting from the hip, it was a strangely fitting way for her career on Survivor to end.

Big Brother's Chima throws a tantrum… or a microphone.

Chima's "choice" to leave the Big Brother house was a bit more indirect. She was technically expelled after refusing to listen to Big Brother and eventually chucking her microphone pack in the jacuzzi. She did just enough to make them throw her out. The outburst earned her a swift exit through the backdoor with no chance to pack her things or say goodbye. She wasn't a part of the jury and didn't appear at the finale.

While we wouldn't excuse Chima's behavior, which was basically a slap in the face of the show, her alliance and in some ways, the fans, it wasn't difficult to understand why she was so angry. She spent the week prior as Head of Household, attempting to orchestrate the eviction of Russell, a fellow contestant she didn't get along with. And then, during the live episode, which would have seen Russell sent packing, Jeff used his secret Coup d'etat power to overthrow the nominations, putting Jessie and Natalie up, which resulted in Jessie's eviction. The only thing Chima got out of her week as HoH was safety and the fancy bedroom. The power she should have had was flushed down the toilet when Jeff took over, and the following week, she was nominated. So she was angry, and disappointed that her reign was upended and one of her own (kind of) alliance members was sent out the door. Her anger was justified. Her actions and attitude weren't, but the drama sure was jaw-dropping, and a rare example of what happens when houseguests don't abide Big Brother.

The Real World's Irene gets slapped on her way out.

Irene McGee wasn't the first Real World housemate to leave the house before the season ended, and she wasn't the last. At the time her her exit from the seventh season of the long-running MTV reality show (The Real World: Seattle), she said her choice to leave was due to her issues with Lyme Disease, though she admitted later that she had issues with the production of the show. Her reason for leaving is far less memorable as her exit from the show. On her way out the door, she pulled fellow housemate, Stephen, aside and smiled at him as she told him that they could never be together because he's gay.

Her antagonistic goodbye might have warranted him chucking her stuffed animal off the peer, but Stephen took his irritation too far when he chased after her car as she and her friend were driving away, got her to open the door, then smacked her in the face. The brutality might have been minimal in terms of physical damage, but it was a bad move and a major line crossed on Stephen's part, no matter how many buttons Irene may have pushed. And it went on to become one of the more memorable moments in the series' long history.

A group of all-new Project Runway contestants will send their first outfits down the catwalk on January 24, but when they do, their hemlines and taste levels won’t be judged by Michael Kors. The beloved mainstay had to bow out of the season as a result of his crazy schedule running his fashion line. Luckily, his replacement, while far less experienced in the ways of reality competition shows, is also a fashion mega-star.

According to Fox News, producers have tapped designer Zac Posen to fill in for Kors. The thirty-two-year-old has been a guest judge on the show before, and when the slot opened up, he jumped at the chance to try something new, especially since he’s a logical fill-in for someone like Kors. One of the keys to the show’s success has always been balance. Heidi Klum tends to have a more flamboyant eye. Nina Garcia tends to like outfits with muted colors that look expensive, and Kors is obsessive when it comes to how outfits are technically constructed. Posen too is very into construction and thus, should be the ideal substitute.

Lifetime released a statement this week saying Kors will return to judge the season finale; so, clearly there’s no hard feelings whatsoever between him and show. Hopefully, Posen will bring a fresh eye and an exciting passion to the show’s eleventh season. The judging panel might be a fine-tuned, well-balanced unit, but that doesn’t mean a temporary shake-up won’t be a nice change of pace.

Project Runway fans still have a few weeks before we get to the big fashion week finale. Anyone who keeps a good timeline in their heads or at least follows the fashion world regularly, will already know fashion week is in the midst of happening, and actress and singer Jennifer Hudson has nabbed that oh-so-special finale judging spot on the hit Lifetime competition show.

THR first broke the news, also noting the finale runway show took place this morning in The Theatre at the Lincoln Center. During the show, which will air later on Lifetime, the fabulous dresser wore a teal suit with a gold belt and judged alongside regulars Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and Heidi Klum, who also serves as the host on the popular show.

If you are wondering how Project Runway is able to tape so many weeks ahead and still keep up the element of surprise, Project Runway employs a couple of unique strategies to maintain the suspense. First, all of the contestants who haven’t been asked to pack up their workroom on television yet get to show a collection, whether or not they actually make it to the finale. Last year, nine showed at Fashion Week and this year, eight have earned the distinction, including Melissa Fleis, Gunnar Deatherage, Christopher Palu, Sonjia Williams, Ven Budhu, Dmitry Sholokhov, Fabio Costa and Elena Slivnyak. Of course, we only get to see the collections of those left in the game when the finale airs on TV.

The judges also generally tape the last part of the finale away from the Fashion Week stage to maintain utmost secrecy. While Project Runway employs a different guest judge every episode, Jennifer Hudson has definitely nabbed the most fun gig of the season. We’ll see if her eye for judging turns out to be as grand as her singing voice!

If you’ve been to an AMC movie theater lately, you’ve probably caught one of the Season 10 Project Runway commercials. That is, if you are not the type to show up late to a screenings. Those marketing efforts alone seem above and beyond that of an average season of the show, but as it turns out movie theaters are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to marketing Season 10.

This year, Project Runway’s marketing budget is bigger, faster, stronger, and better. The veteran fashion competition show wants to remain competitive and it is using some unique efforts to prove it is a mainstay on the network. According to THR, central to the new campaign will be a 20-foot-long art piece located on the High Line in Manhattan in New York between West 15th and 16th streets this week. The interactive piece will let fans walk down a red carpet runway, earning responses from virtual Project Runway mentors and judges, including Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, and the always-frowning Nina Garcia.

A second marketing endeavor will be a set of super trendy Project Runway photo booths dropped off in bigger cities including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston. These are only the most bedazzling and interesting of the marketing promotions, which also include a partnership with Lord & Taylor and other random initiatives. Why all the fuss over a show that’s been around season after season? Senior vp of marketing Tim Nolan has the answer.

Project Runway took a few critical potshots after barely-able-to-sew Anya won last season of the hit show, but the competition series has really hit its stride as far as Gunn’s advice and the judging process goes, so a few criticisms is hardly something to worry over. Instead, with ratings going Lifetime’s way a bit more in recent months, this seems to be a big effort for the network to simply stand behind its show.

Season 10 of Project Runway will air on Lifetime this Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, but don’t worry too much about the time—unlike the runway, I’m sure there will be an encore performance.

Project Runway All-Stars premiered earlier tonight, as thirteen designers returned for redemption and another shot at fame. From Mondo to Rami, many of the best who barely missed their opportunities to win are back, but there are several famous faces who are not, most notably Heidi Klum, Michael Kors and Tim Gunn.

With new judges and a new host, the returning competitors have a chance to impress a new set of faces including Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman, as well as mentor Joanna Coles. They’re all extremely talented heavyweights within the industry, but they’re also not what viewers are used to.

Of course, new isn’t always bad. In fact, the first-time American Idol judges breathed new life into the reality competition show last season, but Project Runway is a different case. Nothing about the show has ever grown stale for most viewers, and if anything, it’s the talent of the contestants rather than the performance of the judges that often dictates whether or not the season is a success. By now, we all pretty much know what to expect from Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum.

I definitely found myself missing those familiar faces during tonight’s episode. Fill-in host Angela Lindvall is vastly superior to Project Accessories host Molly Sims, but she still has a long way before she’s as seamless and likeable as Heidi Klum. Joanna Coles too was engaging and helpful in her role as mentor, but to me, no one can ever replace Tim Gunn. He’s at least half the reason I watch the show.

What do you think? Do you miss Tim Gunn, or are you happy to have a change? Let us know by voting in the poll below…

This poll is no longer available.

For more questions of the day, head here.

Tim Gunn, fashion guru and careful talker, was on George Lopez recently to promote Season 9 of Project Runway, which premieres Thursday at 9 p.m. That and to crack jokes about wearing suits in 110 degree weather to The Smurfs premiere, in which he appears. Lopez and Gunn seem pretty chummy, but the interview amps up when the topic turns to fashion.

Gunn says the biggest fashion faux pas for women is they show too much skin. Well, except in Hilary Clinton’s case, but whatever. There’s a million ways to show too much skin, but is it better to show skin Jersey Shore style or Desperate Housewives style? Just checking out a Jersey Shore cast photo puts the question to rest, but I won’t spoil the interview by throwing out Tim Gunn’s comments, except to mention his term “The Monkey House At The Zoo Theory.”

Check out the video, below. You’ll see the man never ceases to be professional. During Season 8 of Project Runway he even showed up at Andy’s family farm in expensive costuming—with knee high rubber boots to protect the bottom half—and the look still worked. During the Lopez interview, there are no flukes, and Gunn is in the finest of form.

Project Runway returns tonight at 9PM EST on Lifetime. If you miss it, don’t worry. They tend to repeat the footage now and again.

With the second week of October in full swing, it was a bit of a controversial week of news in the world of interactive gaming. Things got heated between Gearbox Interactive’s President Randy Pitchford and Valve’s indomitable Steam-powered digital distribution service, with claims of “dangerous” and “too much power” coming into the conversation. This further escalated when Steam’s arch-rival came into the picture, GamersGate, and the CEO further gave the company a textual pummeling. New Modern Warfare 2 content and features have been revealed thanks to the latest episode of GameTrailers TV, and we have a list of the top five games that should use Natal. These stories and more in the October 10th edition of the Blend Games Weekly Recap.

Sunday

Scribblenauts Review. Blend Games’ Pete Haas puts some critical scores to this much-talked about handheld game.

Tim Schafer Appears On Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. Talking Brutal Legend, Columbia House and Hell.

The Playlist For October 2009. A complete rundown of games worth playing, courtesy of The Game Reviews.

The Misadventures Of P.B. Winterbottom Debut Trailer. An exclusive for the Xbox Live Arcade is on the way and this game is a unique new take on the platform genre.

Modern Warfare 2 Infamy Trailer Blows Up Washington DC. A dynamic new trailer from the upcoming action, first-person shooter.

Resonance Of Fate Japanese Customization Trailer. Tri-Ace’s new trailer features outfit, hair and gun customization. Not bad.

The Saboteur: Three New Screenshots For Xbox 360 And PS3. Sadly, no night-club shots are up for viewing but the screens still look cool, nonetheless.

Monday

Review: South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play. Ryan Rigney from Blend Games gives fair praise to this XBLA title. Click the link to find out why.

Konami Reveals Rocket Knight For PS3 and Xbox 360. A re-invention of a classic console game is making his way back to, uh, consoles.

Top 5 Hardcore Games That Should Use Natal. If BioShock 3 and Halo: Reach sound remotely appealing to you, then yeah, it’s a list worth checking out.

Medal Of Honor Going Modern? It worked for Call of Duty so why not for every other WWII-based game?

Fable III Could Use Natal. These are words coming from Peter Molyneux himself.

No Demo For WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2010. Despite this being one of the coolest in recent years, THQ is saying 'no' to a demo.

Modern Warfare 2 PC Version Delayed. Why is it delayed? Well, doesn’t everything get delayed at some point in time? Find out why by clicking on the link.

Tuesday

Sony Set To Offer Digital Game Rentals Via The PSP? An innovative new feature that could definitely help boost sales for Sony’s handheld.

Grand Theft Auto Episodes From Liberty City Trailer #2. More profane content from the ballad of Gay Tony. Check it out right here.

Rock Band Wireless Fender Telecaster Now Available For Xbox 360. Nerdgasm alert for rhythm-based gaming fans. The Telecaster looks amazing, to say the least.

Raven Sword The Fallen King And Cash Cow Headed To iPhone. One thing is definitely worth mentioning and it’s that Raven Sword looks very impressive.

Dragon Age Origins Living World Trailer. What has BioWare done to make the game a living world? Well, find out in this new trailer.

Alpha Protocol Delay Confirmed. Weeks of speculation has reaped the saddening truth that Alpha Protocol is officially delayed.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Sweepstakes Offers 2,600 Free Prizes. Think snowmobile, Hummer H2 sized prizes and then click the link to find out how to win them.

Tony Hawk Ride Soundtrack Revealed. The official soundtrack for the skateboard-controller based game.

Beneath A Steel Sky Re-Mastered And Re-Releasing For iPhone. One of the coolest 2D adventure games is coming to the iPhone.

Steam Gets More EA Games. From one corporate giant to the next. The monopoly duo team up for a few more digital game releases.

Wednesday

Rumor Killers: PSP Special. All rumors all surrounding the PSP. The Game Reviews takes a look at the possibilities of new and old content for the PSP.

PlayStation Store Comes To Amazon. Even more serviceable retail choices for the PSP and PS3 with the help of Amazon, of course.

Tekken 6: A What’s New With The Series Trailer. All the new features of the game rolled up in one trailer.

Jack The Ripper Fights Evil In Video Game. A prostitute killer fights evil? Well, it’s all speculation but worth checking out, nonetheless.

Guns Of Icarus: Amazingly Epic-Sized Debut Trailer. This impressive browser-based game looks nothing like a browser-based game.

Forza Motorsport 3: Full Car List Revealed; Contains 400 Cars. It’s a hefty list no doubt, but a list every racing-sim fan would probably like to check out.

Forza Motorsport 3 Free Launch Day DLC Revealed. Checked out the list of cars? Well, it’s time to find out what content will be available to download on day 1 of its launch.

Thursday

GameTrailers TV Episode 74: Modern Warfare 2 Exclusive Content Revealed. Co-op, single-player, cinematic sequences and enemy AI are all revealed in this video of GameTrailer TV’s latest episode.

Red Dead Redemption Screenshots Released; More Information Coming Soon. Western gaming fans who have been waiting ages for a follow-up to Rockstar’s Red Dead can finally get a glimpse into the game with a few new screenshots.

K.O.S. Secret Operations Closed Beta Is Actually An Open Beta. The MMOFPS became so popular during closed-beta a new open-beta for the closed-beta has been announced.

Halo 3: ODST Sells 2.5 Million Copies. Apparently this glorified expansion pack is still selling like a Halo game.

Sims Creator Making Two Games. Three new projects are in the works and two of them happen to be games.

Five New Maps Revealed For Mercenary Wars. And there are a handful more on the way.

Gearbox Boss Says Steam Exploits Developers. Harsh words from the President of Gearbox, Randy Pitchford.

Friday

New Oddworld In Development, Munch’s Oddysee And Stranger’s Wrath Coming To PC. It’s about time a new Oddworld adventure surface…time to show other adventure games how it’s done.

Clash Of The Titans Release Window Announced For North America. This movie-based game is scheduled to release along side the movie it’s based upon. No big surprise there.

Heroes Of Bestia Announced; Closed-Beta Starting Soon. IGG has a new browser-based MMO in the works and yes, it’s still free-to-play.

GamersGate CEO Says Steam Dangerous For Publishers. There appears to be a steamrolling of adverse reactions to the digital download service. Click the link to find out why.

Degeneration Theory: Cataclysm A new debut trailer for the upcoming first-person survival-horror game.

Project Runway Coming To Wii. If fashion designing isn’t just enough to watch it on TV you’ll now get a chance to play it on the Wii.

Craft Of Gods: Gameplay Media Blowout. A new kind of MMO with complete gameplay footage of the important parts of the game.

Okay Epic Mickey Is A Wii Exclusive. After a lot of speculation and guesswork it appears the game won’t be heading to the Xbox 360 or PS3.

Saturday

World’s First Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising Tournament Announced. If you think you have the guts and skills, you might want to check it out over at Electronic Theatre.

Dust 514 Gameplay Trailer And Screenshots. Another next-generation MMO featured in a debut trailer that contains more than just cinematics.

Borderlands Goes Gold. For fans who just can’t wait for this game to come out, this must come as very good news. The game is now complete.

Dante’s Inferno Anger Dev Doc Reveals A New Kind Of Dante. He’s not the fainting, pansy-pants kind from the poem, either.

The Renaissance Of The Stealth Game. A new editorial from Martin Gaston over at The Game Reviews, which talks a little bit about Snakes and Sams.

NaturalMotion’s Morpheme Licensed By Codemasters. News from overseas at Electronic Theatre about the animation suite being used in an upcoming Codemasters game.

That wraps up this edition of the Weekly Recap here at Blend Games. As usual, we wouldn’t leave you without a little trailer treat of sorts. So you can check out the Brood Mother trailer for Dragon Age: Origins. It’s not a trailer for the little kiddies, so parental discretion is advised. Enjoy.

It’s all about to come to an end for this season of Project Runway on Wednesday night and if you’re looking forward to part 2 of the big finale episode, we’ve got a couple of preview clips that you might enjoy. Also, keep an eye out for Kona’s recap of the finale. And if you’re planning to catch the next new episode of Top Design, we’ve got videos from Wednesday night episode as well.

The season finale of Project Runway airs on Bravo at 9:00 PM on Wednesday, October 15, 2008.

Top Design airs on Wednesday nights at 10:00 PM on Bravo. Here are a couple of preview clips from this week’s episode:

Previously: My beloved Chris March returned with disco ball boobs to announce a drag queen challenge. Befuddled straight dude Joe walked away with the win for “hiding the candy” the best. Meanwhile, Daniel’s impeccable taste, judgment and character weren’t enough to save his sherbet monstrosity from getting him auf’d.

After the model swap, Heidi sends the designers to a roof on 31st st. Korto thinks they might be going to Mariah’s house, but it turns out they’re actually going to the roof of a parking garage—a parking garage roof full of product-placed Saturns!

I’m seriously getting ready to vomit when we hear the challenge: to create an outfit out of recycled car parts. Okay, I’ll admit: I’m intrigued. After all, there’s the potential for a “freak” “accident” involving blowtorches and Blayne, so that’s something that I’ll always be on board for. The designers have four minutes to fill up rolling carts with car parts. Tim urges them to not suck like they did on the first challenge and sets them loose.

I may not be very confident in her as a designer, but I’m kind of loving old Leathuh Face. Stella has something that very few PR designers have, and that’s a modicum of self-awareness. While they’re in the design room trying to figure out what the hell they’re going to make with their car parts, Stella interviews that she’s not going to make a leathuh dress, because it’s not that innovative.

She also goes on to say that there hasn’t been a challenge in which she hasn’t hammered and grommeted something. So she knows she’s kind of a one-trick pony, which I find refreshing—especially compared to Keith, who would shriek at you if you so much as suggested that maybe he relies on strips of fabric a wee bit much. Stella is even trying to step out of her box and “make something pretty.” I’m rooting for her.

We’re getting to that beautiful point of every season where the designers realize that they hate each other. Terri is literally rolling on the floor laughing at Korto’s design, to which Jerell interviews that she has “two faces and four patterns: don’t trust the bitch.” I have no idea what that even means, but it sounds amazing. Keith is freaking out on everybody about sewing machines and you can tell that in general, there are a lot of bloody fantasies involving pinking shears going on in this room.

Stella has a boyfriend named Ratbone. And a tattoo of a dollar sign on her thumb. I love her—but not the fact that all of the attention that is being paid to her this episode probably means she’s going to get kicked off.

Runway:

So we have two guest judges this week. Laura Bennett from Season 3 is filling in for Nina, while the actual guest judge is ol’ Rasin Face herself, Rachel Zoe.

Jerell used leather accented with black vinyl to make a structured cocktail dress. It’s very futuristic and interesting, although I’m worried that the plastic car parts aren’t enough of an innovation for the judges.

Keith used leather and cushion innards to make a skirt and halter top. It’s nice, but oh my God, it’s so boring. I can’t imagine anyone being impressed with this.

Terri also doesn’t show much imagination with her shirt/pant combo made out of leather, cargo nets and seat cushions. Seriously. It’s the tablecloths from the first challenge all over again.

Kenley made her top out of patent leather, but it’s not as egregious as the previous designers’ use. She’s really saved by her skirt made of air filters. It’s not the prettiest thing in the world, but at least she didn’t use car fabric to construct her entire outfit.

Leanne made a great design; it’s an extremely well-constructed and visually interesting structured mini dress, but again, she used the leather and seatbelts as her fabric. However, she managed to make the seatbelts, which she uses as her trim, look like feathers. It’s pretty cool.

Suede may annoy the crap out of me, but he is one of the few designers who actually listens to the challenges and consistently completes them successfully. His one-shouldered black and silver dress isn’t the prettiest thing on the runway, but he used floor mats, cargo netting and sun visors to accomplish it.

Korto made a very intricate seatbelt dress. It’s amazingly well-done, but I’ve seen purses that look exactly like it. I’m bored.

Blayne also made a seatbelt dress, but while Korto’s is more of a coat, Blayne’s is more of an evening gown. I enjoy the broken glass accents on the front, but using the seatbelts made a stiff garment that just looks big on his model.

Joe has made my favorite design. He made a motorcross-looking dress out of seat covers, seatbelts and the car logo. It’s innovative and he made a good use out of the materials.

Stella definitely went in a different direction and made a downright demure skirt and vest. The skirt is made out of seatbelts and is reminiscent of all of those bandage dresses that have been on the red carpet lately. However, the seatbelts don’t stay smooth in the back, so it looks sloppy. The vest also makes her model look a little boxy.

Judging:

Heidi tells the following designers to step forward: Terri, Disco Suede, Joe and Kenley. They are safe. That leaves Jerell, Blayne, Leanne, Keith and Stella with the highest and lowest scores.

Rachel Zoe calls Jerell’s dress “quite amazing” and praises the intricacy of his dress. Heidi thinks it’s exciting. Laura likes the idea of Blayne’s dress, but doesn’t like the fit up top, while Michael thinks it looks like a car wash. Laura really likes the shape and volume of Korto’s dress. Rachel says she would walk out the door in it. Michael loves the silhouette and proportion of Leanne’s dress. Rachel is blown away and thinks she could go “straight to Paris” in that dress. Laura doesn’t think that Stella’s vest and skirt go together, and Michael calls it “a little random.” Laura doesn’t think that Keith’s design has a concept, to which he replies, “you should see my other stuff,” and complains about how the judges didn’t appreciate him when he took things to the extreme. Heidi does not look happy with this at all. He then continues to whine about Michael’s comments from last week, and Michael basically tells him to suck it up. They’re really not going to let this guy stay, are they?

Heidi brings the designers back out and tells Jerell that he’s in. That means that Leanne’s futuristic Judy Jetson dress is the winner. She wins immunity, and Korto, is of course safe. Blayne is also in, which predictably puts Stella and Keith in the bottom two. Heidi tells Keith that instead of being innovative, he showed them a “boring, poorly-crafted design.” Heidi tells Stella that her look was “expected, disconnected, and ultimately too simple.” Thankfully, Stella is in and the terrible, annoying Keith is out. Then he cries and makes me hate him even more on his way out. Good riddance.

So I really liked Joe’s outfit this week, but I can understand why the judges just made him safe, since he had immunity, instead of leaving him up on stage. I enjoyed Leanne’s outfit as well. Like I said, it was impressively constructed and the design itself was innovative. What really confused me about this episode was how the judges didn’t neg the designers for using too many predictable materials. We really should have seen more sun visors like Disco Suede used, or plastic like Jerell did. I really thought the designers missed the mark yet again, but apparently I’m alone in that thought.

Next Week: They’re designing for Diane Von Furstenberg and someone makes a crotch that’s every woman’s nightmare.

Previously: Keith won, while everyone else was Slutty, slutty, slutty. Kelli may have won the first challenge, but that apparently isn’t enough to excuse bad taste and she’s auf’d.

Chris is back! He’s wearing false eyelashes and disco balls on his boobs, and I’m pretty sure his main reason for existing is just to make me happy. He’s also on Runway to tell the designers what their challenge is this week: to design an outfit for a drag queen. This could very well be the best episode ever.

Each designer gets his or her very own drag queen for a model, and they are the most amazing group of people ever. I am so giddy and excited about this challenge. After they choose their models, the designers head to the design room where Tim gives them additional instructions. Basically, each drag queen has a very distinct personality and it is the designers’ responsibility to incorporate that into their outfits. I have a feeling that this is going to present a problem for some of them *cough*Daniel*cough*. Tim encourages them to be theatrical and over-the-top and tells them that they’ll have a budget of $200 and until the end of tomorrow to finish. In addition, the designs will be auctioned off and the proceeds will go to Broadway Cares – Equity Fights AIDS.

Here’s what I love. All of the designers hate Blayne as much as I do. He’s so obviously trying to make this “licious” thing work, and it’s just not happening. As Leanne said, it’s “barflicious.”

The next day, the drag queens come in for a fitting, and they’re dressed as dudes. It’s kind of funny, because most of them look like Teamsters. Korto’s model really likes her design, but the rest of the clients do not seem too pleased with what the designers are trying to put them in.

Tim brings Chris in to check out what the designers have been doing. They seem on board with Korto’s design, but Tim tells Blayne that his outfit looks like a “pterodactyl at a gay Jurassic Park.” This is certainly going to be the best line of the season, and I’m kind of heartbroken that it’s wasted on Blayne.

Runway:

RuPaul is the guest judge. Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird she didn’t show up earlier in the episode?

Kenley: She designed a fairly simple silver sequined floor-length dress with a looong slit up the side. It has giant black and white feathers coming off of the back. While it’s not the most elaborate design, it does fit the personality of her drag queen quite well.

Joe designed a pink sequined jumpsuit that he said is supposed to be “Ann Margaret on the Love Boat,” but looks more like the most fun flight attendant ever.

Stella doesn’t seem to have used leathuh at all, although she did put in some grommets. She has an interesting gothy dress with red plaid that looks like something that a misunderstood high school girl with a Singer, a tube of black lipstick and a Joy Division CD would sew for herself to attend prom “ironically.”

Suede modified the green gloves and made Hedda Lettuce look decidedly less Godzilla-y. He actually ended up with a kicky little green number that seems to go with her personality. I am also really freaked out by how Disco Suede is consistently coming up with some of my favorite designs, so let’s move on.

Daniel designed a dress that would have been perfect on John Leguizamo in To Wong Foo, but I have a feeling that the judges are going to think it’s not elaborate or over-the-top enough.

Terri designed a rad Geisha-inspired design. It’s red, white, blue, black and yellow and makes no sense whatsoever, but in a great way.

Jerell designed a great outfit; it’s a blue and green sequined mini dress with an elaborate popped collar. However, it looks completely out of sync with what his client normally wears.

Korto’s outfit is really great. It’s a red sequined mini dress with a very dramatic removable red skirt and sculptural sequined flames on the neck.

Keith’s “Wookie onesie,” as Jerell called it, is really underwhelming. First of all, it’s black and white, which, yawn. Also, it’s just strips of fabric draped about. He is to strips of fabric what Rami was to draping. However, I doubt he’ll make it as far as Rami did.

Leanne designed a black, silver and blue structured dress and jacket combo. It’s not the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen, but it looks well-constructed.

Judging:

Heidi tells the following designers to step forward: Blayne, Kenley, Disco Suede, Stella, and Leanne. They are all safe. This leaves Keith, Daniel, Korto, Terri and Joe as the designers with the highest and lowest scores.

Ru Paul loves Terri’s “super samurai” dress. Michael Kors calls it “heaven.” Heidi, on the other hand, thinks that Keith’s design is “messy.” RuPaul calls it “random.” Nina doesn’t know what it is, and Michael thinks it’s a “sad chicken.” Everyone enjoys how Joe’s outfit shows off his model’s assets. RuPaul thinks that Jerell’s dress is too long and Michael Kors thinks that it’s kind of “normal.” RuPaul loves Korto’s detachable skirt and Michael Kors is pleased with how flattering it is. Nobody thinks Daniel’s design is interesting or dramatic enough. RuPaul is afraid that wearing Daniel’s dress would make a drag queen have to resort to “selling hormones up in Harlem” to make rent. Now that’s what I call a bad design.

Heidi brings the designers back out and tells Terri that she’s in. Joe wins, and I’m really surprised. I enjoyed his outfit, but it was pretty simple. Korto’s design was elaborate, dramatic, and just impressive overall. She, of course, is in, but I really think she deserved to win this one. Jerell is also in, which leaves Daniel and Keith in the bottom two. Heidi accuses Daniel of playing it safe and giving them nothing but excuses, while Keith’s outfit was random and unpolished. Daniel is out, while Keith lives to see another week.

Frankly, I would have been fine with either of these guys getting auf’d. Heidi’s criticisms of their designs could really apply to their designs in any given week. I just don’t think either of them has very much to offer. So while I think the judges slightly missed the mark with the winner, they were right on with the loser.

Next Week: Stella gets the hammer out again and “bad mommy” Laura is back! I love Runway reunions.

Okay, here we are people. This is the beginning of Project Runway’s 5th and last season on Bravo before it moves to Lifetime. In the interest of brevity, I’m not going to name and list all of the contestants; you can find that here. Most of them aren’t going to do anything interesting in this episode anyway, so we’ll just get to the ones who do. Let’s get this started.

So, we’re about a minute in, and I definitely hate Blayne. Here’s his deal: He’s been designing clothes since he was 16, he writes stuff like “Sup Holla” on chalkboards and he is addicted to tanning. My boyfriend also thinks he is addicted to meth, but that is entirely speculative.

Oh, dear God. So, let us take a minute to talk about Suede. Suede has actually designed jeans for real designers, such as Jordache and Todd Oldham. He also talks in the third person, does finger guns, has a blue Mohawk, owns a sleeveless denim jacket with his name bedazzled on the back, and is 37 years old. Plus, he goes by the name Suede. My boyfriend, who is apparently contributing a great deal to this recap, says that he is this season’s Disco Stu. Disco Stu, as you recall, got his name from trying to bedazzle “Disco Stud” on the back of a jacket and running out of room. Disco Suede is going to rock the runway!

Guys, Leanne’s clothing line is really pretty. I would wear most of what they show. She also calls herself “the silent fashion assassin.” Team Leanne!

It’s rooftop meeting time at Atlas! Tim and Heidi look lovely, as usual. They have the whole designer meet and greet and nothing too interesting happens.

Early the next morning, Tim shows up to rally everyone for their first challenge. Tim walks his ducklings to the location, which turns out to be Gristedes, a New York grocery store, which was also the location for the first season one challenge. As Tim said, they’ve “come full circle.”

Speaking of season 1, Austin Scarlett shows up to tell them about their challenge. Basically, they have to make an outfit using grocery store items. They have a budget of $75 and 30 minutes to make their purchases. They have until midnight to complete their look.

The designers get back to Parsons, where Tim comes in to tell them that the winning designer receives immunity. They get started, and I’m immediately worried. Joe’s theme is Italian, and it looks as though he may be gluing pasta to his creation. Come on, Joe, you know they hate craft projects, and nothing says “craft project” like gluing macaroni to something.

Tim comes in with about five hours left in the day to check on everyone. He sees Blayne just standing around, so he goes to him first. Blayne introduces Tim to his design, which he calls “Girlicious.” Tim charitably says that he’s “not bored.”

Tim visits Daniel and looks over his cup dress. Tim tells him he “has a wow factor going on,” but cautions him that he has a lot of work to do. He’s also impressed with Kelli’s vacuum bag dress, but tells her to think it through and make it look finished.

So, uh, Stella chose garbage bags as her fabric. Just garbage bags. It turns out she got the crappy loud, crinkly ones that tear if you look at them. So she hasn’t done anything. She tells Tim she has a dilemma, and Tim just shakes his head at her. Because, come on, lady. MAKE IT WORK.

Disco Suede makes a dress out of a table cloth and embellishes it with poop bags. It’s a dress made out of a table cloth. Come on, Disco Suede, you can do better than that. Uh, presumably.

Korto also made a dress out of a table cloth. It’s a nice dress, but it’s just made out of a freakin’ table cloth. Come on. Tim is equally unimpressed with Jerry’s shower curtain raincoat. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Tim is not enjoying Keith’s table cloth either. Tim makes a general announcement and basically calls them all slackers—which they are. The day ends with Stella freaking out about her garbage bags and the majority of the designers trying to desperately cover their table cloths with marshmallows and such.

Runway:

Emily: Her dress is made out of a table cloth, balloons and a bouncy ball. It’s a mini dress with a giant collar.

Jerell: His dress is a one-shoulder number made out of a lawn chair and cocktail umbrellas. He used a table cloth, but it’s not very obvious.

Leanne: Her dress was also made out of a table cloth, but she covered it in marshmallows, meringue cookies and coffee filters to make a frothy pink party dress.

Korto: Her dress is flat out a table cloth dress. It’s yellow and very pretty, but the only innovation comes in the kale and tomatoes she used as the collar.

Jennifer: She made a party dress out of paper towels. It’s really well made, but may not be innovative enough. She also used lipstick to make kiss marks all over it.

Daniel: His blue plastic cup cocktail dress turned out nicely, but again, I wonder if it isn’t too simple. He clearly spent a lot of time molding the cups.

Terri: So far, she’s the first one not to do a dress. While she does use a red table cloth for a skirt, she also made a crocheted top out of mop heads. It’s quite lovely.

Suede: Disco Suede didn’t change his table cloth dress at all, really. He just made it uglier by sewing blue plastic squares all over it.

Stella: Her garbage bag dress looks like a garbage bag dress that was put together in 15 minutes.

Joe: He did the pasta skirt, but it doesn’t look too bad. He used oven mitts as a shirt, which is only okay.

Kenley: Her dress used a table cloth, but she also made a bustier out of dodgeballs, which is kind of funny.

Jerry: He ended up making that raincoat, and it looks like a raincoat made out of a shower curtain. It’s very “meh.”

Wesley: His yellow dress is made out of the same table cloth as Korto’s., but he used plastic cups and fly swatters to make very pretty rosettes.

Blayne: I don’t even know how to describe what he sent out. He used windshield wipers, a jump rope and pot holders. He also scrawled “Girlicious” on the model’s leg.

Kelli: Her paper dress came out nicely, but the top looks like two coffee filters taped to her boobs, not like an actual top.

Keith: He used a black and white table cloth and some netting to make a halter dress. It’s nice, but the judges are going to be bored to death.

Judging:

Heidi tells the following designers to step forward: Daniel, Jerry, Korto, Stella, Kelli, and Blayne. Heidi then tells the remaining designers that they are safe, leaving the six designers with the highest and lowest scores.

Austin and Nina really enjoy Daniel’s cup dress, but Michael thinks he could have gone further with the silhouette. Michael thinks Jerry’s raincoat makes his model look like a bridal nurse, and the dress underneath it looks like a Handi-Wipe gone wrong. Austin thinks Korto’s dress is chic. The other judges agree, which surprises me. Not because it’s not a good design, because it’s quite beautiful. It just seems too safe to me. Michael calls Stella’s garbage dress bag boring and the other judges are similarly unimpressed. Nina likes the way Kelli thinks and calls her resourceful. The other judges are very impressed with her innovation and eye for detail. The judges are definitely not bored by Blayne’s creation, but Heidi calls it “Playboy Bunny gone grunge.”

Heidi calls the designers back to the stage. Korto is in, and Kelli is the winner. I think the spiral notebook eye hooks put her over the edge. Daniel is also, of course, safe. We also live to see another day of Blayne.

It’s down to Stella and Jerry. Heidi tells Jerry that his look was not wearable. She also tells Stella she took the easy way out. Jerry is the first one eliminated, for his outfit that you would wear to commit murder.

I absolutely think the judges got it right. Jerry is that bland contestant that seems to pop up every season without the ability to be innovative. As much as I think Blayne and Disco Suede are just clowns, I’m infinitely more interested in seeing what atrocities they have in store than I am in anything Jerry would ever design.

As we reported back in April, the sixth season of Project Runway is moving from Bravo to Lifetime. Despite a Lifetime exec’s pledge “to keep the show exactly the way it is,” if host Heidi Klum is to be believed, our favorite design show is in for some potentially awful changes.

First up on the list is switching coasts. Since its inception, PR has been filmed in New York at Parsons The New School For Design, with the finales taking place during NY Fashion Week. When Runway moves to Lifetime, production will be packing up and moving to L.A. as well. To be fair, Los Angeles does, in fact, have a fashion week, but it’s a fashion week that nobody gives a crap about because it’s filled with like, Ed Hardy, tube tops, sparkles and clothing lines from the “stars” of The Hills.

According to an interview she gave with Forbes.com, the train wreck does not stop there. Laughing in the face of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Project Runway is getting a face-lift. "The concept will be the same,” she promises, but (and there’s always a but) “the look of the show will change a little bit." Klum doesn’t get too specific regarding the “little bit” of changes, but says that there will be “different catchphrases” and that the show will have a shudder “Hollywood flair.”

I understand that Lifetime needs to set itself apart from Bravo and make Project Runway its own, but couldn’t they have done that with, I don’t know, a fancier set or some new graphics? Moving to L.A. and injecting Hollywood flair into a show with Tim Gunn just seems wrong. Besides, have you seen him when he visits finalists who live in sunny climes? Tim Gunn’s skin does not do well in the sun, people! He will get sunburned and hot in his suits, and a show that makes Tim Gunn uncomfortable is not a show for me.

Oh man; somebody’s getting fired. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bravo has lost Project Runway to Lifetime. In the four seasons the fashion design competition series has aired on Bravo, it has broken ratings records, made Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn into household names and given us “hot tranny mess” as this spring’s new catchphrase. The network switch comes after Bravo’s parent company, NBC Universal, refused to accept a package deal from Runway’s producers, The Weinstein Co.

The package, which Lifetime accepted, includes television rights to “second-tier” Weinstein Co. movies including Transamerica, The Nanny Diaries and The Great Debaters. Although reps for Lifetime say they have a signed contract that will give them Project Runway starting in its sixth season, NBC Universal isn’t letting go without a fight. The conglomerate is suing The Weinstein Co. claiming that its agreement with Lifetime is invalid, since they have the right of first refusal for the show.

It’s unclear what the move will mean for the show itself. Lifetime has vowed “to keep the show exactly the way it is,” and so far both Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn are scheduled to make the move with Runway, although there is no word on whether judges Nina Garcia and Michael Kors will follow suit. While it may be more embarrassing to say you’re watching a Lifetime show than one on Bravo, the fact that Runway is already a known entity with a built-in fan base will hopefully mitigate any stigma attached to it. Plus Lifetime reaches 7 million more homes than Bravo, so the potential audience is expanded from the get-go.

I get both channels and have been watching Runway since the beginning, so I’ll definitely follow it if it does in fact move to Lifetime. Will you do the same? Do you think people who aren’t currently fans will be more or less likely to watch it on Lifetime? Feel free to comment below.

Previously:

Chris and Christian joined forces to create a gorgeous ruffled avant-garde monstrosity, while Kit and Ricky’s dress looked like a Gone With the Wind wardrobe reject. As team leader, Kit was out.

Gotham Apartments:

Victorya keeps calling Sweet P Kit. I hope it’s just a mean way to psych her out. Because that would be awesome. “Oh hey, you’re still here? I thought you sucked so much as a designer that you got eliminated. Oh, that wasn’t you? Apologies. My mistake.” Over in the guys’ apartment, Ricky isn’t ready to go home yet. Nobody else feels the same.

Model Swap/Challenge:

Christian stays with his model, so Marie is out. Heidi dispatches them immediately for a field trip with Tim. This time they’re going a little further than Times Square—to an outer borough! but that's where the poors live! Waiting for them is Caroline Calvin, the senior VP of design for Levi’s. Tim tells them that the materials for their challenge are inside the warehouse. Everybody is expecting fish nets and cement, but instead it’s a bunch of Levi’s and cotton. So they need to take the denim—and make an outfit made of denim. Wow. We’re really pushing the envelope over here. They have three minutes to fill a laundry bag.

Workroom:

Ricky: “I sometimes make my hats out of denim.” Shudder. So, everybody’s working diligently and Rami blah blahs about how he’s more “fashion-forward” because he’s not American and zzzzzzz. Then Sweet P, who ran around the warehouse so fast that she lost her shoe (and has a black foot to show for it), also dropped her jeans and got them dirty (which in and of itself sounds kind of dirty). She’s trying to figure out the best way to get the dirt out, so she asks Chris saying, “Chris, you’re really smart…” What follows is an exchange where Chris tells her to make her outfit and then pat it down with a damp cloth and Christian interjecting that that’s a terrible idea and she needs to wipe the dirt off with a dry piece of denim. Cut to…

My Favorite Moment of the Episode:

...Chris is in the interview room and dryly says, “It’s so cute to see…youth…” and just stops there and rolls his eyes. Because with Christian, there’s often not much more to say.

End of Day 1:

But really, there is much more to say. Namely that Christian is immature and getting on everyone’s last nerve. He’s like my 7-year-old niece who informed me over Christmas that “I used to like stuffed animals…back when I was little.” Christian is talking about how he used to deconstruct back when he was in fashion school…like, a month ago. Chris says somebody needs to give him a ba-ba and send him to bed. Indeed.

Here’s the problem with this challenge: Denim, unless it is in jeans or a very simple jacket, is ugly. Denim on Denim, even if it is jeans and a very simple jacket is uglier. I’m watching these people make coats and corsets and all I can think of is that hideous picture of Britney and Justin in matching denim outfits. That shit still haunts me. Speaking of haunting: Sweet P is making a wedding dress. My skin is about to crawl clear off of my body. In other news, they show a picture of her wedding and her dress is adorable. I kind of want it—and she’s totally married to a dude named Sage. Of course she is. I love her.

Tim’s Walkthrough:

He calls Ricky’s dress “stunning.” Wow. That’s quite the endorsement. Why, why oh why do people not yet understand that you ALWAYS listen to Tim? Mr. Gunn goes over to Chris and asks him what he’s doing (not a good sign!) He then points to what looks like a waistband draped diagonally across the dress and tells Chris it looks incongruous. Chris’s response? “Well I like it.” Nooooo. Wrong answer! Meanwhile, Jillian is trying to create a coat that has a “futuristic edge” and it’s hideous. Tim pointedly tells her that he thinks she has a ways to go. Tim tells Rami that his dress has the potential to blow everyone away. He calls Victorya that her trench coat looks “patchworky.” Sweet P’s wedding dress is scaring Tim, who says it looks very “happy hands at home Granny circle.” I have no idea what that means, but I’m going to make it a point to use it in my everyday conversations. Sweet P, to her credit, doesn’t say, “well it’s my vision” or whatever, and instead looks appropriately scared crapless and vows to fix it.

Day 2:

This challenge has been tough on everybody, so all of the designers have a good amount of work to do. Jillian, as usual, has bitten off way more than she can chew and is freaking out about finishing on time. The models come in and Jillian complains about how much Victorya’s coat looks like hers, kind of implying that Victorya copied her. Jillian, however, doesn’t have anything finished, while Victorya seems to be putting the final touches onto her trench.

Runway:

Caroline Calvin has returned to be the guest judge.

Chris’s model comes out wearing a short halter dress with a detailed, structured bodice. It’s actually really cute. The waistband that was bothering Tim is still there, but it doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would—of course that may just be because the model is moving really fast and I can’t focus on the incongruity of it.

Ricky’s dress is okay, but it doesn’t blow me away. It’s a short tube dress with large buttons down the front and ending in a ruffle.

Sweet P’s design is also a short tube dress. It turned out way better than I think anyone thought it would. I have a visceral bias against light denim, so I automatically hated it at first. When I took a look however, I saw that she mixed different shades of light denim with dark denim accents, making a really interesting, but subtle, geometric pattern. As Sweet P said, it looked really “clean and polished. It didn’t look Woodstock or Hippy at all.”

Victorya’s denim trench coat…looks like a denim trench coat. It bores me. The only thing I can really say about it is that it doesn’t look patchworky, which was Tim’s concern.

Rami’s dress doesn’t involve draping (for once) but does involve zippers that point down to his model’s crotch. So, there’s that. It’s a sleeveless dress with a similar bottom to Ricky’s.

Christian thinks his outfit is pretty fierce. He was the only one to make a pair of jeans. I’m not positive, but it looks like he just took a pre-existing pair of jeans and then replaced the bottom of the legs with sleeves from denim jackets. He also made a jacket of his own. It’s cropped and involves a high collar and ruffles…and puffy sleeves.

Jillian’s trench coat looks like a longer, lighter, more hideous version of Victorya’s trench coat…with ruffled sleeves.

Judging:

They’re talking to everyone at the same time instead of separating the highest and lowest scorers.

The judges seem to love Christian’s design. They call it innovative and well-tailored. The judges aren’t nearly as kind to Chris, calling it dated and knock his fraying. The judges love Rami’s zipper detailing. Nina says it’s sophisticated. Heidi is really impressed with the fit of Ricky’s dress.

…Aaaand Ricky’s Crying.

Heidi isn’t so much in love with Jillian’s jacket. Caroline doesn’t like the red tabs on the jacket’s shoulder. Nina calls it overly complicated. Michael Kors loves Sweet P’s dress. He calls it “super chic.” He and Heidi praise its “slimming voodoo.” I don’t know what that means, but yay! Michael even says he’s wear it “with the right shoe.” Now that’s something I want to see. The judges aren’t really impressed with Victorya’s trench coat. Michael says it looks like a party skirt got glued onto a jean jacket. Nina says it seems like she wasn’t inspired at all.

Heidi tells Rami that he is in, then goes straight to the winner: Ricky. Not Sweet P, Not even Christian, but Ricky. Ricky and his stupid ruffle. Sweet P, once again, was robbed. Levi.com is even going to sell a limited edition of his dress. Argh. Sweet P and Christian are of course safe. Chris is safe too! That’s awesome. I was afraid they were going to screw him over in favor of Jillian or Victorya. Instead, they are in the bottom two. Talk about a flip-flop week. Ricky and Sweet P at the top and Victorya and Jillian at the bottom. Heidi tells Jillian her look was unflattering and unfocused. Victorya’s outfit was dull and uninspired. In the end, Jillian and her fug trench coat are in and Victorya and her glued together trench coat are out.

Next Week:

Another field trip and I hear children, but Christian hears…sex moans? Yikes.

Last Time:

Jack left, Chris came back and poor Steve’s “French maid at a funeral” dress got him eliminated.

Gotham apartments:

Kevin gets this week’s gratuitous shirtless shot, followed by him staring contemplatively out of the window while sipping a warm, comforting hot beverage. It’s very “General Foods International Coffee.” “Jean Luc!” Meanwhile, over in the girls’ apartment, Kit points out that it’s challenge 6 and they’re halfway there. Halfway through and no major fights? What kind of reality show is this? Somebody’s sewing machine should have been sabotaged by now.

Model Exchange:

Nothing interesting happens, except that since the models weren’t used in the last challenge, two are getting eliminated. Ashley and Christina are out. They don’t look familiar to me in the slightest. Instead of going to the design room for Tim to give them their challenge, Heidi tells the designers that they’re going to have a very early day tomorrow. It’s the field trip challenge! She sends them home to rest up.

The next morning, Tim comes to get them when it’s still dark outside. Proving that this season is so much tamer/more boring than seasons past, the designers end up in Times Square instead of a recycling plant as in a previous season. Tim stops them in the middle of the street and points to where they’re going. Elisa gets really excited when she finds out they’re going to the Hershey store. I don’t really know what she’s talking about (it is Elisa, after all) but she uses the word “magic” a lot. The reactions to the Hershey store in general were pretty hilarious and combined make up my…

Favorite Moments of the Episode:

After Elisa’s exciting babbling, they cut directly to Christian dryly interviewing, “I was like, ‘great, we get to make shit out of candy,’” which would be my exact reaction were I in his situation. After that, they cut to Victorya’s face in the store and she looks like she’s about ready to cut someone. Michelle Gloeckler, the Hershey’s lady, is introducing the store, saying it is the sweetest place in New York. Victorya’s look is saying, “oh really, bitch?” Chris looks like he’s wondering if Ms. Gloeckler made of chocolate and whether or not he should risk walking over there and taking a bite out of her head like she’s an Easter bunny. He apparently decides against it.

Challenge:

The actual challenge is pretty much what you expect it to be: make an outfit using materials from the Hershey store. Tim tells them that there is no budget, but instead they have five minutes to grab everything they need. They only have until today at midnight to finish their designs. Jillian seems to be wearing Robin William’s suspenders from when he was on Mork & Mindy. This has nothing to do with the challenge; I just thought I should point it out. If you’re going to go on national television dressed as a coked-up space alien, it should not go unmentioned. That’s just kind of a code I live by.

Commercials:

Santino’s Saturn ad looks like an SNL sketch, but I can’t figure out if Seth Myers or Andy Samberg would play him. Or maybe a Muppet.

Workroom:

Jillian is going to make a bodice out of Twizzlers. She’s the only one who chooses to make an outfit out of actual candy. Chris interviews that making clothing out of food is a bad idea, and just in case you don’t get it, he repeats it about five more times throughout the episode. Meanwhile, Sweet P is killing bears and Chris is making a dress out of Hershey pillow cases.

So, apropos of absolutely nothing, Elisa interviews that she was in London designing a t-shirt line when she got hit by a Porsche as she was walking on the street. Jesus. She was in a coma for 5 days. This does not bode well for her chances on this episode, as one of the cardinal reality TV rules is if you’re featured heavily in an episode and you talk about disease, conflict, abuse, or any other type of disadvantage, you’re probably going to be eliminated.

Rami is making a batty dress and Tim says it looks like something Jillian would wear. Heh. Zing (and totally true). He’s talks to Elisa and tells her that he’s worried about her dress. I am too. It’s pretty hideous. Jillian is really far behind, but her bodice, which is made up of Twizzlers, looks cool. He tells Sweet P her skirt looks like a maxi pad. Tim is just full of the catty comments tonight. I kind of love it.

Runway:

Heidi comes on stage and tells the designers that Hershey is auctioning off outfits to the Young Survivor Association. Zac Posen is the guest judge.

Ricky has a silver bodice with Hershey wrapper bubble skirt. The bubble skirt is very bubbly, but the whole thing has a great fit and looks very well-made.

Chris’ outfit isn’t costumey in the least, which is really nice to see. It’s a mini dress made up of woven Hershey and Twizzler wrappers. If you look at it from far away, the pattern just looks like geometric shapes and not candy wrappers. It’s really fun and pretty hot. As much as I love Chris, I wasn’t sure he had it in him.

Kit’s dress is just a little too much for me. It’s Kit Kat tube top and Hershey prairie skirt. It’s kind of stupid and looks like little more than an “inventive” magazine ad for Hershey.

Elisa’s dress is ridiculous, but not ridiculous in an Elisa sort of way. It’s ridiculous in a “summer camp craft project” kind of way. It’s made out of the Hershey pillowcases and has two silver arm things that look like Hershey Kiss water wings.

Kevin made a very nice silver bodice with brown skirt and brown bolero jacket. It doesn’t look like it was made out of Hershey materials at all. It’s gorgeous, but I’m worried that the judges won’t think it’s inventive enough.

Christian’s dress looks hot. It’s made entirely of the paper wrappers on Reese’s cups and he finished it in like, 5 minutes. It’s pretty impressive and I kind of hate him for it.

Sweet P made a cute white skirt with silver bodice, but it looks very plain. The adorable Hershey Kiss purse kind of saves it for me, though.

Rami’s dress is batty and space alieny, but well-made. It’s intricately designed and tailored. The bodice is made out of Twizzler packaging and the skirt is made up of York Peppermint Patty wrappers.

Jillian’s Twizzler bodice is gorgeous and the skirt is fun and flowy. Surprisingly, it doesn’t fall apart. The judges are going to love it. She took a major risk and it paid off.

Victorya’s dress makes her model look like a slutty maid from outer space.

Judging:

Heidi calls four names: Ricky, Christian, Kit and Kevin. They’re in. That leaves Rami, Elisa, Jillian, Victorya, Chris and Sweet P with the highest and lowest scores.

Michael Kors says it could have turned out silly, but Rami has great construction and his dress fits his model amazingly. Kors says Elisa’s lost the joy of candy, which just sounds like the beginning of a sad fairy tale. They love Jillian’s outfit and admire her ingenuity. Victorya says she would wear her dress, and Michael Kors calls bullshit. Which, seriously. Nobody is wearing that. Heidi says it looks like Dairy Queen. I think she’s thinking more “milkmaid” than “Dairy Queen,” because those people wear polos and polyester pants. I love Chris’s dress and the judges agree. Heidi thinks Sweet P’s is dress boring. Nina thinks it looked easy to make and very “thrown together.”

After deliberations, the designers come back out. Chris is in. Rami wins and has immunity. Jillian is in. I figured that the winner would be either Rami or Jillian, but I was hoping for Chris. He definitely deserves some sort of “most improved” prize. Victorya is in. The final two are Sweet P and Elisa. Sweet P is in, which means Elisa is out. It’s a fact: Coma + shower caps on your arms = elimination. Aw, she’s batty but I’ll kind of miss her.

Next week:

Creating memories. Ricky cries...again. I knew there was something missing from this episode.

Last Week: Sweet, merciful crap. Chris is out.

We open with Sweet P mourning Chris’ offing. She says that his energy is joyous and delightful. I agree completely, P. I miss him already. Meanwhile, over at the guys’ apartment, Jack’s face is swelling up and he’s afraid he has a staph infection. This does not bode well for him.

Model Exchange:

I’m getting ready to glaze over, because I find this to be the most boring part of the show. Luckily, the models don’t come out. At first I think it’s the mom/sister episode, as does Steven. It turns out though, that for this season’s “Everyday Woman” challenge, the contestants are going to be designing clothes for women who have recently lost a significant amount of weight (from about 60 lbs. to 160 lbs.). It’s a super-cool idea, and most designers are really psyched about it—with Christian, of course, being the notable exception. He immediately starts whining about how this is “so not him.” Blah.

Challenge:

The designers need to create a beautiful new look for these women. The catch is that they have to use the fabric from the women’s favorite outfits from before their weight loss as the raw material. In addition, they have a $10 budget and 15 minutes at Mood to buy whatever else they need.

The designers are given 30 minutes to meet with their clients/models. Victorya interviews about how the women they’re working with are not typical model size. She goes on to say that they’re “normal women” with such horror; it would be kind of funny if it weren’t so sad. Kevin on the other hand, is thrilled with this challenge and says he loves making clothes for real people. Elisa is also excited and interviews that she wants to make her client look sexy.

Jack meets with his client and gets his design ready, but his face is swelling to the point where it’s difficult for him to speak. He calls his doctor who wants him to come in right away for treatment. After a conversation with Tim, Jack announces that he is leaving the competition to seek treatment for his staph infection. Since this season is made up of the nicest people on earth, everybody is legitimately sad about Jack having to leave. Most of the designers are crying as he makes his announcement.

Workroom:

Ah, the workroom; home of so many fantastic, quotable lines. But before I get to my favorite moment of the episode, Tim has some big news. Since Jack has left the competition early, they’ve brought Chris back! Yay! Talk about making the best out of a crappy situation. Tim says that he’ll be taking Jack’s client and since he’s so far behind, has the option of working through the night. Chris looks absolutely thrilled at the prospect.

After everyone has a chance to work for a while, the clients come back in for a fitting and Christian almost makes my favorite moment when he suggests putting some butt padding in his client’s jeans, telling her, “I’m not a miracle worker, lady. I can’t make you have an ass.” Pardon the lame pun, but if you’d spent an untold amount of time working your ass off to lose weight, wouldn’t that be the most amazing thing to hear?

After the fittings, Tim comes back to check on everyone. Tim asks Christian how fierce his outfit is. Oh Tim, so cute with the kid’s lingo. Tim tells Elisa that she needs to make sure the look is right for her client. He tells Steve he’s courageous to discard the dress so summarily, but he has to be careful on the runway. The judges tend not to like it when the challenge is disregarded. Tim sternly warns Chris to avoid the costume trap in his sailor-inspired suit—which leads to…

My favorite moment:

Tim urges Chris, who has a long night ahead of him, to make as many decisions now, while he still has his wits about him, “because I’ve made more bad decisions at three o’clock in the morning than I can list.” Everybody in the room immediately starts cracking up, and Steve asks Tim if he can give them names. Tim turns bright red and starts laughing himself. “I really am an old fart—my brain didn’t even go there!” He then tells Chris he’ll be back later to check on him, after he’s made his bad three o’clock decision.

Day Two:

Everybody comes back and Chris is fast asleep on the couch. Christian brags about finishing his outfit early, prompting Sweet P to yell out, “I still want to know if it’s against the law to kill at 12-year-old.” I don’t think there’s a jury in the world that would convict you.

During the final fitting, Jillian admits that she didn’t use the materials she was given, she just matched the color of the red shirt in the original outfit. I hope the judges give her hell for that. Elisa’s model seems to like her outfit and Kevin’s is super cute. He really thinks he has a chance at winning this challenge, and so do I.

Aaand Ricky is crying again.

Okay, so Steve’s in trouble, which I do not like to see. Then something crazy happens. Kevin and Victorya, who have both finished their outfits, help Steve finish his. I understand that this is the nicest cast of any reality show ever, but come on guys. It’s still a competition. Even with all the help though, Steve still has to glue the hem of his dress. His client looks worried.

Runway:

Patrick Robinson, head designer for The Gap, is this week’s guest judge.

Sweet P had a difficult olive fabric to work with and made a cute halter dress out of it. The only thing I don’t like about it is the color, but since that’s what she was given to work with, I say good for her.

Jillian made a red halter dress that looks a little baggy to me. She used the black fabric from the pants to make some piping. It looks pretty good.

Ricky took in his client’s jeans, cropped them and made a blouse. It’s a little see-through, but if she had a tank top underneath, it would be a cute, everyday outfit.

Chris’ navy blue skirt is crazy and would be cute if he had limited the accents to just the sash. Instead, he added a pocket square and a little fishtail to the back, which put it over the top. The shirt is a royal blue that doesn’t fit well and is kind of ugly. As Tim would say, “this concerns me,” because I want Chris to stick around.

Chistian made a jacket and cropped jeans outfit. It’s really cute. The model was confident and obviously loves what she’s wearing. Every week I think he’s going to make something heinous, and he generally comes out with one of the best designs of the group.

Victorya made a gross cocktail dress. It’s green velvet, which is a pretty difficult hurdle to get over. The cut of it is really nice, but I hate the fabric in the front. It makes her look like she’s wearing a boob shield.

Elisa made a black tiered dress with navy blue accents paired with red jacket. It’s kind of funky, but kind of cute in a weird way.

Kit designed a red, white and black dress. It’s a lot younger than the outfit from which it was made, which is definitely a good thing. It’s almost too busy for me, though. It probably would have looked better as just black and white.

Kevin ruined his awesome outfit by pairing it with leggings. I thought it was a dress. Why couldn’t he have just made it longer? In any case, it’s a cute, yellow strapless shirt/tunic with black buttons that used to be a blazer.

Steven’s poor client looks like a hotel maid. It’s really sad—both the dress itself and the fact that this is probably the worst thing on the runway.

Rami made a really cute high-waisted skirt with a white criss-cross top. It looks great, and I’m not generally a fan of the high-waisted skirt.

Judging:

Heidi calls names: Steve, Christian, Chris, Kevin, Jillian and Elisa. If she did not call their names, they are safe.

Kors doesn’t like Kevin’s leggings. Thank you! At least somebody’s trying to stop the madness. Elisa’s client loves her outfit, but they’re basically telling Elisa that she should have made her frumpier. It’s stupid. I agree that it’s kind of a young design, but the client is happy, who are they to say it doesn’t represent her? The only valid criticism comes from Michael, when he says that all of the layers make the model look a little stumpy. They say Jillian’s client looks sexy and tasteful. Steve’s model looks like a French maid at a funeral. They tell Christian that is design is him, but it looks super-commercial. Michael Kors says Chris’ outfit is a little “Shirley MacLaine when she played a hooker with a heart of gold.” Ouch.

The judges deliberate and Jillian is in. Christian wins and has immunity. Kevin is in. Chris is in, which I find surprising. I thought he’d at least be in the bottom two. It’s down to Steve and Elisa. Steve is out. I love Steve, but that dress was hideous. Sweet, merciful crap; I’ll miss you.

So what do you guys think about the whole Jack thing and the (ultimately false) rumors that he was kicked off the show?

Next week: Field Trip. I can’t tell exactly where they are, but it’s a few blocks away from Times Square. Hmm.

Before we even start, I would like to give thanks. Thank you Project Runway for providing a respite from the writer’s strike, and thank you, Heidi Klum for being so awesome. When Ellen asked you on her show what we could expect from this season and you shrugged your shoulders and said, “the same s—t,” I just about died. Also, it’s probably good that you clarified that you meant that in the best way possible, but it wasn’t necessary. We all love this show.

So, first things first: the designers move into their apartments, which are no longer the Atlas apartments, but are now Gotham Apartments. I can’t really tell the difference. In any case, it’s move in day, so we get to meet the new crop of contestants!

Contestant Roundup:

Rami Kashou is a freelance designer from Jeruselam who apparently dressed Jessica Alba up as a schoolteacher from Little House on the Prairie for the VMAs.

Chris March is a costume designer who designs for drag queens! I love him already. He’ll be really good at the off-beat challenges where they have to make dresses out of found objects, as his dress he designed out of a salad is pretty hot.

Christian Siriano looks as though a flowbee, a weed whacker and a pigeon fought to the death on his head. He’s kind of fierce? And kind of a celebrity? And kind of says everything like it’s a question?

Carmen Webber is an ex-model. According to her, you could be a great fashion designer, but if you haven’t modeled, you don’t know the first thing. Interesting.

Jillian Lewis is a designer and illustrator for Ralph Lauren. I would love it if what she designed and illustrates for Ralph Lauren are bedtime stories which she then has to read to him every night. Dude could totally afford to hire someone to do that for him. Also, her shoes look like they may be Prada, but are definitely hideous.

Kit “Pistol” Scarbo is wearing a butterfly barrette. I’m already exhausted. She says, “Kit Pistol is kind of like my Mark Twain. It’s my alias.” And we’re five minutes into the show when I get my first official nemesis of the season. She goes on to tell us that “life is too short to have on a bad outfit.” So how do you explain the BUTTERFLY BARRETTE?

Kevin Christiana looks like Joey Fatone in N*Sync’s heyday. He has very complicated facial hair and goes out of his way to say he’s straight. Straight or not, is there a girl in the world who is all, “ooh, baby. Yeah, give me some of that intricate facial hair. Go after that beard with a zig-zag pinking shear. Unh. You know how I like it?” ‘Cause to me, that’s pretty unsexy. It’s right up there with air-guitar and a dude wearing a top with no bottoms on the list of things that decidedly do not turn me on.

Jack Mackenroth looks way younger than 38.

Steven Rosengard works for the museum of science and industry in Chicago. Aw, he’s going to be the quiet, geeky one of the season. I like him.

Simone LeBlanc has an honest vision. Which makes her unique? I don’t know.

Elisa Jimenez is an accidental fashion designer. She makes marionettes, which is totally creepy.

Marion Lee is a flower shop owner. He’s wearing some sort of ruffled shirt thing that may or may not be made out of a couch.

Ricky Lizalde is a lingerie designer and dancer who comes from a family of 14(!) He gives his intro interview and totally starts crying. It’s not just a game! It’s his life!

“Sweet P” Vaughn. You’ve got to be kidding me. Apparently the name comes from when she was in an all-girl motorcycle club. Oy. She has two tattoos: one of Sweet P, and one of Mean P. Do not like!

Victorya Hong was born in Korea and has always been an overachiever.

The gang gets their first Tyra Mail—oh, wait. Sorry. Project Runway has been off the damn air so long I’ve forgotten what’s going on. Anyway, Heidi and Tim are waiting for the contestants in Bryant Park, home of fashion week. Everybody gets there and enjoys their customary champagne toast, so they get good and tipsy before the first challenge. Tim and Heidi come out and both look crazy-skinny. Tim also appears to be wearing jeans, which, as he would say, “concerns me.”

The first challenge is generally making an outfit out of found objects. This year, Heidi explains, it isn’t. Instead, the designers have to go to tents, which are filled with $50,000 worth of fabric, and create a garment that reflects who they are as a designer. Yawn. When Heidi says “go,” the contestants make a mad dash toward the tents—except for Chris, who just kind of trots behind everybody. They all seem to get the fabric they want. We cut to Elisa getting grass stains all over her chiffon because she wants to infuse it with natural elements. Also, she is insane.

After the commercial break, we get our first “make it work” from Tim. The designers cheer. I have missed this show! Speaking of which, Elisa’s endless babbling about creating a cascading gown like water falling off the back reminds me why I love the Project Runway editors so much. She’s clearly a loon and the bouncy clown music that they chose to underscore her ramblings with lets you know that they think it too. I heart them. What’s even better is that everybody else thinks she’s crazy too (She’s sewing her dress onto herself!). When Christian talks about how she’s like a rain goddess or something, I figure out what’s bothering me about Christian: he’s basically a character Andy Dick would play in a sketch show.

Good ol’ Kit Pistol interviews that she’s worried that the judges might be confused by her designs. I’m confused by her bow necklace and the fact that all of her accessories look like they came out of the ½ off bin at Claire’s.

Tim visits! He makes his rounds and says Rami’s dress is stunning. He’s concerned about Christian’s top, which isn’t symmetrical. Christian, of course, is they guy who is all, “that’s the look I was going for.” Tim doesn’t buy it. Simone has a lot of finishing to do. He wants Elisa to ask herself, “did I take it as far as I needed to?” I don’t really know what that means. Apparently, neither does Elisa, because she just goes to sleep.

There’s 10 minutes left and Christian gets in my favorite line of the episode: “Don’t go into the fear box people!” Words to live by.

It’s model time! Elisa hand measures her model like she’s a horse. Ha! Simone never put the zipper on her dress and has to sew it onto her model. Elisa’s model got all sorts of tangled up in her hot mess of a dress. She says she intuitively thought that she should chop off five feet, but didn’t. I have a sneaking suspicion that’s going to come back to bite her in the ass.

Runway:

Heidi introduces the judges: Our old favorites Michael Kors and Nina Garcia are joined by designer Monique Lhuillier.

First up, Elisa: Her model, of course immediately gets tangled. The dress looks like 15 dollars worth of spandex with a bunch of crap stapled to the back.

Chris: Purple gown. It has an interesting tie in the back, but otherwise, eh. It seems too short.

Kevin: Some hideous shiny cocktail thing with pinstripes. His model seriously looks like a cocktail waitress in a Sopranos-themed restaurant in Atlantic City.

Sweet P: Red and gold bubble dress. Eh.

Simone: Her dress really does look unfinished. The jacket-thing seems completely superfluous.

Jillian: Red dress that looks like it is physically weighing the model down. I’m afraid she’ll topple at any moment.

Christian: The jacket and skirt are both so puffy; they even make the model look big.

Victorya: Cute but boring black dress with annoying straps and oversized flower.

Rami: It’s basically a grey toga.

Ricky: A silver and black cocktail dress that looks like something one of the Hiltons would wear.

Jack: His dress is the first one that I like. It’s a beautiful black and white pattern with blue sash and blue tie at the neck.

Marion: His dress somehow manages to be porny yet frumpy.

Steven: A very chic suit, but with a crazy bustle in the back.

Carmen: She dressed her model in my grandma’s karaoke night outfits. Well, if my gradma were Judy Jetson, that is.

Kit Pistol: A really cute black and grey pattern strapless dress with a completely fug red…thing over it. Is it a half shirt?

Chris, Kevin, Sweet P, Jillian, Jack, Marion, Steve, Carmen, Kit are all safe.

After further deliberations, in which Nina has absolutely no poker face, the judges determine that Victorya is also in, but the winner is Rami, with his fancy mother-of-the-bride toga. He has immunity in the next challenge. Christian and Ricky are also in. The bottom two are crazy Elisa and boring Simone. PR judges love crazy, so Simone is out. Ah, Simone. We barely knew ye, and we cared even less.

Though Project Runway’s highly-anticipated 4th season isn’t set to premiere until next month, it’s already preceded by spoilers and controversy. So if you don’t want to know anything about upcoming challenges or who gets kicked off (and the charges behind it) then stop reading now.

Still with me? There are a few big Project Runway rumors in the news today. According to the Gatecrasher column in the New York Daily News, two of the challenges in the upcoming season involve designing for rocker Bon Jovi and New York fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker. More disturbing, however, are the allegations of HIV-bias on the show.

Make of this what you will, but an “inside source” is claiming that designer Jack Mackenroth is the 5th contestant to be “Auf’d.” The source says that "[Mackenroth] is saying he got kicked off not because he lost a challenge, but because he got a 'staph' infection and said his face blew up like the kid from Mask." Staph infections are especially dangerous for those with HIV and can sometimes be contagious. Mackenroth’s Project Runway bio states “Jack has…always been very open about his positive HIV status. Since his diagnosis in 1990, he has tried to combat the stigma of HIV by living honestly and being a role model through professional and athletic achievements.”

Mackenroth, who like nearly all reality show contestants is bound by a confidentiality agreement, denies making this claim. In a statement released by Bravo, he says "People will say things about me whether they know me or not. Those were not my words and are fictitious."

If the substance of these charges are true and Mackenroth was eliminated after developing his Staph infection, I can believe that he feels his appearance contributed to his leaving the show. Whether it actually did or did not, I can’t say. However, to charge Runway with HIV-bias is reaching. As his HIV status is mentioned prominently in is Project Runway bio, producers were obviously aware of this fact when he was cast. If they didn’t want anybody on the show who is HIV-positive, wouldn’t they have just…not cast him?

It will be interesting to not only see the episode in which Mackenroth is allegedly eliminated, but to hear what the players involved have to say after the confidentiality agreements are no longer in effect. So far, people involved with Bravo and Project Runway have been mum. Even Bravo’s normally loquacious Senior Vice President of Production and Programming, Andy Cohen, didn’t mention the controversy in today’s blog entry, other than a reference to today being stressful. Perhaps he’ll have more to say tomorrow.

Project Runway’s 4th Season premieres Wednesday, November 14 at 10PM on Bravo.