Tim Gunn smacks down contestant over his “spewing of fiction”

At the end of last night’s Project Runway 6 episode, Tim Gunn broke from his typically objective and calm demeanor and called the eliminated contestant a liar. “I am incredulous at that utterly preposterous spewing of fiction Johnny did on the runway. It was ridiculous,” he told the other designers immediately after Johnny Sakalis left.

He was referring to Johnny’s insistence on the runway that he’d trashed his first made-from-newspaper dress because an iron sputtered over it. He even called the first dress “Dior,” prompting fellow designer Nicolas to call him out. Instead, it was clearly his insecurity after Tim criticized the dress he’d constructed and painted with blood-like paint; Tim joked that it looked like Johnny’s origami birds had attacked it.

Johnny, who spent part of his time working on a crossword puzzle, had an emotionally challenging time all season, so it seems like he finally just succumbed to the pressure. In a post-elimination video, Johnny says Tim Gunn’s comments “hurt” and says, “I did every challenge with integrity.”