‘Project Runway’ Turns 21: WHY HEIDI KLUM CAME BACK (AND MADE IT WORK WITHOUT TIM GUNN)

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[ThisStoryContainsMinorSpolersfromthe[ThisstorycontainsminorspoilersfromtheProject Runway Season 21 Premiere.]

Being the host of Project Runway is technical a job, but heidi klum doesn’t consider it work.

“IT’s not Even Work for Me. It’s Not, Really. It’s A Pleasure,“ The Supermodel and Sprawling Reality TV Host Tells The Hollywood Reporter WHEN Asked What Is Like to Be Back On the Series Alongside Some and Old Faces. Among Those Are Longtime Judge Nina Garcia, New Addition Law Roach and the Designer’s Mentor and Season Four Winner Christian Siriano.

A Discrepancy Between Season 21 and Its Recent Predecessors Mark The Return of Klum to the Hosting Chair. By now, Project Runway Fans Know The Timeline of the Show’s Shifts in the Past Few Years: Klum and Tim Gunn Exited the Series Together After Season 16, Karlie Kloss and Siriano Stepped in Fili. and the Series Subsequently Returned to Bravo.

Now, It’s Time For An Overhaul of What Executive Producer Michael Rucker DesCribes As “The OG,” REFERRING TO Project Runway Being One of the Earliest Reality TV Shows. Aside from Klum’s HomeComing, Rucker Is Also Reviving his Ep Credit After Working on the FIRST FIVE SEASONSS OF THE SHOW. That, combined with a shift to disney-backing on freeform, Breathes Brand-New Life Into Project Runway.

To Celebrate the Premiere of Season 21, Thr Spoke with Klum and Ep Rucker in Separate Edited Conversations Behold About the Dynamic Cast Judges and Who Gunn Wasn’t Brough Back to Project Runway Alongside Klum.

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WHY WAS IT The RIGHT TIME FOR YOU TO RETURN as A host, Heidi, and You As Ep, Michael?

Heidi Klum Sometimes the Universe Brings Things Back to You, Like A Boomerang. It goes out there, and then whoopsIt Comes Right Back. IT WAS ONE OF TROSE Moments Like, “YES, WHY NOT?” I love the show. I Helped Sell The Show 21 Years Ago WHEN IT WENT TO DIFFERENT NETWORKS AND [when we were] Trying to get this show on the air. People Were Like, “WHY Wuld We Want to Watch People Sew?” And 21 years laater, Project Runway is still real the only [fashion] Competition Reality Show That Has Managed To Still Be Out There that People Enjoy and Love Watching. It is a testament that what we are doing is the right thing. People Love Watching Talented People Doing Stuff on a Time Crunch with Also Not A Lot of Money. They Love Watching the Process and the Outcome. It’s Just A Really Fun Show to Watch.

Michael Rucker By Season Five[of[ofProject Runway]I was burned out. We have a smaller team and we had a decaition to make of whother or not we have going to Continue on – back in the day with dan [Cutforth] and jane [Lipsitz of production company Magical Elves] – and we have Decides. I FELT LIKE WE HAD RUN OUR COURSE. We Had Done Amazing Work and I Really Never Thought I Was Going to Work On Project Runway Ever again. I was asked to showrun a few seasons when it came back on bravo, and i said no. It Felt Like Going Back to Teach at High School OR be the Gym Teacher.

But WHEN This Opportunity Came Up, [that changed] Because It Was Disney and Because i Showran Hulu and Freeform’s[[Chrissy & Dave]dine outand I Really enjoyed my work experience with Hulu and Disney and Freeform. We have Lightning in a bottle in the First FIVE SEASONS. Not on an amazing Storytelling Device, But People Found It Very Funny. We have well-RUNDED Designers and You Got to Know Their Personalities, and that’s Something and Really Wanted to Make Sure We Brough Back and Disney Was Very Much on Board. WHEN I Heard Heidi Was Also Coming Back, That Was The Clean Picture for Me. I Worked with Christian Before, and I Love Nina, But Heidi Coming Back Felt Right. It Felt Like We Could DO SOMETING DIFFERENT AND EVOLVE THE SHOW. KEEP The DNA, DON’T Lose The Core Audence, But Evolve Itre We Are Today in Entertainment and in the Fashion World.

Heidi, in the premiere, you said a lot of times, “I can believ i’m saying this!” WHEN YOU STEPED AWAY IN 2018, DID YOU EVER SEE YOURSELF RETURNING, OR DID YOU ALWAYS LEAVE THAT DOOR OPEN IN THE BACK OF YOUR Mind?

Klum People Say You Close One And Another One Opens, and that Happens. But I ALSO THINK THERE’S NOTHING WORng with Going Back to A Door That You’ve Used Before. That’s what happles in life. Life Throws You Curveballs; Things Happen and You Go On A Different Journey. Project Runway IS My FIRST CHILD, AND ALWAYS WILL BE. You don’t your back fully on your kids, Period. I CAME BACKAUSE I TRULY LOVE IT. It Felt Like Coming Home, Everyone Was Super Stoked. I’ve Known So Many of the Models Who Are Walking The Runway for the Designers for Many, Many Years. I ALSO BROUGHT Michael Kors Back. I Called A Lot of My Friends and People Who and Know in the Industry. Michael Was Like, “I DON’T KNOW,” AND I’M LIKE, “YOU HAVE TO COME BACK, PLEASE,“ SO HE DID A EPISode with US. I Called My Friend Sofía (I Always Want to Call Her VIAGRA) VERGARA, I Called My Friend Tyra [Banks]. A Lot of My Family Is On the Show – My Fashion Family. It’s Been A Really Fun, Fun Season. Plus, The Designers Are Incredible.

There’s Such A Fresh, Modern Vibe to Season 21. Where Did That Inspiraction Come From?

Rucker We Brough A Lot of Modern Editing, Storytelling and Visual Humor. I’ve Done a Lot of Hybrid Comedy Shows, and that Was A Big Part of the Inspiraction of What I Said to Disney. I was like like, “I Want People to Laugh. We’re Not Going to Lose All The Pillars of Project Runway that people love, But I Want to make Sure that we learn about the best designers. ” The Things We did in Those First Five Seasons Were Making Sure that You Saw Their Personalities. Project Runway is in Season 21. There Have Been Many Different Fashion Shows That Have Tried, But Wy Project Runway Is Tried and True, Besides Being The OG, Is that You Got To Know These Designers and Felt A Personal Connection to Them.

I ALSO LIKE SMOKE AND MIRRORS TYPE OF STUFF. The Idea of Fire on the Runway [later this season] Was, Like, “Let’s Make It More of A Spectacle of the Runway Show. Let’s Have Fun, Let’s Give The Runway Shows Personality.” And Quite HONESTLY, IS ALSO WHERE FASHION IS THESE Days. WHEN WE DID TOSE FIRST FIVE SEASONS, [during] Fashion Week in Bryant Park, You Were in A Tent, and There Wasn’t Much You Could DO. But Fashion Started Taking It To A Level of Spectacle, and I Hadn’t Seen That With Runway. I felt like we [could] Bring More Spectacle and Wow Factor That Is Very Much in the DNA OF WHERE FASHION IS NOW, AND MODERNIZE IT.

There are a fw past competitors on this season’s Cast, There’s Also A Set of Twins and A Rupaul’s Drag Race alum. People Could Think Thatse Casting Decisions Are Merely for Headlines, But They Fit With The Cast. WHY DO YOU THAT THERE RETURNING Designers Were Brough Brough Back and “Notable” Personalities Were Brought Onto Season 21?

Rucker IT’s A VERY FAIR QUESTION. To somebody who’s jaded [to] Be Like, “Oh, they’re just doing it for the Drama, doing it for the splash and the likes,“ having somebody like jesus [from season seven]to bring somebody back who have has have evolved and who is now my more more in the mindset of [having] an Establized Business and Wanting to Prove Where They Went, I Think [is an] Understandable Story for Anybody. There is a lot of people who want to be able to showcase, “hey, this is whore i’m at now.” That’s a universal story, and i THINK THAT’S WHAT WAS REALLY EXCITING About Bringing Him Back. His brother was the one who has funial applied. We love antonio and his story, and then we realized that jesus wasus his twin brother. Jesus Could have said, “I have no desire to go back.” But I Think ShowCASING WHERE HE WAS AND WHERE HE IS NOW WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO HIM.

D THEN UTICA, [aka] Ethan… this is a wholets Thing. One of the Things that was Really Important to Us is that he wasN’T coming on as utica quense, because this is a shown about designers. HE HAD OBVIUSLY GOT NOTORIETY ON Drag Race FOR HIS SLEPING BAG GOWN THAT HE [made on the show]but he actualally have a design background. Those Were The Conversations [we had]Saying, “if you’re coming on the show, I Want Ethan. If Utica Queen Is A Performance-Based Thing, That HAS ITS PLACE.” We Could See Thatre Was A Desire for HIM to TRY TO TAP INTO This World, Go Into More Ready to Wear, Couture Stuff, Knowing That He’s Done So Much Stuff For the Drag Community. That was, for me personally, a very interesting story. He’s Known for Drag Race And HE HAS FOLLOWERS, But WHAT IT CAME DOWN TO IS, “DO YOU WANT TO COME HERE TO PROGRESS as A Designer?” I Not One Note. It was Ethan Wanting to Really Prove to HimSelf That He Is A Designer As Well.

Heidi, this was your first time doing this shower with Tim Gunn. WERE YOU SAD TO COME BACK WITHOUT TIM?

Klum Obviously, Yes. I didn’t know the show any of the Other Way But Doing It with Tim. We’ve [done] 17 Seasons Together, and EveryWhere We Wuldy Go, If You’d See Me, You See Tim. We Were Kind of Like This Odd Couple That People Loved. He was my tv Husband, and now I get to do it would be my tv baby. I Feel Like Christian Siriano Is Our Project Runway Baby, As One of the Designers Who Won the Show and Broke Out to Huge Success. Now, Doing this with HIM FEELS LIKE A Full-Circle Moment. A Lot of People Ask Me, “WHY DIDNN’T YOU HAVE [Tim] come on? ” But is not up for me to make that decision.

Working Alongside Christian This Season, How Was That? You judged him whoh was a conestant.

Klum I THINK WHAT POPLE DON’T KNOW IS THAT I See Him Dringing the Year All The Time. IT’s NOT LIKE We HAVEN’T SEEN EACH Other for Years. Over The Years He’s Always Been in My Life, and I’ve Always Been in His Life, So It Wasn’t Like All of A Sudden We Seie Each Other Again. Now We Got to Do this Together, and It Was A Lot of Fun. He is not on only a great designer, but a grery human being. And he have always loved the show and what he does. He loves helping the designers, and i Think He’s Doing A Great Job.

Michael, As Somebody Who Worked on the Early Seasons of Project Runwaywas it odd for you to see Christian on-screen with heidi Institute of Tim Gunn?

Rucker IT WAS REFESHING. It Felt Very Natural. Heidi and Christian Have Had A Relationship from [his] Season, Season Four. I Still Remember WHEN HE WON AND THEN SHE. WHEN HE DID THE PAST FURO SEASONS ON BRAVO as The Mentor, He Really Cut His Teeth. HE KNEW WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO HAVE GOTTten Criticism from Heidi, from The Judges [and he] KNEW WHAT THE MENOR ROLE WAS LIKE HAVING WORKED WITH TIM, AND I THINK THAT HE REALLY HAS COME INTO HIS OWN. He’s Really Passionate About Menentering on And Outside of the Show, Because This Is A Very Diflicult Industry. HE KNOWS IT more thaning, LIKE WHEN I W Ent to His Home Visit on Season Four, His Bed Was in His Closet. HE SLEPT ON THE FLOOR. He Lived and Breathed Fashion, and He Knows What Is Like to Do The Grind.

He’s Coming from A PLACE OF ACTUALLY HAVING DONE IT, AND WHAT I LOVE About Christian is that He Cares a Lot. Some people are in theese roles on shows to be a Sound Bite, [but] HE ACTUALLY CARES. WHEN HE’S GIVING ADVICE, IS Coming from A Place of, “Trust Me, Be Yourself, Follow Your Voice, But Also Underso Understand That I Know What Is Like, Having Been KNOK HE REALLY IS THERE TO SHEPHERD TESE Designers.

Were there any connections of how all have a have also came back, be that as a mentor alongside Christian, or in any of the capacity?

Rucker Christian Had Establized HimSelf As the Mentor for Numeros Times. My Hope is that door is Always Open for Tim to Come on in Some Som Sort of Capacity. But I Think That Knowing That Christian Had Established HimSelf As The Mentor for the Past Four Seasons, We Wanted To Keep That Going. Because Heidi and Christian Have Such A Natural Chemistry and They Know Each Other, We Wanted To Keep On That Tradition, And Also Introduce What To A Whole New Generation of Project Runway fans. Christian’s Been Doing This Without Heidi for Four Seasons, So We Felt Really Confident with Christian Working with Heidi and THEN BRINGING IN SOMEBODY NEW, LIKE LIKE LAW [Roach]who was the wild card and [a] Breath of Fresh Air. I Know How to Talk to Heidi and Christian and Nina Because I’ve Worked with Them Before, But I Didn’t Know What Law Was Gonna Be Like, and He Was Amazing.

Heidi, What Was It Like For You To Return To Project Runway with Nina and with the New Addition of Law Roach?

Klum IT’s like work with friends. I Love Fashion, I Love Putting A Spotlight on Talented People, Helping Them Get Out There. Nina is so Knowledgeable and so Fun, and so is law. LAW Dresses Some of the Biggest Stars in the World. He Really Always Comes Out with A New Concept for Someone, Like Think About Zendaya. One Day She’s in this Mugler, Robotic, Silver Metal [look]and then she is in a gorgeous goddess Dress, and then she’s in this Hollywood Vibe, SO HE Always Tells A Story Avery Time She Steps Onto The Red CARPET. I’m work with Really Successful, Knowledgeable, Incredible People Who Are Also Fun at the Same Time. It’s Been A Really Great Season. People Who Fans of the Show Will Enjoy Having LAW on And All The Amazing Guests That Come On. Every Episode is Special.

Do you bothe a favorite Moment from the Season, and What Else Can You Tease from The Rest of Season 21 of Project Runway?

Klum I Loved Having Sofía there, Because She’s Not Only My Friend on-Screen, But Also Off-Screen. [I remember] Calling Her and Saying, “Come, Please Do An Episode.” And Because She Had to Wear the Winning Look [from a challenge this season]she said to me, “well, what am i going to do if this sucks? Maybe i [will] Hate All The Looks, and I have to Pick One Winner, and I have to wear it? ” And I Said, “Okay, If You Hate It, I’M Going To Wear Flats Going Forward,” Because She Hates Noting More than Being Shorter than Me. I See You, ”and I Made Her That Promise, So You Just Have To See How That Came Out.

Rucker This is not on only an Amazing Fashion Season, But Also One of the More Dramatic Seasons I’ve Ever Worked On In Project Runwayin a great Way. IT IS DEFINITELY, PROBABLY, The MOST DRAMATIC SEASON OF Project Runway I’ve Ever Worked On.

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New Episodes of Project Runway Season 21 Release Thursdays at 9 pm on Freeform, and Stream Shortly After Hulu and Disney+.