In the 18th season of “Project Runway,” designer Dayoung Kim took herself out of the competition because of ongoing health woes while fellow contestant Victoria Cocieru seriously considered quitting the show when a one-day challenge involving the use of sheer fabric, which proved to be tricky for her.
That was enough reason for us to dig through the annals of the Emmy-winning reality show to see how many designers in the past either left because they felt ill or they were overwhelmed by the pressure in the workroom to come up with fabulous fashions under tight deadlines.
Fellow season 18 contestant Chelsey Carter, who was dismissed when judges thought her see-through fabric design wasn’t quite up to snuff, confessed to mentor Christian Siriano on Bravo’s after show, “We all have thought about quitting: I’m just going to throw it out, this is too rough, this is too much. The time constraint is just too much.” But unlike Cocieru, who threw a full-blown diva fit, “We never verbalized it.”
This was far from the first time that a designer seriously considered leaving the show. In fact, one was sadly forced to leave during season 4 when Siriano himself was the winner, for different but still dramatic reasons. Here are the competitors who have decided for themselves to be out instead of in rather than letting the judges send them home.
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Jack Mackenroth (Season 4, 2007)
Image Credit: Mediapunch/Shutterstock Jack was the first openly HIV-positive contestant to compete on the show. He attended the Parsons School of Design, opened a menswear store in the West Village called Jack and had worked for Tommy Hilfiger and designed for Levis Slates Brand. He also was a fitness and fashion model appearing in numerous magazines. Given his resume, he did quite well on the show and never was in the bottom three. He managed to win the third challenge by making a three-piece outfit for New York Giants football player Tiki Barber, who wore the design on “The Today Show.”
Why he left: During the fifth challenge, Jack withdrew from the show after coming down with a contagious staph infection. He ended up spending five days in the hospital before recovering. Chris March, who was previously eliminated, was called back to take his place.
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Maya Luz (Season 7, 2010)
Image Credit: Henry Lamb/Photowire/BEI/Shutterstock Maya was just 21-years-old and fresh out of college when she competed on the show. She was a whiz at avant-garde and sculptural designs. For a “Hard Wear” challenge she put her model in a gold strapless dress and encased her in a high-collared black caged jacket made from hardware. She managed to receive six high scores and was never in the bottom.
Why she left: In episode 11, the thought of making a red carpet look for host Heidi Klum to wear somehow rattled her. Instead of sketching a design, she sought out mentor Tim Gunn and told him she felt too young for the show. He agreed and she had to tell the other six competitors about her decision on the air. Anthony Williams, who was the last designer eliminated, was allowed to return. Despite backing out, Maya earned the fan favorite prize on the reunion special.
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Cecilia Motwani (Season 9, 2011)
Image Credit: Lifetime Argentina native Cecilia decided to quit the show on the fourth episode. That was after she alienated Marie Claire’s fashion director Nina Garcia in a challenge that involved making the judge an outfit that she could wear both at work as well as at an industry event at night.
Why she left: Cecilia was rattled by Nina’s gripes about her “boring, gray, baggy things” and decided enough was enough after receiving her first low score. Meanwhile, previously ousted contestant Josh Christensen rejoined the competition.
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Andrea Katz (Season 10, 2012)
Image Credit: Lifetime During this crazy season’s fourth challenge that required the designers to make an outfit for a woman who is always on the go inspired by the color of a Lexus GS 350 car, Andrea simply left the Atlas building in Midtown West where the designers were housed together without giving anyone notice.
A source told Page Six of the New York Post, “She just ran off in the middle of the night. The next morning she wasn’t in her bed, her suitcase was gone. Producers went to her home, and her doorman said she was upstairs but didn’t want to see anyone.”
Why she left: Supposedly, she was paranoid after being named one of the bottom three contestants on the previous challenge. Eliminated designer Raul Osorio was allowed to rejoin the show.
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Kooan Kosuke (Season 10, 2012)
Image Credit: Lifetime The Japan native decided he, too, could not take the pressure any longer. He told his rivals, “I thought about it for three days, and I think I should go.” The eccentric designer’s decision rattled the other competitors. “Everything is falling apart,” said a teary Nathan Paul. He then told Kooan, “I totally understand what you are feeling because I want to leave, too. I’m not going to, but I want to leave.” No wonder one writer declared the season to be “Project Runaway.”
Why he left: “From what Kooan said, I feel it was really stressful for him,” designer Christopher Palu said in a video diary. But mentor Tim Gunn had other thoughts that he shared during an appearance on “The Daily Show.” “It’s inconceivable to me,” he told host Jon Stewart. “I say to them, ‘Have you watched the show?’ And their response is, ‘Well, we thought you faked it.’ They think, ‘Oh, we really have a week for these challenges.’ No, you have a day. You get the challenge in the morning. You’re showing it on the runway for Heidi Klum tomorrow.”
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Sandro Masmanidi (Season 12, 2013)
Image Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Starpix/Shutterstock The Russian designer with the drama queen personality decided to leave during the fourth challenge that required a gown that incorporated a bow tie. Sandro was declared to be safe and should have simply left the runway.
Why he left: Instead, Sandro was insulted that he didn’t get a verbal critique and picked a fight with judge Zac Posen on air. Well, it turned into a case of be careful what you wish for since Posen offered this description of his work: “It looks like someone went home with a man in an evening gown and came back with a tie attached to it and her dress ripped. It looked like the walk of shame after an awards show.” Sandro then verbally fought with two other designers in the waiting area and then just ran away. All three of the bottom three contestants were brought back. At least Sandro did briefly return to the workroom to apologize, saying, “If I’ve been difficult for somebody here, or make (anyone) feel uncomfortable around me, please forgive me. I’ve been very emotional, this is my minus. I should be stronger enough to handle my emotions.”
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Jake Wall (Season 14, 2015)
Image Credit: Lifetime San Francisco designer Jake was doing well on the show, getting safe and high scores. But he wasn’t himself in episode 6. But it wasn’t because he got a low score for a challenge that required him to create lingerie for host Heidi Klum’s fashion line.
Why he left: In the 7th episode, Jake told mentor Tim Gunn that he got a call that his dog Jake was sick and the end was likely near. The designer already lost both of his parents and said, “This dog has been my rock when I needed one.” He then wept, noting that maybe not everyone would understand, but he felt he had to go home or else he would regret it. Tim, an animal lover himself, told Jake that even though “Project Runway” is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the kind of “unconditional love” you get from a family member is worth more than the potential money or career boost. Fans of the show tweeted their support of Jake’s decision and he would post a farewell photo on social media.
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Shawn Buitendorp (Season 16, 2017)
Image Credit: Lifetime Small-town Michigan twin sisters Shawn and Claire were an workroom annoyance right from the start as they acted like a kind of two-headed emotional therapy monster as they helped complete each other’s outfits and gave each other constant input. They had talent, given they both interned with Betsy Johnson and created looks for Katy Perry. But the other designers were mightily put off by the siblings getting away with such antics.
Why she left: The pair finally met their Waterloo in the 7th episode that featured a JC Penney challenge that required men’s fabrics to be used for female garments. They worked as a team, but came out on the bottom. The judges couldn’t decide who to cut, so the siblings each had to do a look in one hour. Shawn forfeited the challenge to Claire and left the show.
But there was a coda to all this drama. Namely, tape-gate. Two other designers tattled that the surviving twin took a tape measure into the penthouse where the contestants stay in their off hours – something that was verboten. In the end, Claire’s win for a Dixie cup print was rescinded and she was ejected from the competition.
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Dayoung Kim (Season 18, 2020)
Image Credit: Bravo From the first day she arrived on “Project Runway,” Seoul-born Dayoung felt physically drained but was more focused on creating her designs than taking care of her health. As early as the second episode, which featured animal prints, she had to be taken from the penthouse in an ambulance. She revealed that she was suffering from exhaustion.
Because she lost a day of work due to her condition, her fellow designers pitched in and helped her complete her tiger look. She had one low score mainly due to pairing with Alan Gonzalez for the first episode. But she was either safe or had high scores otherwise.
Why she left: Dayoung was relying more and more on her fellow contestants, especially Geoffrey Mac, to make sure she ate, stayed hydrated and was able to finish her outfits. But in episode 8, she could barely even crawl out of bed and decided to leave the show for the sake of her health. She never won a challenge, but some her ensembles – especially the one she made for the Ashley Longshore pop-art fabric challenge – were knockouts.
The good news? Dayoung seemed much better when she chatted briefly with mentor Christian Siriano on his Bravo after-show. They even gave her a beverage filled with electrolytes and seltzer. Her advice to one and all? Stay hydrated and makes time to eat in between work duties. And Marquise Foster came back and made a sheer outfit that proved he deserved the second chance.
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Meg Ferguson (Season 19, 2021)
Image Credit: Greg Endries/Bravo From the very beginning Ferguson was showing signs of being overwhelmed by the hectic pace and intense pressure of the competition, especially as she was still grieiving the death of her mother. In week two, that came out in an explosive workroom confrontation.
Fellow designer Kenneth Barlis, who is Filipino, politely asked if she would be willing to switch models since he thought his Asian-inspired design would be more appropriate on an Asian model. She agreed to the switch, but cursed out Barlis in front of both of their models for asking in the first place, which led to a confrontation with another designer, Prajje Oscar Jean-Baptiste, who accused Ferguson of being a “fake” ally.
After yelling at Barlis again for not standing up for her, Ferguson left the workroom, and the next morning Christian Siriano revealed that she decided to bow out of the competition.
