Project Runway: Tim Gunn Won't Return For Freeform Revival, Admits He Was 'Devastated' Not To Be Asked Back

Sounds like Tim Gunn wasn't able to make it work with the new Project Runway.

Gunn, the fashion guru who served as mentor on 16 seasons of Runway, won't return for the new Freeform revival, he tells People magazine. What's more, he wasn't even asked back, he says, even though his longtime co-host Heidi Klum will return to host the new season.

Gunn says Klum reached out to him to see if he was interested in joining her, and he was: "Of course, there's not a moment of hesitation in me." But months went by, and he didn't receive a contract offer when Klum did, so Gunn called his agent. "He contacted the executive producers of this new show, and they said, 'We don't want him,'" Gunn recalls. "So I wasn't asked back." The producers did offer Gunn to make a cameo, but he turned that down: "As Heidi would say, you're either in or you're out. And I'm out."

Gunn — who appeared on Project Runway alongside Klum from 2004 to 2017, first on Bravo and then on Lifetime — admits he was "initially devastated, then kind of humiliated" to not be asked back. But he's come to terms with it, and he supports Klum completely: "I have her back, and I'm with her in spirit always."

The new-look Project Runway was first announced in October, and is expected to debut on Freeform later this year. The judges and premiere date for the new season will be announced at a later date.

Does Gunn's absence make the new Project Runway seem less stylish to you? Make your voice heard in the comments.