Tim Gunn Reveals He Isn’t Returning For “Project Runway” Revival

Later this year, Disney will be bringing back the popular reality competition series, “Project Runway” for its 21st season on Freeform, Hulu and Disney+.

The series is about talented fashion designers, who showcase their skills as they compete in a series of challenges to win the coveted title and an opportunity to create a collection for the New York Fashion Week.

When “Project Runway” debuted in 2004, the series broke new ground and helped revolutionize the reality competition genre. Since then, “Project Runway” has aired in more than 125 countries.

The long-standing series has had a profound effect on the fashion industry, launching the careers of prolific designers, including Christian Siriano, Austin Scarlett, Leanne Marshall, Irina Shabayeva, Michael Costello and Bishme Cromartie, among many others.

Recently, it was revealed that Heidi Klum will be returning to host the show, having previously hosted the show for the first 16 seasons before quitting when the show moved networks.

However, during an interview with People, Tim Gunn, who hosted “Project Runway” for nineteen seasons, he confirmed that he is not returning to host the new show and also surprisingly also revealed that he wasn’t even asked about returning. Tim, who is 71 years old, revealed that he was in contact with Heidi about the revival of the show:

“Heidi sent me a text saying, ‘There’s talk about bringing Project Runway back with us, with you and me, and would you do it?’ And I said, ‘Would I do it? Of course, there’s not a moment of hesitation in me,'”

However, Tim revealed that it wasn’t until he got a text from Heidi asking about his contract for the revival, that he realised he wasn’t coming back.

“So Heidi and I were texting and texting, and several months later, she sent me a text asking, ‘Are you happy with your contract?’ I’m a truth-teller. I don’t even mince words. I said, ‘Well, I haven’t seen a contract,’And she said, ‘You haven’t?’ No. So I called my agent and he knew things were going on, but he contacted the executive producers of this new show, and they said, ‘We don’t want him.’ And [my agent] said, ‘Well, he’s done 19 seasons of Runway, 16 with Heidi. The two of them won an Emmy together as hosts, and now you’re going to separate them?’ And they said yes.

So I wasn’t asked back. However, several weeks after that conversation, they went back to [my agent] and said, ‘Well, we’ve thought about it and we’d be willing to offer Tim a small cameo in one episode.’ What do I do? Wave from a bus? As the designers are going into Mood [Fabrics]? Heidi comes to see me at the retirement home and we play croquet? So no thank you. And as Heidi would say, you’re either in or you’re out. And I’m out. So I wasn’t asked to join.”

As you might expect, Tim wasn’t thrilled with the response from the producers of the new show But quickly, he changed his perspective on the situation.

“I thought, how lucky am I to have had the experiences that I’ve had over the last 20 years?. his is phenomenal. I stopped the boo-hooing. I thought, it’s really throwing hubris in the face of an angry God to mourn not being on this new show. So I’ve come to terms with it. Am I disappointed? Sure. And most of all, it’s about not working with Heidi, but we move on and things happen for a reason. I don’t know what the reason is yet, but it will be revealed.”

Spyglass Media Group and Alfred Street Industries produce “Project Runway.” Gary Barber serves as executive producer for Spyglass, and Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Dan Volpe, and Nan Strait serve as executive producers for Alfred Street Industries.

The ten-episode series will be released later in 2025, with a new episode released each week. No release date for the new season has been announced yet.

As you might expect, long-term fans of the show aren’t happy with the idea that Tim Gunn isn’t returning for the new show, especially since he’s been in almost every season. It’ll be interesting to see what happens after this information becomes public knowledge since this could push the production company to bring him back if they’ve not already started filming.

Ultimately, if they want to give this a fresh take with new judges and mentors to pull in a new, younger audience, they will need new or established faces that the younger generations will know. However, bringing back Heidi instantly bridges that gap to the previous seasons, which is what they want to encourage previous viewers to tune in.

Would you like to see Tim Gunn return for “Project Runaway”? Let me know on social media!