- Project Runway made its Freeform debut with a “spicy” contestant talking back to the judges.
- “Am I being Punk‘d?” Antonio Estrada asked after landing in the bottom, with Heidi Klum curtly replying, “No.”
- “I think you’re being defensive and also a little bit rude,” judge Law Roach said.
Project Runway might’ve returned with a new roster of designers flexing their fashion skills on the main stage, but one contestant’s emotions unspooled in front of the judges when he was placed in the bottom.
After a Disney-themed challenge on Thursday’s season 21 premiere tasked the contestants with creating looks in two teams divided by inspiration from princesses and villains, competitor Antonio Estrada landed in the bottom — and he wasn’t happy.
“Am I being Punk‘d?” Estrada asked after his placement was revealed, with head judge and host Heidi Klum curtly replying, “No” before the critiques began.
Spencer Pazer/Disney
As the panel initially broke down Estrada’s look, he licked his lips and attempted to shift focus to judge Christian Siriano’s advice that was given during a work room walkthrough.
“You keep blaming everything on Christian,” Law Roach observed.
“Christian told me his intern could make that dress in 30 minutes,” Estrada replied, with Siriano eventually doubling down on the assessment.
“I just think this dress underneath, an intern could make it in 30 minutes. It’s a tube dress,” Siriano quipped, with Klum adding that Estrada’s model “just looked like a big loofah.”
Estrada attempted to explain his feelings, telling the judges, “I’m a Gemini, and I don’t like people telling me what to do. And I was like, ‘You’re an adult, you’re going to listen to Christian, he’s here for a reason, he’s your mentor.’ And I did listen to him. That’s why I changed my look three times. You pushed me to be better.”
Roach observed that Estrada’s words were “spicy,” with Nina Garcia jumping in to chastise the designer for clapping back so quickly.
“Antonio, you’re being so defensive. We’re just trying to understand your work. I don’t think there’s any reason to be defensive,” she said.
Spencer Pazer/Disney
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Roach added that “I think Nina’s right to call that out, I think you’re being defensive, and also a little bit rude.”
“It’s okay to be criticized and to be let down by the criticism. But to kind of throw it back comes across as really quite nasty,” Roach continued. “I’m just letting you know, one girl to another.”
In the end, however, Estrada was spared from elimination, with returning contestant Caycee Black ultimately leaving the runway first — marking the second time in her Project Runway career that she was eliminated first, having previously been the first “out” on season 19.
Project Runway continues Thursdays on Freeform, followed by weekly streaming debuts on Hulu and Disney+.
