Reality Check: 'Project Runway' returning on Freeform

BACK IN FASHION “Project Runway” is returning, following its unannounced cancellation by Bravo last year. After an initial five seasons on that network starting in 2004, then 11 more seasons on Lifetime, with spinoffs, from 2009 to 2017, and a final four on Bravo, with season 4 winner Christian Siriano as mentor, from 2019 to 2023, the fashion design competition will be back next year on Freeform.

The basic-cable network said Thursday that "Project Runway" will have a 10-episode 21st season, with a host, judges and a premiere date yet to be announced. The show will air weekly then stream on both Disney+ and its corporate stablemate Hulu.

The relaunched series’ executive producers include two of its originals: Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz, then of Magical Elves and now of Alfred Street Industries.

"It is exciting and inspiring to have the opportunity to guide the evolution of 'Project Runway' for a new generation," Cutforth said in a statement. "The challenge to stay relevant while the world is changing at lightning speed makes us eager to not only honor our die-hard 'Project Runway' fans but also to introduce fresh and innovative ideas," added Lipsitz.

Long Islanders who have competed include Selden's Jillian Lewis, who came in third on season 4; and, on season 10, Andrea Katz, originally from Oceanside, and Massapequa’s Christopher Palu, a finalist who later competed on "Project Runway All Stars" season 3. Another local, Hauppauge teen A’Kai Littlejohn, competed on season 2 of the Lifetime spinoff “Project Runway Junior.”

Premieres

Tuesday from 10:01 to 11:01 p.m., Vannessa Cross, Meghan Crumpler and Ashely Sutton are the “1000-lb Best Friends” returning for season 3 of the TLC show focusing on their weight-loss attempts. Tina Arnold, a star of the previous seasons, said in September of her departure, “I was assured that the show would focus on the journey of weight loss among four friends, not solely on weight loss surgery. … However, for season three … I was informed that the focus would now be exclusively on weight loss surgery, and because I was not pursuing surgery, there was no longer a place for me on the show. … Their justification is that television and its viewers demand fast, visible results, which they believe are best achieved through surgery,” rather than dietary and lifestyle changes … Early Wednesday on the streaming service Netflix, the crew at Gotham Garage in Temecula, California, continues to overhaul and modernize classic vehicles for a sixth season of "Car Masters" … That same morning on the streamer Paramount+, the tattooing competition “Ink Master” returns for season 16 … and Sunday from 8 to 10:01 p.m. on Discovery, Matt Raney, his sister Misty and their father Marty, who live in Alaska’s Hatcher Pass area about 12 miles from the nearest towns, are back for a 12th season of helping fellow frontier folk on “Homestead Rescue.”

Recaps

Joan Vassos of “The Golden Bachelorette” eliminated Mark Anderson prior to the Rose Ceremony, at which she ousted Keith Gordon and Jonathan Rone. Remaining are the final four: Charles "Chock" Chapple, Guy Gansert, Jordan Heller and Pascal Ibgui … Model Brooks Nader and ballroom pro Gleb Savchenko were eliminated from “Dancing with the Stars” … “Survivor” voted off Anika Dhar … and Larsa Pippen from “The Real Housewives of Miami” joined “House of Villains” in the season’s third episode, which had no eliminations.