Tim Gunn Slams Project Runway Judges As "Unprofessional & Offensive"

It's no big secret that Tim Gunn's been annoyed with Project Runway as of late. But in a new interview with New Zealand site Stuff, Gunn took direct aim at the judges on the Lifetime series.

Gunn serves as a mentor to the aspiring designers in the fashion competition, as well as its spin-off Project Runway: Junior. And apparently, he's much more fond of the Junior judges than those on the original show.

In the Stuff interview, Gunn praised the judging panel on Project Runway: Junior, which includes Christian Siriano, Hannah Jeter, Aya Kanai, and Kelly Osbourne. "Their voices are measured and thoughtful — and honest," Gunn said of the Junior judges. Meanwhile, he suggested that the regular Project Runway judges, who include Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, and Zach Posen, are too "mean-spirited."

"I am sick of our regular season judges and their attempts to outwit each other and come up with a remark they think is adorable and cute but which is, in fact, piercing and mean-spirited," Gunn told Stuff. "I don't like it. I find it to be very unprofessional and offensive."

It's not just the judges who upset Gunn, either. He suggested that some designers are more interested in fame than in succeeding in the fashion industry."I have to say this — the adults, some of them, they want to be TV characters, and once they arrive it would appear that that's why they're really there," Gunn said Project Runway's contestants.

Gunn also explained that season 13 was his favorite, because "there were no games, there was no unnecessary drama, and all the designers wanted to do was create the best work possible."

And while he was skeptical about working with teens on the younger spin-off, it looks like Gunn finds them more responsible than many of the adult contestants.

"I'd had very, very little experience working with younger people, but I have to tell you, I love it so much that if I had to choose between regular Runway and Project Runway Junior, I would choose Junior in a heartbeat," Gunn told Stuff. "They listen, they take responsibility for their actions, they're not blaming anyone else, they are very professional in their behavior and their decorum, and they're not backbiting or being snarky or nasty about things."

Gunn's statements make total sense — of course designers would respond better to feedback that's not dripping with sarcasm or overt cruelty. But thoughtful critiques don't always make for great reality TV.