Due to the overwhelming success and popularity of the second season of Bravo´s hit series PROJECT RUNWAY hosted by Heidi Klum, a special reunion episode has been added to the schedule that will air on Wednesday, February 22 at 10:00 p.m., ET/PT. In addition, the season finale of the search for the next great designer will be extended to two hours, airing over two weeks on Wednesday, March 1 at 10:00 p.m., ET/PT and concluding with the winner being crowned on Wednesday, March 8 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT. The announcement was made today by Lauren Zalaznick, President of Bravo.
"In the season´s first eight episodes, PROJECT RUNWAY has exceeded even our highest expectations for great buzz, and even greater ratings," said Zalaznick. "Enough people have said, literally, ´I don´t know what I´m going to do when Runway ends!´, that we´ve made the decision to help them by extending the run!"
For the first time ever on Bravo, viewers will have the opportunity to interact through their cell phones and online, on BravoTV.com, and have their opinions shared with other viewers as they are polled on PROJECT RUNWAY related questions posed throughout the March 8 finale. Results from the viewer polls will be displayed throughout the episode. Everyone who votes will be automatically qualified to be randomly selected to win one of ten video iPods. Saturn is the official sponsor of the voting and sweepstakes.
On Wednesday, February 22 (10:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m., ET/PT), viewers will have an opportunity to see some of the amusing and sensational moments from the previous challenges that did not make it into the preceding shows as all sixteen designers reunite with Heidi and Tim Gunn. The episode will also feature new interviews with the contestants and judges reacting to their experiences during the course of the challenges, as well as their personal reactions as they watch the series on television. Contestants will share their thoughts on how the series has also impacted their careers and lives.
On Wednesday, March 1 (10:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m., ET/PT), viewers will watch as the final three designers return home to begin work on their lines, which they will present before the world´s fashion elite, at Olympus Fashion Week. Each of the contestants will be visited at their homes by Tim Gunn, allowing viewers to learn more about their personal lives and families, as well as to get a sneak peek at their Fashion Week collections.
On March 8, the three finalists will face-off in a runway show in New York Fashion Week. Each contestant will present their line before the judges, the media, and an audience of industry luminaries. At the end, the winner of PROJECT RUNWAY will be crowned. The winning designer will walk away with $100,000 in seed money to help them launch their own line and a 2007 Saturn Sky Roadster, both provided by Saturn. The winner´s designs will be featured in a spread in ELLE, photographed by the magazine´s world-renowned Publication Director, Gilles Bensimon. They will also receive a mentorship from the Banana Republic Design Team.
The second season of PROJECT RUNWAY has garnered record ratings and continues to grow week-to-week. The season premiere was triple season one´s premiere, and it has been the number one show on cable on Wednesdays over the last three weeks. Last week´s episode surpassed the record-breaking season one finale in just the eighth episode into the second season.
