‘Project Runway’ Executive Producer Talks Season 16 Cheating Scandal (Video)
“If you can at all, put the disaster on camera … because you make your problem entertaining,” executive producer Sara Rea tells TheWrap
Brian Welk | June 1, 2018 @ 3:49 PM
Last Updated: June 1, 2018 @ 3:51 PM
The challenge for any show after 16 seasons is finding ways to keep it fresh and to mitigate problems that arise. “Project Runway” Season 16 had a real disaster on its hands when one of the contestants was booted from the show for cheating.
But executive producer Sara Rea explained how they took this potentially fatal scandal and turned it into one of their best seasons.
“You put it on camera. If you can at all, put the disaster on camera. Because you make your problem entertaining,” Rea told TheWrap’s Matt Donnelly on Thursday. “This season we had a big cheating scandal, and I was like ‘s— what do we do?’ And we just turned the cameras on. Roll on everything, we rolled behind the scenes, and we had such strong on-camera talent that they can manage those things when the train jumps the rail. The biggest rule is, keep all the drama on camera. Use it to your advantage.”
Rea spoke on TheWrap’s Emmys Outstanding Reality Competition Panel along with “RuPaul’s Drag Race” executive producer Fenton Bailey and “The Challenge” star Johnny Bananas at the Landmark Theatres in Los Angeles. Bananas, whose real name Johnny Devenanzio, agreed that such scandals on reality shows make for the best drama. And he would know.
“She [Rea] said there’s cheating on her season. That’s all I do,” Bananas said. “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying on my show. Anytime I can find a loophole, production hates me. You almost have to have the list of rules, and then the Bananas rules. This guy’s going to find some weird, janky way of figuring out this challenge that we haven’t. Why didn’t we think of that?”
“Project Runway” has been renewed through Season 18, and Rea said all of this drama has ultimately helped the show’s longevity.
“The show perpetuates itself. There’s people now in Season 16 who said, ‘Hey, I can be a fashion designer.’ And they had never thought of that,” Rea said. “Do we feel the pressure to reinvent to keep it going after so many seasons? Yes. We start every season with, ‘Let’s produce it like its our last,’ because if we don’t, we have to find new surprises. We always have to evolve it. We don’t have to change it, but we have to evolve it, because the audience is going to want something a little different.”
Watch TheWrap’s full panel discussion above, and check out Rea’s comments at the 23:36 mark.
Omarosa's 11 Biggest Feuds, From 'The Apprentice' to the Trump White House (Photos)
White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman exited the Trump administration in 2017, and some reports said she had to be "physically dragged and escorted" off the premises. It's hardly the first time the "Apprentice" alum has gotten into a high-profile disagreement since coming into the public eye over a decade ago.
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During her first appearance on "The Apprentice" in 2004, Manigault-Newman frequently bragged about her experience working with then-Vice President Al Gore. However, it was later reported that she cycled through four positions in two years before finally being asked to leave altogether.
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Manigault-Newman became one of the original reality TV villains with her instantly iconic performance on "The Apprentice's" debut season. She clashed with nearly every other cast member that season, but perhaps her most memorable moment came when she accused fellow contestant Ereka Vetrini of racism over the phrase "the pot calling the kettle black."
NBC
Not one to let her 15 minutes expire, Manigault-Newman spun her star-making turn on "The Apprentice" into lasting reality TV notoriety. When she appeared on the fifth season of VH1's "The Surreal Life," she found herself under the knife -- literally -- of Janice Dickinson. The mock-threat sent Manigault-Newman over the edge, leading her to call Dickinson "a crackhead" and threatening to hit her "in the mouth."
VH1
When Manigault-Newman returned to the Trump boardroom for "The Celebrity Apprentice" in 2008, she found a new enemy in the prickly British TV personality Piers Morgan. Their feud persists even until today, but it began when Morgan pinpointed her as the biggest liability among the women and refused to pronounce her name correctly.
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Radio personality-turned-daytime TV star Wendy Williams hosted Manigault-Newman on her fledgling talk show in 2008 to promote her book, "The Bitch Switch." That interview quickly devolved into a series of snide comments about each other's looks and a full-blown argument about whether or not Manigault-Newman is a good representative for the black community.
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Her third and final "Apprentice" appearance was in the show's "All-Stars" season in 2013, when she again clashed with Morgan, who was brought back to judge the contestants as a past winner. But it was La Toya Jackson who took the brunt of her anger when the singer dared to try and tell her what to do during one of the weekly challenges.
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Manigault-Newman and "Real Housewives of New York" star Bethenny Frankel held animosity for each other for years, but the pair tried to turn their beef into ratings when the "Apprentice" alum appeared on Frankel's daytime talk show in 2013. Manigault-Newman slammed Frankel as "mediocre," saying she'd had an easier path to fame and success because of her race.
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Michael Clarke Duncan's family hired a lawyer in 2013 to investigate the late actor's decision to rewrite his will to make Manigault-Newman, his then-fiancee, his main beneficiary a year before his death. The "Green Mile" star's sister also took issue with Manigault-Newman's decision to sell some of his belongings without their knowledge.
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Shortly after taking on her position as a communications official in the Trump White House, Manigault-Newman made headlines for a verbal altercation with veteran reporter -- and former friend -- April Ryan. Witnesses said the two got into a heated argument outside the Oval Office, and Ryan later said Manigault-Newman claimed to have "dossiers" of damaging information about a number of reporters.
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Manigault-Newman returned to her reality TV roots after leaving the Trump administration, entering the "Big Brother" house for the CBS competition show's first celebrity edition. One of her first acts as a born-again TV star was to tearfully warn that the country's "not going to be okay" with Trump in office. The White House fired back at a press briefing, boasting about how many times Manigault-Newman was fired on "The Apprentice."
CBS
While promoting her book "Unhinged" on NBC's "Meet the Press," Manigault-Newman played a recording of White House Chief of Staff John Kelly firing her. She also hinted at the existence of other recordings, including of Trump himself. The president has fired back, repeatedly calling his former aide a "lowlife."
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The reality TV villain has made more than her fair share of enemies over the years
White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman exited the Trump administration in 2017, and some reports said she had to be "physically dragged and escorted" off the premises. It's hardly the first time the "Apprentice" alum has gotten into a high-profile disagreement since coming into the public eye over a decade ago.
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