Big Daddy Gunn Shoots His Mouth Off

Thursday, March 06, 2008 by

...and we love him for it.

Darlings, while you're breathlessly waiting for our first hand account of last night's festivities (which is coming soon - promise!), check out this jaw-dropping, dish-filled interview Tim gave to our dear friend Mo Ryan of the Chicago Tribune here.

A sampling:

On the finalists:

MR: I’m with you there. But looking at all the collections in the finale, they were all very strong. I agreed with giving Christian the win, but I thought Jillian’s work was very strong as well.
TG: “For me it was between Christian and Jillian. I thought it could have gone either way. I love Rami, I love his work, I just thought his textile choices were questionable. And I thought his color story was dour.”

On Season 4:

MR: People also said there wasn’t as much drama.
TG: “You know why? Because they’re so committed to their work, they have such passion for it -- that’s where they put their energy and their time and attention. It wasn’t about who’s dissing whom. They didn’t engage in that. And also they all recognize in each other the same kinds of qualities and characteristics, in terms of that passion for their work. They have this respect for each other.”

On the future of the PR designers:

MR: Do you think the show will get them to the next stage of their careers?
TG: “I’m confident that it will. It’s given them this visibility. And people like them, and they like their work. And they see how serious they are. So I can only think that people will want to come on board and help them. “It happened for [past contestants] Kara Saun, Emmett McCarthy, Daniel Vosovic, Laura Bennett – it happened for a lot of them. People have stepped up and said, ‘I want to assist you.’ Emmett’s got a line of handbags coming out on QVC."

On the new season:

MR: It must be hard to think up challenges, four or five seasons in.
TG: “I’m with you. I’ve even suggested for Season 5 that we bring back the best challenges of the past four seasons. I’d love to go back to Gristede’s, the grocery store, [from Season 1]. And you know no one’s going to buy corn."

On VictorYA:

MR: Wasn’t he [Jack] in the hospital for a week?
TG: “Yes, a week on an IV drip. And frankly, we needed to exit him through a story line. He was there about a day too long. Victorya in particular was so hysterical with me and with the producers, [saying] ‘What are you doing to him? He should stay.’ It’s like, ‘You know something, he should be in the hospital right now. Stop it, and stop being so selfish.’”

MR: I don’t really understand why she was so upset. Can you explain that to me?
TG: “She was sourpuss, a crabby apple as I keep saying, throughout almost all the show, other than Days 1, 2 and 3. She became this sour pill. Rich Bye, one of the executive producers, and I had two off camera interventions with her.

[...]

“On one occasion – they edited this out, I knew they would – we were at Mood [Fabrics], and I’m handing out money. They each have $250 dollars. She collects the envelopes from all the designers and hands them back to me. She said, ‘I want you to count it.’ I just stared at her. ‘You want me to do what?’

[...]

“But that’s what it was like dealing with her. She actually said about Jack’s departure that we had engineered him leaving because he wasn’t a pretty face anymore."

UPDATE: The gloves are OFF, bitches. BPR has an exclusive response from VictorYA herself and it's WELL worth reading.


[Photo: Countess/WireImage]

128 comments:

Unknown said...

WOW!!! I heart Tim Gunn even more!! :D

Anonymous said...

HAH! I knew VictorYA was a BiYAtch! I wish they had showed that intervention. She's so callous! I dont think anything ever even touched her in the show! And what's the "count the envelopes" thing about anyway? She must have been menstrual! I'm glad she got kicked out before Ricki! BItch deserved it!

TED said...

Maybe selfish because she only wanted him to stick around so she'd have a friend? I don't know: it seemed like a weird choice of words to me, too, but I think he must have had his reasons.

It's really not all that surprising that he found her crabby, is it.

DolceLorenzo said...

"She collects the envelopes from all the designers and hands them back to me. She said, ‘I want you to count it.’ I just stared at her. ‘You want me to do what?"

WOW, WTF????? She is CRAZY!!

GothamTomato said...

Fabulous interview.

Interesting to hear the bit about Victorya & Jack. Though I don't get why he thought she was selffish for wanting Jack to stay. That sounds just stupid, not selfish. She is friends with him though, so you'd think she'd want him to get to the hospital.

And she also does sound quite paranoid.

--GothamTomato

NahnCee said...

Is there a link for the interview?

I can't tell from this snippet what Victorya was being so mean about: if she's just born crab appley, if she thought someone was stealing their fabric money from them, or what. If there was an intervention, does that mean she was threatening to walk off?

Anonymous said...

Tim is upset Rami rejected all of his advances.

Oh Tim, date someone your own age!
lol!

Anonymous said...

Yeah...and Tim also thought Posh was a great idea as a judge.
LOL!!

Anonymous said...

whoa. i'm amazed at how candid he is! i feel bad about his little diss on Jay, but i pretty much agreed with the rest of his comments. i'm just surprised he'd actually say so much.

but i love tim! and i truly hope they get rid of veronica for his style show.

Thombeau said...

What a fantastic interview! Thanks for keeping us posted!

Anonymous said...

I don't know. I love Time.
However, I'm starting to question Tim's comments. He almost seems like Bravo Publicity Rep at times.

I think we may have lost Tim to showbiz and to a big network :(

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic man. Tim Gunn is perfect! The perfect dad, the perfect mom, the perfect friend, the perfect mentor, and he's even a diva!

I could not love him more.

Anonymous said...

And here I was, trying rea-a-a-a-ally hard to cut Victorya a break - maybe it was the editing, maybe she is just reserved, maybe she found herself out of her element.

And of course,

Maybe she is just a giant, live action version of Lucy from Peanuts. Crabby, crabby, crabby.

Thanks, Tim! (and thanks TLo for the interview with the fabulous Tim.

Rosie's Girl

Anonymous said...

I love Tim Gunn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wish we could see more of "Evil Tim" or "Diva Time" on the show, but I know he has to be the impartial mentor.

StrangelyNormalSteph said...

Tim is amazing!

And that doesn't surprise me about Victorya. Man, who spit in her coffee every morning?

Anonymous said...

Wow! Tim Gunn didn't hold back! And we should thank him for that. There's so much in behind-the-scenes happenings that it confirms that folks here were right in saying that "it's all in the editing"! VictorYa was lucky that they were as nice to her as they were. They didn't have to be!

Anonymous said...

Victorya, you are a crazy bitch!
At first, I thought you were just reserved, but now I know you are certifiably insane.

Stop doing meth, you paranoid freak!

Anonymous said...

I don't know if I like this new side of Tim.

Hmmm

TED said...

I love love love the bit at the end of that interview about Tim's diva moment. Can you imagine if they'd managed to film that?

Anonymous said...

Tim was told not to talk too much about Rami's collection because he must, under contract, support the winner of the season.

There is just too many people out there, even on the polls, saying and voting that Rami was the clear winner.

Trust...I know.

Anonymous said...

anonymous@5:59PM:

do not even try to blame her behaviour on a visit from aunt flo.


she could just as easily have had sand in her vagina.

Mom said...

Oh my goodness, I hope VictorYA is grateful for how easy the editors let her off during the whole season, not just the reunion. What a difficult, unpleasant person she sounds like!

Tim is, and forever remains, an inspiration to me. Say what you will about his snarkier comments, but he praises generously (even VictorYA) and self-critiques ruthlessly. That is one emotionally evolved human being.

Anonymous said...

maybe Yaya's sour because no one from Mood wanted a "favor" from her.

Kylie said...

I love hearing about bitchy VictorYa. Can't they do a hour long special on all of her bitchy moments? That would make me ridiculously happy

Rainwood said...

Great interview. It's almost as if Tim's podcast were back. Love his use of the word "dour" for Rami's color choices. He's absolutely right. And I'm glad that he's going to try and keep Christian pointed in the right direction. It's true during PR and it's true after: Always listen to Tim!

As for Victorya, she sounds like a handful. Although I still prefer it when Tim takes the high road. The comment at the reunion and the interview sound a bit like payback, maybe well-deserved, but Victorya was Tim's difficult client and he didn't follow his own advice to Christian.

So I guess the lesson is: Always listen to Tim. And don't fuck with him either.

Anonymous said...

Love timmy gunn. I just felt there needs to be more of him on PR. Maybe next time!

Anonymous said...

That was one of the best, most honest and bare boned PR interviews I have ever read. God bless Tim and his brilliance. I had a friend who worked for the PR production team who said that VictorYA was the worlds biggest bitch and was such an angry DIVA to the staff. I am glad she is being called out by Tim for her behavior. I loved his candor about Christians personality (11 year old girls voting him fan favorit) and his trmendous talent. Tim is by far one of my very favorite celebrities. Such class and intelligence.

BTW: The Gunnster had an appartment as tiny as Christians when he was 54? Uh...WTF????

Anonymous said...

inside bravo said...
Tim was told not to talk too much about Rami's collection because he must, under contract, support the winner of the season.

There is just too many people out there, even on the polls, saying and voting that Rami was the clear winner.

Trust...I know.


Oh brother. There's nobody that thinks Rami should have won, anywhere.

I love it when designer's friends comment here, like it's not totally obvious.

Sharon said...

Oh my goodness that interview was amazing. Tim the Diva... who would've thought!

Anonymous said...

I love Jay, but Tim's interview and Christian calling him a "douchebag" in his post-victory interview in Out, is making me wonder if Jay is himself difficult. Ugh, I don't care. The rest are corporate whores. Go Jay!

Anonymous said...

Gotta say, I love Tim's diva moment! Who was this producer, anyway? (Rhetorical question, I really don't want to know.) Taking a Bravo tour, from the L'oreal Make-up room/ Blue Fly accessory-walled sewing room, through the Top Chef GE kitchen, out the door and down the street in the Queer Guy Giant SUV to the Pottery Barn, that isn't a GIGANTIC product placement.

Did this producer wander over from Public Television?

Anonymous said...

[Edited by the site owner] I knew that wasn't editing. To find out it was even worse just makes me laugh.

You know Ms Gunn read her down off camera. She is so selfish, not wanting Jack to go to the hospital. It makes you just want to smack the shit out of her.

I love Tim and will miss him until next season. They need more of him on the show.

Anonymous said...

kendall said...
Yeah...and Tim also thought Posh was a great idea as a judge.
LOL!!


Posh was a great idea for a judge, and one of the better guest judges. Why hate on Posh? She is Major! Jealousy I suppose.

TLo said...

Darlings,

No derogatory remarks, please. Thanks!

XO
T&L

Anonymous said...

I like Tim too.
But is he setting a good example?
Something has changed with him - and not for the better.

Oh no, has it all gotten to his head??!!

Anonymous said...

inside bravo said...
Tim was told not to talk too much about Rami's collection because he must, under contract, support the winner of the season.

There is just too many people out there, even on the polls, saying and voting that Rami was the clear winner.

Trust...I know.



ANON 6:28, I so agree with you. It's obvious when a fan/friend tries to comment as if they are a show insider. Like it isn't obvious. A person who works on the show who comments would not even insinuate they worked there. What's the point of being incognito if you give yourself away. That was just a Rami fan trying to be cute.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Victorya really brought the crazy! I thought maybe she'd been edited to look nastier than she is in real life, but it looks like the producers actually did her some favors along the way.

Love Tim's "diva moment" too. I hope the 2nd season of Guide to Style works out better than the formula they used in the first season.

I loves me some Tim and just can't get enough!

Anonymous said...

No anon 6:35...not jealously regarding Posh at all mate.

I've just seen Posh look absolutely horrendous.
She's too specific to be a partial good judge.

I'm entitled to my opinion mate :)

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the fowl language boyz, but I really cannot stand VictorYA and nothing else would describe her. Let me try again.

In my opinion, VictorYA seems to be "friendly challenged".

mumblesalot (Laura A) said...

"Big daddy shoots his mouth off." You two are too funny.

Anonymous said...

And yes, I know foul is spelled foul, I used fowl to be cute.

veruca salt said...

OMG what a great article! Thanks for posting it. Such dish, from Mr. Gunn no less. And who knew Tim had it in 'em to be a diva! Love him even more.

Anonymous said...

No anonymous 6.28. I do not work at Bravo.
I did however deal with legal for the network.
Truth - take it or leave it.

Brooklyn Bomber said...

FABULOUS! Thanks, Boys!

Anonymous said...

Isn't that the carpet from shining ???

Suzanne said...

How can Tim say they didn't engage in drama? What about Christian and his talking behind mostly EVERYONE's back? I would have liked to have seen Jillian's face for example when he said last night about how she never chose models before and she screwed up and "its her own fault but whatever....."


THAT was what I couldn't stand about him. I am of the school of thought that I don't generally say things about people that I wouldn't tell them to their face. I hope every single designer held him accountable for his immature bullshit insults.

As far as VictorYa telling Tim to count the money....don't mess with the Gunn , bitch

eggs mayonnaise said...

To use internet-ese:

That was the BEST! INTERVIEW! EVAR!

I was worried after the last year that Tim had no more surprises up his sleeve. So glad to here he's still fresh and full of sass as ever!

Victorya can go jump in a lake. Preferably one filled with hazardous waste.

Anonymous said...

Why did Jay refuse representation when Bravo offered it for free as a reward for winning? It seems like a really good idea when you're new to that level of the industry, as Tim said, "to keep the sharks away." Yet Jay didn't want it... why? Could someone explain to me? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

zander said...
"friendly challenged"

Snort!

Anonymous said...

Why did they edited that stuff out? Such great TV. What crap producers.

Suzanne said...

"Tim was told not to talk too much about Rami's collection because he must, under contract, support the winner of the season.

There is just too many people out there, even on the polls, saying and voting that Rami was the clear winner.

Trust...I know."


I don't buy that for a second. When Chloe Dao won it was TIM who said in interviews that Daniel Vosovic was the clear winner but Nina Garcia managed to sway everyone to Chloe.

chicksinger said...

Awesome. I love his candor.

Ms Sangrail said...

Loved the interview. Kudos to Tim for being so candid.

VictorYa seems to be very bitter that the time constraints, etc., were real. And very puzzling that she would want Jack (MRSA Mary?) to hang around and possibly make everyone sick.

Agree with Tim that it might have been fun to watch Victorya's head explode during the Divas challenge. Alas...

ChristopherM said...

I've only heard Tim really talk smack about two contestants: Jay for some bad decisions he has made with his business (which is his business, and Tim was otherwise really complimentary) and Zulema. I remember Tim's podcast last season, even when he was talking about Vincent, he'd say, "And I don't hate Vincent...it's not like he's Zulema." That can only lead me to believe that Yaya is a big time biatch if she's pissed off Uncle Tim that badly!

Anonymous said...

Heeeeee eeeee. That Mo Ryan is a sorceress.

Boys, whatever juju she's got -- get some and use it!

Tim ALWAYS dishes to her.

Poor Victorya arrived thinking the producers should play fair, but believing they wouldn't -- and she was right!

No way in hell they would've let her tell her version of the Jack story at the reunion. She was wise to keep quiet (or, if she didn't, how would we know if it ended up on the cutting room floor?)

Reading between the lines -- Jack wanted to stay and they let him stay too long because they needed him for "the storyline" even though they knew it was dangerous for Jack as well as cast & crew. Victorya, being a friend of Jack's and knowing he wanted to stay and not trusting producers and not understanding the danger, advocated for his staying.

Whew!

I almost feel sorry for the girl. That sounds misguided, but not selfish to me.

All the other designers (except Ricky) seem to really like her. Hmmmm.

-- desertwind

PS - How hard was it to get the designers to give her their money-envelopes for counting? Sounds to me like they didn't trust producers, either. Unless, of course, she had them all intimidated. Or something.

Gidget Bananas said...

Now that, THAT, is dish and drama! I wish they had put the "count the money" incident in the show!

Love that Gunn!

the dogs' mother said...

Hmmmm. The question that comes
to mind is why did Bravo not let
more of Victorya's moments past editing?

Kanani said...

I think it's what a lot of people here suspected about Victorya. And Tim always said that the editing greatly improved how the contestants looked, not vice versa.

Obviously, those were trying times for everyone. However, it's how you handle yourself during times like those that reveals who you are deep inside.

She was paranoid, suspicious and not beyond making an extreme, malign and incorrect assumption. Who knows? Maybe it runs in the family!

Anonymous said...

Oh, YICKtorYUCK, that interview proved my name for you quite prescient, given what we know now. Interventions? My word...

Love Tim's candor.

Aside to "Bravo Insider," if anyone was robbed, it was Jillian. I'm with Tim on this one; Rami's color story was indeed "dour," a fault I noted in him on more than one challenge (prom dress anyone?).

Anonymous said...

PS - I wish Tim weren't filming Guide to Style at same time as Runway. He looked exhausted for most of the season and seemed sort of off his game.

-- desertwind

kath said...

ALLLRIGHTY THEN! Now we know what the hell they were talking about at the reunion show. I'm glad Tim finally explained it.

Anonymous said...

I adore the man, but I wish Tim would stop taking swipes at Jay. In recent interviews, Jay's been really diplomatic about his reasons for not accepting parts of his prize. It'd be nice if Tim detente-ed as well.

That said, it's so nice to have the dish about Victorya!

-- CAAF

GothamTomato said...

"kanani said: Maybe it runs in the family!"



What makes you think it runs in her family?

--GothamTomato

Kanani said...

TG said of Victorya's appearance at the finale (in the interview): ..."you’ve disassociated yourself from the show, supposedly, but you’re here?"


Was there ever any mention by anyone in Victorya's camp about her distancing herself from the entire PR4 experience? Is she not planning on using any references to PR4 in the future?

Anonymous said...

P-S-Y-C-H-O

and her bryant park collection S-U-C-K-E-D

Kanani said...

Gotham,
Because people often use behaviors that they learned from others when they were young.
Still, it doesn't excuse her from behaving the way she did now, as an adult.

Until next season everyone,
Dress well!

Anonymous said...

I love evil, diva Tim!!!

Kzspot

Anonymous said...

On the new season:

MR: It must be hard to think up challenges, four or five seasons in.
TG: “I’m with you. I’ve even suggested for Season 5 that we bring back the best challenges of the past four seasons. I’d love to go back to Gristede’s, the grocery store, [from Season 1]. And you know no one’s going to buy corn.


YES!!!! So many great challenges...much better than creating crappy ones just for the sake of having "new" ones.

Fabulicious interview, bitches! Thanks for the link!

Anonymous said...

I LOOOOOOVE The NEW TIM!

Anonymous said...

WOW! Thank is MAJOR, as Posh would say.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this fantastic article. I love Tim even more now. I'm still giggling at the image of himdumping a pile of books out his window.
Thank God I know what was up with VictorYuk. She's totally unreasonable. For someone who claims to be friends with Jack, her lack of concern is absolutely appalling!
And thanks for re-introducing me to Mo Ryan. I rarely read the Trib anymore, but I'll have to start seeking out her articles. She'd be a blast to watch PR 5 with. Or hey... how 'bout Top Chef Chicago?!? Mo?!? I'm dying to see the Chicago guest judges in action!
- Windy City Wendy

P.S. Tom isn't the only gal with a crush on Ted Allen. I'm sure you'd have better luck than me! ;)

Anonymous said...

kanani said... people often use behaviors that they learned from others when they were young.
Still, it doesn't excuse her from behaving the way she did now, as an adult.

We all have buttons that were installed by our families. The trick is to examine them in adulthood and work on the behaviors that we dislike, lest we drive ourselves nuts.

This, in addition to ensuring we have the right look for any activity in which we participate, goes far toward ensuring success in life.

Thanks for the great blog, TLo!

Suzanne said...

Actually I think that there are so many challenges they have yet to conquer...why recycle old ones? How about they let the viewers submit challenges? I bet if we put our heads together we'd come up with some amazing ones.

Anonymous said...

I wish they would have showed all of V'ya's antics.
It's not that i want to watch nasty, mean people(ala Jeffery, Keith, etc.) But I don't want to be deceived either.
I don't want their true character kept from me. I do not want to root for a despicable designer.

I hated last season so much because of the fact that Jeffery won. And the fact that no one seemed to have any issue with how he acted.

I was liking the season until that challenge. I loved that idea and challenge. They should do it again and just let them make stuff for their own moms. That epi i went from beeing geeked to disgusted and hardly watched the rest of the episodes.

-Kellie

Anonymous said...

i cant believe the designers gave her the envelopes?
knowing what she was doing?
if the handed me my money and she went around collecting it i wouldn't have given it to her until the producers said i had to or something.

i never liked her or her clothes.just like with jeffery. i didnt like his clothes at all the entire show. i didn't dislike him until the Mom show but his stuff i didnt like all along.

i still think her prom dress and bitten things belong on www.go fug yourself.com

lol
-Kellie

Anonymous said...

Between red-faced Tim giggling helplessly while Heidi tickled him to his heartfelt admiration for the finalists, I just adore him. We all need a pal like Tim in our lives.

Anonymous said...

"I love Jay, but Tim's interview and Christian calling him a "douchebag" in his post-victory interview in Out, is making me wonder if Jay is himself difficult. Ugh, I don't care. The rest are corporate whores. Go Jay!"


6:31 PM

You know, i loved jay and always supported him and praised him as well.
But after his lame excuse for quitting his blog and telling the story of getting drunk before a 2 pm meeting in NY and having to nap in someones conference room and throwing up all day speaks volumes to his level of professionalism...or lack there of.

His blog was fun. He made the committment, had the fan base of readers and just flaked out with just 3 episodes left.
I know its time consuming to blog.
But no one said he had to comment on every color filter and camera angle etc. and make a 10 page blog every week.
He coulda just hit the highlights and clothes like other recappers.

He even admitted that he just lost interest in it. Like everything else i guess.
Now we know why all his projects fall through. He has such a huge fanbase and seems to take no issuse with screwing them over and not following thru with anything he starts.

After so many people take issue with him and his work ethic it's time to blame him and not everyone else anymore.
He only got ONE ticket for the Finale party when TLo and BPR got 3..lol. that says alot as well.

I still like Jay and will always hold season ! as my fav and his collection as the reason i started to care about fashion in the first place, but he really has no sense of commitment or follow thru.

Hephaestion said...

I strongly disagree with Tim Gunn about calling Rami's colors "dour." If anyone had a colorless collection, it was Jillian. Go back and look at those collections. Rami's has the MOST color of any of them.

Lilithcat said...

anonymous 8:55 said Or hey... how 'bout Top Chef Chicago?!? Mo?!? I'm dying to see the Chicago guest judges in action!

She usually leaves that up to her colleagues at The Stew (who, if you ask me, aren't nearly as much fun).

Anonymous said...

Wow!
VictorYA!
What a jerk!!

But we all knew there was something behind her hatred at the reunion show. Now we know!!

Wow!!



Herdgirl72

Lilithcat said...

Anonymous 9:23 p.m. said, i cant believe the designers gave her the envelopes?
knowing what she was doing?
if the handed me my money and she went around collecting it i wouldn't have given it to her until the producers said i had to or something.
[sic]

They did. Re-read the interview. Tim says, "I looked to the producer on site with us, and I said, ‘I’m not doing this, am I?’ and he said, ‘The rules say that if a designer asks for the money to be counted, we have to count it.’ "

Anonymous said...

they said she collected them first so i figured she didnt make her request untill she took all the envelopes away.

maybe she told the producers ahead of time.

Anonymous said...

so i guess victorYA is really a B-I-T-C-H and didn't just get the bitch edit -- in fact it sounds like they soft-pedaled it a little...i had to deal with someone like that on a soccer team -- she just had to challenge EVERYTHING - she seemed to have this idea that everyone was trying to rip her off...it really gets old after awhile.

i laughed when Tim said she complained about not having enough time to do anything -- she thought they weren't really working under those time constraints? now that's just stupid...so bye bye YA-YA - just think, now you'll be remembered as the all-time shrew of PR...try lightening up a little.

Beth said...

VictorYa--Talk about a bitch on wheels. Yikes!

Anonymous said...

I HEART TIM!!!
Tim for president!! He would make everyone behave--
or at least he would try!!!

Julie said...

Victorya needs to learn a little about MRSA before she makes accusations. I just attended the funeral of a 20 year old MRSA victim -- it's nothing to mess about with.

Joanie said...

Fun interview! TGITG (thank God it's Tim Gunn).

I know a few people who could use a little Tim smackdown every now and again. Hell, I could do with one most of the time myself. He should franchise.

Jenn said...

This situation with VictorYa is precisely why I miss Tim's podcasts so much. It seemed a way for him to vent and for all of us to get more background info.

Bravo, bring back the podcasts for S5!

Anonymous said...

i'm really starting to like Tim less.
1) he has been so biased this season.
2) this interview really shows that he's not the class act he purports to be -- he's just another catty critic.
3) V's not my favorite, but even Christian seems to support her behavior (read his interviews).
4) his SUITS NEVER FIT. gawd! get a clue.

Anonymous said...

The envelope-counting reminds me of my guess for what the "Money changes everything" challenge was going to be (before we knew it was SJP/Bitten).

Have envelopes with different money amounts that the designers blindly pick. Challenge is to make whatever you want using only the amount you received. Can someone make a $20 look as deserving of a win as a $200 look?

That's one new challenge they can use Season 5.

-- desertwind

Anonymous said...

...man, do I ever wish they'd shown this Victorya drama. Would have spiced up a seriously bland season. For the longest time I'd been wondering if everyone but Christian had left their personalities at home.

Anonymous said...

I knew she was a bitch but god talk about an UBER bitch.

Anonymous said...

Why did Bravo choose not to show this? I don't get it.

Anonymous said...

"Mariana (The Unorigina) said...

On the new season:

MR: It must be hard to think up challenges, four or five seasons in.
TG: “I’m with you. I’ve even suggested for Season 5 that we bring back the best challenges of the past four seasons. I’d love to go back to Gristede’s, the grocery store, [from Season 1]. And you know no one’s going to buy corn.

YES!!!! So many great challenges...much better than creating crappy ones just for the sake of having "new" ones.
"

I'd love to see doing the wedding challenge or the clothes off your back one.

Anonymous said...

OUCH!!! I have a feeling that Tim regrets saying all that. I could be wrong. Hey, I'm glad he did.

Anonymous said...

Victorya? Hmm, you seem like a real bitch, perhaps you need to check that a bit.

Anonymous said...

VICTORYA IS NOT A BITCH! Tim's trying to get attention by flat out lying.

Anonymous said...

Now we know why Jack and V'YA got on so well.
They were both self-centered cows when things didn't go their way.

Since Chris didn't make final 3 there was no reason for Jack's venom. And V'ya didn't have shit to do with it anyway.
whatver they decided with Jack was between him and the producers.
Ugg i really can't stand either of them or their behavior after their eliminations.

No grace at all.
Karma is a bitch.

Anonymous said...

"Anonymous said...

I wish they would have showed all of V'ya's antics.
It's not that i want to watch nasty, mean people(ala Jeffery, Keith, etc.) But I don't want to be deceived either.
I don't want their true character kept from me. I do not want to root for a despicable designer.

I hated last season so much because of the fact that Jeffery won. And the fact that no one seemed to have any issue with how he acted.

I was liking the season until that challenge. I loved that idea and challenge. They should do it again and just let them make stuff for their own moms. That epi i went from beeing geeked to disgusted and hardly watched the rest of the episodes.

-Kellie"


I agree. If that's how she acted then they should have shown that. That probably didn't fit in her "character" or "story". I don't know...What did she expect the producers to do? Of course, they had to send Jack home. No wonder they're mad at Chris.

Anonymous said...

WOW, I don't know what to think...why did Tim wait so long to say all these things?
Great link, guys. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

i heart tim! him being ticklish makes him more cuter!! lol.

Brandenburg3rd said...

Suzanne: Actually I think that there are so many challenges they have yet to conquer...why recycle old ones? How about they let the viewers submit challenges? I bet if we put our heads together we'd come up with some amazing ones.

Actually, when the season was taking for-bloody-ever to get started, Blogging Project Runway had a loose challenge asking posters what they'd like to see as challenges. They had literally hundreds of ideas--most of them better than a good portion of S4, to be honest.

I'm sure there's a legal beagle at Bravo keeping them from using the ideas--someone would sue, saying, "My idea! Mine!" But maybe if they had a "submit your ideas {click here}--once submitted, become the property of Bravo; no compensation beyond episode notation "idea submitted by" for the first person with such an idea" paragraph, they could get away with it.

'tis an idea.

Brooke P. said...

Damn, thanks for helping clear up that VictorYA drama. She was a. uber wench.

love you, mean it!

Anonymous said...

I'm NOT defending VictoYA (I personally don't like her) But maybe she just wanted them to take a break from the show so Jack could get treatment. They were friends before the show, right? I presume she just wanted them to postpone filming for a few days so he could be treated and rejoin, but maybe that's too nice of an assumption?

Sewing Siren said...

After reading that interview you kind of have to conclude that Tim doesn't much care for Victorya.
No doubt some nastiness occured, but if it was as one sided as Tim suggests there is no way that they wouldn't use it in the show. That would be just too delightful.
I personally think they deliberately set up situations to make the designers paranoid or bring out the worst in them, to make the "good T.V", for instance the poorly stocked Bluefly wall, promotes hording of the "good" accessories, and keeping weaker designers week after week while better desigers are cut, encourages the strong desigers to resent the weaker ones, so I think maybe Victorya had reason to believe the envelopes of stronger designers were being stuffed. Several of the posters and Jay had noticed that some designers were getting a lot of bang for their buck at MOOD...

Bill said...

Well, I just ate some crow for breakfast. I was always in Victorya's corner thinking she was misunderstood and got the "evil edit." But maybe not. In light of Tim's stories, I have to reconsider. Of course, as Sewing Siren points out, they do some social engineering to create "reality TV" and it's still not the whole story.

LOVE the book anecdote. Superb. THAT would have been great TV.

Bill said...

Oh, TLo - calling Tim "Big Daddy Gunn" in your header made me a little spingly. That and the Mo Ryan interview - I like this slightly harsher side of Tim. What's next, spankings?

Bill said...

Oh, TLo - calling Tim "Big Daddy Gunn" in your header made me a little spingly. That and the Mo Ryan interview - I like this slightly harsher side of Tim. What's next, spankings?

Lilithcat said...

Desertwind said, Can someone make a $20 look as deserving of a win as a $200 look?

That's one new challenge they can use Season 5.


That's a brilliant idea! And we know it can be done, because more than once we've heard the judges comment on how one of the designers created a very expensive looking garment on very little money.

Anonymous said...

I read the full interview, and what's amazing to me is that Victorya didn't understand the shooting schedule for the show. It's like she never saw it before, or talked to any of the designers from past seasons. I remember Tim saying one of the designers was surprised by the pace of the challenges--that she thought it was faked for television, that they would have days off. I always wondered who it was, and now we know. Thanks for spilling, Tim.

Anonymous said...

"so I think maybe Victorya had reason to believe the envelopes of stronger designers were being stuffed. Several of the posters and Jay had noticed that some designers were getting a lot of bang for their buck at MOOD..."

Sewing Siren, when I first read Tim's story about Victorya and Envelope Gate, my mind also immediately went to Jay and his blog comments about MOOD and the price of fabric. I suddenly wondered if the issue Jay had been hinting at this whole time was envelope stuffing for the favored designers. I kind of doubt Victorya would be that paranoid without an instance or two that roused suspicion.

In general, it sounds like she was disillusioned and regretted getting involved in the whole reality show thing, and didn't approve of some of the behind the scenes stuff, which lead to her becoming a major PITA to the production staff, and Tim had no patience for her. And though I doubt it was a black and white, Victorya was a crabby appleton for no reason kind of thing, I do see Tim's point... basically, oh well, YaYa, you signed up for it, so suck it up. I think everyone who hasn't just fallen off the turnip truck knows that these shows are highly manipulated and you have to learn to play the game. It's not just about the work.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I just love Tim Gunn's interviews. He names the names and once the show has run doesn't hide behind euphemisms. It's catty, but it's so refreshing.

He hasn't just dinged Jay and Zulema. He once dinged Daniel for getting a swollen head, though it sounds like Daniel's settled down to work and is in Tim's good graces.

I think with Jay, there's a lot of frustration in both directions--Jay had that awful contract which made him sign away 10 percent of his earnings if he took the $100K. At the same time, Jay seems to have all the designer gifts except the ability to work through come hell or high water. I kind of wonder if that affected who was chosen this time. You can't fault the work ethic of any of this season's designers.

Gotta say I'm not surprised by VictorYA's bitchiness. She was one designer where she came off even bitchier and more passive-aggressive when I watched repeats of the team challenge with Ricky. I kind of realized that they really weren't making her look bad--unlike Ricky who really did get a lot of crying time.

Jillian's comments about her also make more sense. Props to Jillian for managing to work well with the diva designers--V. and Rami. I'd have love to have seen her work with Elisa and Christian.

But, yes, a WWE challenge with Victorya would have been hilarious--csn you imagine her flat-boob look on, say, Rami's wrestler? Oh, that would have been worth the price of admission.

Anonymous said...

Great interview - thanks for posting.

"In general, it sounds like she was disillusioned and regretted getting involved in the whole reality show thing, and didn't approve of some of the behind the scenes stuff, which lead to her becoming a major PITA to the production staff, and Tim had no patience for her. And though I doubt it was a black and white, Victorya was a crabby appleton for no reason kind of thing, I do see Tim's point... basically, oh well, YaYa, you signed up for it, so suck it up. I think everyone who hasn't just fallen off the turnip truck knows that these shows are highly manipulated and you have to learn to play the game. It's not just about the work."

I appreciated Tim's candor on the topic of Victorya. He hit the nail on the head, and my guess is that he wanted to set the record straight about working with her. I wasn't the least surprised that she required "an intervention" on more than one occasion. I agree with the poster who said that she probably regretted the whole thing. Although I didn't care for her look, she has talent, but will have trouble trying to win people to her way of thinking.

Anonymous said...

Poor Victorya. I don't really care for her, but I don't think Tim should be putting her down like this.
But oh well, I'll always love Tim, and now I understand why Victorya was so cold. It's understandable if you're having this kind of tiff with, like the most beloved person on your show.

Anonymous said...

"Victorya was out with the Levi’s challenge, and the next challenge was the women wrestlers. I wanted so badly for her to have to do that challenge. Would that not have been the ultimate in revenge? And I’m about 60 percent confident that she would have walked off and refused to do it, and that would have been a ‘PR’ first."

Oh, Uncle Tim, how I love you. :)

Unknown said...

Hi all,

This thread may be so far down now that no one returns to it...but, geez Louise! ...go to the BPR link that TLo posted on Vitorya's RESPONSE LETTER to Tim's comments.

Wow. She basically says he's not qualified to be a mentor and addresses NONE of the points about her ill behavior during the filming.

D'Damn...It's ON!!! ~~~ I doubt Tim will respond publicly, but I sure hope TLo inquire (hint, hint) and drop us a clue.

;)

Anonymous said...

Wow! A snarky Tim - I like the inside scoop but he was a little too nasty (he took a lot of little digs at a few folks). Why bring up the whole Jay thing again - ugh! Let that nastiness go already...

Lisa said...

TG was my man from the get-go, but now? I love him. Love, love, love.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an interview and remarkable insight. For all the complaining that some reality show "baddies" do about how their conduct on-screen being manufactured by the producers/editors, the PR contestants had better get down on their knees and thank their makers for how kind those folks have been. From first hearing about Vincent's crappy behavior last season and now Victorya, it is obvious that the production staff has been inordinately kind.

So much for manufacturing drama, those folks have been holding back, and potentially salvaging those individuals' careers.

Another thought to consider, if they were discreet with those two, how much did they leave on the cutting room floor with Wendy Pepper, etc.?

Anonymous said...

I've thought about Tim's comments more and read Victorya's response, and I've decided that what he said was really inappropriate. He's in a huge position of power over her. How many people even read her thoughts about him? How many more will read his very personal attack on her? And it's hard to believe he is STILL hung up on the Jay thing. Good lord Tim, get over it, it's been years. It comes off as so mean.

Anonymous said...

p.s. It makes no sense that the producers would hold back that kind of footage.

DolceLorenzo said...

OHMYGOD Tim said this and VictorYA said that...just put those two bitches in a cage and let them fight it out.

Anonymous said...

Tim should get off Jay's back. Jay was the first winner and *nobody* knew how the show's afterglow was going to shine. Not Tim, not Jay, not the audience, not the producers.

And if Jay didn't want to take the avenue Tim wanted him to, it was Jay's own choice and he's been living with it snarkily ever since.

Of course, Jay should get off PR's back, too. You made your choices and ya gotta live with them. And, really, it's three years later - give it a rest.

Bought his bowling ball bag, btw. It's great and not at all fancy-schmancy chi-chic.

As for Vcoytirai-gate, the people I really feel sorry for are the nameless, blameless production people who had to put up with her shit and who'll never have the public ear (unlike her and Tim). Tim may have felt for them and was willing to look the big public meanie just to act as a cypher what they were all thinking and having to deal with.

I'm still trying to figure out what planet that girl was from that she didn't even do the minimum research into the production of the show before coming on... .

Oh, and Jack not making it really clear to her during and after production that he was highly contagious and in no way should have been hugged because he'd had MRSA before and knew the drill - much less hold up production for days and days (even though it's obvious the guest judges had made their very narrow schedules accommodate a taping) - that just keeps making him an ass.

Unknown said...

Wow, Anonymous 9:06 tell us what you really think.

hahahaha.

...actually I enjoyed your comments quite a bit and agree with most.

The thing is, part of me feels the same way about Jay as (I think) Tim does. He's incredulous that someone with such jaw-dropping talent seemingly sabotages himself at every turn.

I interpret Tim's repeated verbal-return to Jay as a kind of "sticky note"... a reminder that Tim recognizes/acknowledges the talent and laments opportunity lost. Don't know about you, but I don't find any passion in commenting on real-losers. It's usually a one time assessment and then... p'shah. write 'em off.

...think Tim KNOWS Jay is no wash-up and still has faith that he'll 'shock the monkey' at some point.

Tim keeps giving him press...free. They should have drinks at Red Lobster...sez me :)

Unknown said...

Victorya is the typical person who doesn't like the rules to the game when she's not winning, regardless of her talent or more accurately - the lack thereof.

What a bitch - she acts as if she has the authority to second-guess Tim Gunn's methodology. Guess what, Miss Thing? You were subject to the same rules and contract that everyone else was - AND YOU LOST!

She'll never amount to anything with that sour-puss attitude of hers. Next year no one will remember who she is.

Roseana Auten said...

It's so telling that Ms. Hong did not categorically deny a single thing Tim Gunn said.

Anonymous said...

Look at why Bravo chose not to air the counting money incident and the arguements over Jack's leaving and Chris coming back in. Victorya and the designers are forbidden by their contracts from discussing things that are not aired.

Those incidents make for great TV and ratings. But if Bravo have aired those things, they'd open a can of worms they do not want.

Anonymous said...

I think it was smart of her not to say shit on the reunion show--for all we know bravo could be corrupt and could pull a keith michael thing on her.

I'm guessing she just wanted production to stop for Jack and was pretty upset over it. And she's a smart girl so I'm sure she wasn't upset for no reason, and I'm sure she didn't expand in the rebuttal letter because she's under contract. Also, she's pretty good friends with a handful of the contestants, so I'm pretty sure that his comments about disassociating herself from PR and everyone else were BS. He was probably just pissed because she was giving them a hard time.

I'm so effing sick of Tim and his trash talking- he's a pretty pathetic guy who tries to play up this classy gay heart of gold guy with a sob story when really he's just a fame wanting son of a bitch and does so by being bravo's pet. first he fucks around with keith's career and then victorya's just for rating/publicity.

And whoever thinks they could have given her a worse edit was wrong- if they did show interventions or something she could go public with some probably not so nice stuff.