We have another person to bring out, because we only have 14 of our 15 designers there. And Heidi is very gracious in saying that we’re bringing someone out who we really thought would make it to Olympus Fashion Week, but regrettably didn’t. And Keith is brought out.
We then watch a clip of Keith’s disqualification. He was talking about how the books had been taken away from him, and then they were brought back against his knowledge, and then we find the books and we blame him. Basically, he was saying it was a conspiracy. And I respond, and I hope it’s in the show, that . . . why would we conspire against him? He’s - he’s an excellent designer, he’s a strong personality. Why would we not want him to continue on the show? And, furthermore, he stirred things up with the other designers. Who could ask for anything more than those three characteristics? Why would we conspire against him to throw him off the show? And forget about the whole – well, no, I won’t forget about the whole thing about having Keith leave production. He was blaming it on the person in charge of the cast, saying that she told him to go ahead and leave and there’s the door. It just turned the entire environment sour. You could see it in the designers’ faces. You could feel it. I mean, it was palpable. It was awful.
Heidi asks the designers how they feel about this whole thing with Keith - was it handled properly, was it handled fairly? And we have unanimity that he should have been gone. I mean, there’s no one standing up for him saying that he should have stayed. And . . . Jeffrey expresses that Keith should have handled things differently. And Uli, on the topic of these books and their whereabouts and the . . . Jeffrey [transcriber note - he means Keith] leaving production . . . I mean, she says something about how you can’t go to the bathroom without having everybody know about it. It’s very hard to keep anything private in a situation like this. I mean, it’s - in fact it’s quite impossible. Also in the category of preposterous, Keith asserts that there’s nothing in the contract about the books. And the other designers just . . . well, they were incredulous. They simply said - it’s there. You needed to read it. It’s there.
Now it’s time to pick on Vincent. So, Vincent, prior to the reunion special, our reunion - Vincent had had an interview with Entertainment Weekly.com, ew.com. And boy, did he have a lot to say. Heidi reads him a quote from what he said about me. [Laughs] And the quote is “Tim has been badmouthing me since the show started because I didn’t choose to bow down to him.” Oh, I do love you Vincent. “If he gave constructive advice, I would thank him. If he tried other things, I would dismiss him.” Well clearly, he thinks I was trying “other things,” because he only dismissed me. And you know, the producers, because they are so thoughtful and so considerate, asked me how I felt about even putting this in the show and I said, “No it’s fine, put it in. Besides, I’d like to hear his response.” And Vincent’s response was basically, “Well, the article says it. If I thought you could help me, I’d listen to you.” Fine. Fine, Vincent. At least there was never a moment when he was going to stand on the runway and say, “Tim Gunn made me do this.” No, I didn’t.
So, Heidi then cites another quote from Entertainment Weekly that “the show was full of amateur designers.” And Vincent in response to “the show is full of amateurs,” he really says, “Well, I didn’t mean them,” gesturing to the designers around us, I mean, with us – the season three designers. So I said, “Wait a minute. This quote says that there was only one real designer on the show. Clearly, that’s you. The rest of ‘them’ were amateurs. Who is ‘them’ if it’s not these people, this group?” Laura says that she thinks Vincent is delusional. Thank you, Laura. And there’s general . . . there’s a general lack of Vincent love in the room, let me put it that way.
So, we have a fun segment with Kayne and his speed-talking. We have a rather poignant moment with Malan. And I really do regret that Malan didn’t stay longer. Maybe he’ll be back for season four. We ask the designers which challenge they enjoyed the most, and generally speaking they loved the dog challenge. And which challenge was the most difficult – the mom challenge. And they cite specifically having to design clothes . . . clothes for larger women. And it is a challenge, it’s difficult. But it’s a challenge every designer should embrace. So the most difficult challenge everyone seemed to agree was the mom challenge. And it was difficult for a number of different reasons. One – as a design challenge, larger women, women who aren’t a size zero are . . . require an adjustment in one’s thinking about how to create, how to make the design – it’s not really how to create it, it’s how to make it. And some of the designers were more adept at this than others. But there was another aspect that was challenging, and that was the interpersonal relationships. And we know that the relationship established between Jeffrey and Darlene, Angela’s mother, was not good. And while on the one hand, one would like to hold both parties responsible for this, I have to say - Jeffrey being the home court, Darlene being the visitor . . . Jeffrey really had a lot of responsibility here for keeping this a good, even-keeled, and client-responsible relationship. And he didn’t do a particularly good job; as a matter of fact I would say that he failed at it. And there’s a lot of discussion back and forth, heated, between Jeffrey and Angela. And I have to say, I remember myself on the show, on the reunion show, being pretty dogged with Jeffrey about owning up to his behavior, and I finally asked him whether he ever apologized to Darlene, because she needed an apology, she was owed one. And he said, with some remorse, “No, I never did.’
So then we have another wonderful little segment that people will see, but probably not hear, and that is Vincent’s laundry outburst. Production makes certain that the designer’s needs, those needs that must be taken care of, are taken care of. I mean, the production - production’s not doing the laundry, they’re sending it out to be done. But they’re doing it in a way that’s careful and thoughtful. So Vincent’s laundry comes back and I can’t recall what the issue is and it doesn’t really matter in a way. I don’t know whether it was dry-cleaned and it wasn’t supposed to be, or whether it was washed and it was starched or it wasn’t supposed to be starched, but he has a breakdown. And I saw the unedited, verbally unedited, version and there is every expletive in the book coming out of his mouth. I mean, talk about a potty mouth - it’s an outpouring of potty mouth. So when we see the clip, it’s really . . . it’s, he’s very – I mean, it’s quiet, it’s like a silent movie because his mouth is moving, but nothing is coming out. It was unbelievable. It went on and on and on. And I have to add that Jeffrey and Michael [transcriber note - it was actually Kayne and Michael] are out on the terrace of the apartment saving themselves, because Vincent has really turned into Hurricane Vincent.
All right, then we have something really wonderful, which we need after that last scene, which is the announcement of the bravotv.com fan favorite award. The fans have been writing in, I believe, for the two weeks prior to this moment, voting on their favorite.
So, the winner is the divine Michael Knight, which is wonderful and actually, no surprise to me. I would’ve been surprised if it had not been. I was expecting it to be Michael, but it was just great and wonderful that it was. And Nina Garcia and Michael Kors bring out the check. It was just- it was great. And it’s the first time that Nina and Michael have appeared on the reunion show, so that was also wonderful. And we get to have some interaction with them.
So [laughs a lot] – poor Angela. And I do love her. I do – I really do. She’s a sweetheart. [Laughs] But she asks – this is the “ask the judges opportunity,” she asks the judges whether their opinion of her design for the dog challenge would have been different had her story, her narrative, had been different. And you probably remember the story about the British headmistress who’s running the art camp in Paris, and it’s called Jubilee Jumbles, or whatever it is. Maybe Jubilee Jumbles was the name of the headmistress, I dunno. Angela . . . whaddya think the response would have been? If she’d been [laughs] running an art gallery in New York, it wouldn’t have made any difference. That outfit was from the moon. Please. But, I do love Angela. Oh – [laughs] then Kayne! They - you know, I love our designers - but really, guys? Kayne asked if he’d chosen another fabric for the couture challenge, would that have changed their opinion? I don’t think so.
Well then we have a segment showing some of the production challenges. We have a fire alarm that goes off while we’re on the runway, and that was not good. But the sweetest part – and I was so glad to see this because I remember it very well from the taping - the part that was so wonderful was the scene with Stanley, Bradley’s model, Bradley’s dog in the dog challenge because Stanley would not keep quiet on that runway. Stanley kept barking and whining and crying, and barking and whining and crying. I mean, it was the same thing I went through with him in the park, but when it’s on the runway, it’s – it’s not a good thing. I mean, the park, we could handle it. And we had to stop everything, I don’t know how many times, because of Stanley. And Bradley was so dear, he picked him up, he’s cradling him, and Stanley returns to his old behavior. I mean, it’s just . . . poor thing couldn’t help himself. So, I was glad to see it though, because it was really a challenge for everyone.
So the final four leave us and we ask the designers for their predictions and Daniel Vosovic says Uli, Jay says Michael Knight, and . . . we’re going to leave everyone hanging. So next week we have our final four and I’m gonna go off and visit them, see what they’re up to.
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