Tim Gunn is making it work after he was allegedly not invited back to Project Runway.
Gunn was a staple on the fashion design competition series for more than a decade, serving as a mentor to the designers from the show’s 2004 debut through season 16 in 2017. In 2018, he and host Heidi Klum left Project Runway to launch their reality series Making the Cut on Prime Video.
In 2025, Klum returned for Project Runway season 21 — but Gunn did not.
“I wasn’t invited to return to the party,” The Fashion Bible author said on Chelsea Handler’s “Dear Chelsea” podcast in February 2026. “My agent called the producers to say, ‘We understand Heidi [Klum] signed up. We haven’t heard a thing about Tim,’ and they said, ‘We don’t want him.’”
Gunn added, “I feel extremely lucky to have had 19 seasons of the show, 16 with Heidi, and I have a beautiful Emmy sitting on my kitchen counter. Yeah, so no complaints. I feel very, very, very lucky.”
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Keep scrolling to see everything Gunn has said about not coming back to Project Runway:
Tim Gunn Shares His Initial Reaction to ‘Project Runway’ Snub
Tim Gunn first claimed that he wasn’t invited back to Project Runway in an interview with People in February 2025.
“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,'” he said at the time. “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.’”
Gunn said that he was “initially devastated, then kind of humiliated” after he learned that the producers allegedly didn’t want him back on the show.
Gunn added that he planned to tune into the show anyway to support Klum, whom he said was “really upset” that he wasn’t returning.
“I have her back and I’m with her in spirit always,” he told the outlet.
Tim Gunn Says He Turned Down a ‘Project Runway’ Cameo Offer
Tim Gunn told People that he was offered a cameo in Project Runway season 21, but turned it down.
“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,’” he explained. “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.”
Tim Gunn Has ‘Come to Terms’ With Not Being Included in ‘Project Runway’
Tim Gunn said his feelings about not returning to Project Runway eventually changed.
“I thought, how lucky am I to have had the experiences that I’ve had over the last 20 years?” he concluded in his interview with People. “This 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.”
