Biggest Season of "Project Runway" Yet Promised to Debut in July

The 22nd season - proving to be the biggest of them all - of Project Runway is on approach, set to debut in July on Freeform, Hulu, and Disney+.

What's Happening:

• With a slew of unscripted reality television announcements coming out of Hulu's Real House this evening, we're learning that the second season of Freeform's Project Runway (and the 22nd of the series overall) is set to be their biggest yet.
• For Season 22, the second one on Hulu, Disney+ and Freeform, 22 designers will be featured, which happens to be the most in Project Runway history.
• Host Heidi Klum returns once again, and she will be joined in the judging panel by Law Roach and Nina Garcia, with former Project Runway winner and designer Christian Siriano returning as mentor.
• With a bevy of Hulu and Disney talent available to them with ease, we can expect many guests this season, as revealed by Deadline, including appearances by Dancing with the Stars personalities like Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Val Chmerkovskiy, Jenna Johnson, Emma Slater, Ezra Sosa, Britt Stewart and Julianne Hough who are slated to make an appearance on the catwalk.
• Other guest stars featuring throughout the season are set to include The Bachelorette’s Charity Lawson, Love Thy Nader’s Sarah Jane Nader, Vanderpump Villa’s Ekin-Su and Project Runway Season 21 winner Veejay Floresca.
• During the event, Heidi Klum revealed that Project Runway is set to return for Season 22 on Hulu, Disney+ and Freeform on July 9.

Missed Opportunities:

• With the series returning for a 22nd season - and the largest in the series history to boot - I, once again, have to point out the lack of someone synonymous with the program. One Mr. Tim Gunn.
• When the announcement came back in October of 2024 that the series would be revived with Klum attached, many thought that this would also include the return of the iconic mentor (and eventual co-host), Tim Gunn, since he left with her in 2018 to start the not-as-successful Making the Cut.
• Gunn’s mentoring ability, along with his history of teaching, make him a creative advisor to the contestants. He wouldn’t tell the contestants exactly what he would do (which of course, the contestants will do), but guide them along toward their eventual realization that maybe their design could use a little rethinking.
• Gunn’s personality is what kept many fans glued to the show. With his vocabulary and word choice that often left contestants puzzled and his genuine concern for each of the contestants (and later, outspoken disagreements with the judges and even winners), he was arguably one of the main reasons to watch the show for many regular viewers.
• While Siriano and Klum do have a great dynamic - with Siriano himself winning season four of the show with Klum having often expressed her admiration for him, sometimes citing him as her favorite designer from the series - it’s not as meaningful (at least as expressed in what we’ve seen) or as fun as the relationship between Gunn and Klum.
• With 22 contestants this season, at the very least they could have had dual judges if not a full return of Gunn. Alas, who knows. He may make a guest appearance. Fingers crossed!