Heidi Klum Shuts Down The Biggest Project Runway Theory

Project Runway is back, bringing a new crop of design hopefuls tasked with pulling off the impossible: creating runway-worthy looks under brutal time constraints. For Season 22, the series is raising the stakes even higher with its largest cast in franchise history and a brand-new Manhattan workspace — but a bigger room doesn’t stop the ticking clock.

If you thought those 24-hour deadlines were just reality TV magic, think again. “When I give them a one-day challenge, it actually is one day,” Project Runway host and executive producer Heidi Klum tells Bustle, debunking the show’s biggest myth. Turns out, the schedule is so difficult that even the contestants don’t fully believe it until they’re the ones controlling the sewing machines. “I’m like, ‘You’ve been watching the show for how many years?’” Klum says. “They’re literally working from morning to night. What they do in one day, most designers can’t do.”

That reality check is just one of the many workspace secrets. According to Season 4 winner-turned-mentor Christian Siriano, the judges evaluate the clothes with zero outside context. “They never see any part of the workroom at all, ever. No playback, nothing,” he says. “There’s no preconception.” Even the contestants’ names are withheld early on. “It’s a blind runway. That’s why the judging is very real, which I like.”

The new season, streaming on Hulu and Disney+ following its July 9 premiere on Freeform, promises to ramp up that exact chaotic energy. The massive cast of 22 designers is paired with an unprecedented guest lineup featuring Nina Dobrev, Ciara, and Ice Spice, alongside reality stars serving as guest models, including former Bachelorette Charity Lawson and The Traitors’ Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu. The biggest shake-up? Tyra Banks is joining the permanent panel of judges alongside Nina Garcia and Law Roach.

Below, Klum chats more about Season 22, the other iconic reality show on her bucket list, and what happens when she shares a set with her daughter Leni.

Was it hard to bridge the worlds of reality and fashion when you were starting Project Runway in 2004?

The only thing that was hard at the beginning was actually selling the show, because people thought that watching designers sew was the most boring idea. They were like, “Why is that interesting?”

I was like, “Well, because they’re creative, doing something under time pressure, and the individuals who are making clothes are usually very fun and very extroverted and interesting people generally.” We got turned down, and turned down, and turned down. Now, 22 years later, people are still enjoying it because, at the end of the day, we admire when people can make amazing things out of crazy things.

Being around young designers, does that take you back to your early years in the industry?

Many, many moons ago, I’d go into a studio and see people doing photo shoots, and I was always like, “I wish I could be that girl over there. I wish I could be photographed.” I was so hungry, too. Seeing people who are very hungry, too, I put myself in their shoes, and I want everyone to do well. So I push everyone. I give them their moment.

After doing it for so many years, a lot of people say, “It must be boring, doing the same thing over and over again.” But it’s not, because it’s always new people with a new, real story. So it’s still fun.

Last year’s winner, Veejay Floresca, shared that she tried to join for years before getting accepted. So it still really does mean so much to so many people.

You might see Veejay this year. Don’t tell anyone. [*winks*] Tell everyone.

Let’s say I’m a Love Island contestant hoping to find love but also become a fashion star after my time in the villa. What are the best things that reality TV stars can do to be noticed by the fashion world?

Stand out with your fashion. Come with something fabulous. Make it yourself if you can, or find something that is not from the big brands. Put it together in a very unusual way so that people ask, “Where did you get this from? What is that?”

Is there another reality TV show you’d love to go on that isn’t a design talent or modeling competition?

I always love watching Dancing With the Stars. I love to dance myself. I danced probably for 11 or 12 years as a kid, from ballroom to belly dancing, tap, and jazz. I would have to rehearse a lot because I haven’t done it in such a long time, but that would be a lot of fun.

Do you have a dream dance partner?

I’ve known Derek Hough for a long time, so I would love to do it with him. And Mark Ballas. He did an episode of Germany’s Next Topmodel with me, where he was dancing with some of my contestants.

Fans are also clamoring for your America’s Got Talent return. Is that something that we can see in the pipeline?

Maybe yes. You never know. Maybe I’ll get asked to come back. I would love to sit back in my old seat. This is truly a family show, and also behind the scenes, it’s like a family. I love all the judges and Terry Crews. I did it for 11 years, so it was a big part of my life. I know so many of the past people who were on the stage, and it’s crazy how many people I’ve met over the years. I definitely miss it.

You’ve done magazine covers and campaigns with your daughter Leni. What is the mother-daughter dynamic like on set? Are you in mom mode or Germany’s Next Topmodel guru mode?

When we’re on set with my daughter, we’re usually dancing around, laughing a lot, not being as professional as we should be. We like to keep it fun. The only hard thing is picking photos afterward, but I usually let her have the last say. I want her to be happy. She’s my daughter. I like her to feel proud and love this.

Also, being a mom and doing lingerie pictures with my daughter, it makes me feel good that my daughter is fine and feeling proud to stand next to me like that.

Does she steal anything from your closet?

She does. All my kids go in my closet, especially Lou, because Leni [and I] have different heights and sizes. But Lou, she’s always in my closet. She does debate. When she has tournaments on the weekends, she really wants to look like a little lawyer. So she goes to my closet, picks shoes and suits. She looks good in my suits.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.