The third-season opener of Bravo’s fashionable reality show Project Runway was eyed by 2.4 million, a whopping, triple-digit, 161 percent increase over the show’s season two premiere, already controversy has reared its ugly head. It’s a pointless exercise that ignores the fact that these things always have been manipulated for your enjoyment on featuring 15 designing women and men vying for one career-launching spot at New York’s Fashion Week.
Even better, at least for the sake of host Heidi Klum’s visibility, some 3.7 million caught the repeat Monday night on Bravo’s big network brother, NBC, per overnight estimates.
After the first episode premiered, sharp-eyed commenters on TelevisionWithoutPity.com noted that designs submitted by contestant Keith Michael, the 34-year-old, self-taught menswear designer, bore a remarkable similarity to runway photos that appeared on sites such as Elle.com and Style.com in the portfolio that he used to audition for the show.
Keith Michael secured his position as an early frontrunner in the competition after he won the first fashion challenge by fashioning an attractive halter dress from a bed sheet.
Normally, we’d suggest that Michael be reprimanded for his actions, but since this is reality TV, may we suggest that his indiscretion be exploited for all of the ratings that dodgy behaviour can generate? The revelation that he may have copied his designs gave rise to speculation that Michael might be “the villain” host Heidi Klum referred to in a recent Newsweek interview.
“We have a great villain. You always hope for something like that,” Klum said. Promo ads for this season also referenced a “scandalous controversy that rocks the runway.” Intriguing. It’s just like an M. Night Shyamalan twist — you never see it coming.
Promos for the new season referenced a “scandalous controversy that rocks the runway,” and showed Tim Gunn, the mentor to the aspiring designers, stating: “This is completely against the rules of the show.”
Michael posted his defense on the blog Blogging Project Runway, in which he claimed that the portfolio in question was “a research assignment” and had submitted five portfolios to the judges. The portfolio in question, he explained, was “a research assignment I did for a client in which I reviewed key fashion trends.”
With the next episode of Runway airing tonight, at least viewers won’t have long to wait to discover whether Michael is in, or whether Klum will be bidding him auf wiedersehen.

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