Whetting Your Appetites

First up: an interview with Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn:

How does the cast of fourth season compare to previous seasons?

Tim Gunn: With each successive season of "Project Runway," at least in my view, the group of designers has been stronger and stronger. And Season Four is our strongest group yet.

Heidi Klum: I think it had something to do with that so many people see the credibility of the show and [the contestants] really have to have talent in order to succeed. I think that people see that and they go, "OK. Wow. This could be a really big opportunity for me."

Who comes up with the challenges and how are they kept interesting every year?

HK: We all do. I mean there's, you know, people from Bravo ... I've come up with some of the challenges and basically we all kick them around. And then ... whatever challenges are the best, they make it. One challenge that I came up was, for example, that made it on the show that I thought was really great and everyone loved was "Clothes Off Your Back."

Who was your favorite/hated designer?

HK: My favorite drama queen really was [Season Two contestant] Santino [Rice], I have to say. He was not only a great designer but ... the things that came out of his mouth sometimes were just unbelievable ... I just kind of liked that ... he was so blunt and just straight forward. But at the same time, he made it on there because he was really good and ultimately he made it all the way to the end.

TG: I found Santino to also be very lovable. But I had a kind of relationship with him because I was in the workroom with him all the time.

Give us the scoop on the new season.

HK: There's always lots and lots of drama. We always put a twist [on the show] because that is the most exciting things ... I love it when I can break the news to [the contestants] that some things are going a little different this time around ... There are definitely twists.

TG: We had one designer who had a difficult time with the experience of the show ... When I probed and asked, "Why does all this surprise you? You've seen the show." And the response was, "Why I didn't think it was really the way that it appeared on television. I thought that it was all cheated and that in fact there were days for these challenges and breaks in between."

Next: PREVIEW, POODLES!


And our good friend Mo Ryan has a bunch of spoilerific preview clips.

(Photo: Bravotv)