Project Runway spinoff Models of the Runway airs tonight on Lifetime after Runway’s season-six premiere. It’s a reality show about people on a reality-TV show, Tim Gunn emphasized yesterday, standing proudly in front of a New York City tour bus filled with models from Models. The ladies were there to remind viewers that Lifetime changed its channel to 62 in New York. While they were supposed to do this by handing out (and even eating) ice-cream bars, the giveaway was mysteriously switched last-minute to umbrellas, a nonedible gift, allegedly as a result of so-called “eating permits” that forbid ice cream, a spokeswoman from Lifetime explained.
Anyway, Gunn explained how filming a reality show about a reality show gets tricky. “When we were taping Project Runway, there were times when we had two crews that were intersecting. I would tell the designers that the models are coming into the workroom for a fitting, and then the Models of the Runway crew would swoop in. All the dialogue that happens in there will appear on Models of the Runway.” Gunn hasn’t seen Models yet, but is pretty sure that unlike the designers competing in Project Runway, audiences see what the models’ lives are like outside of the show. “There are some separate story lines for the models. While the designers and I are doing our thing all the time every day, the models have downtime. I think that they go out and they do things — on the show, and in real life.” The ladies also lived together, with Heidi Klum as their mentor, Gunn said. “She’d say, ‘Don’t slouch,’ or, ‘Don’t walk so quickly.’ She explains how to be a good model.” Does this mean Tyra has competition from Heidi? We are so watching tonight.
