Law Roach Is Bringing Mean Back to Reality TV. Thank God!

When Project Runway first announced it was returning with season 21, much of the excitement surrounded the news that Heidi Klum was finally coming back as host of the long-running reality competition. For me, though, the real revelation was that Law Roach was going to be a main judge alongside Klum and Elle editor-in-chief Nina Garcia. 

However, I was surprised by some of the moans and groans that came with news that Roach — who sharpened his claws on seasons of America’s Next Top Model, Legendary and RuPaul’s Drag Race — was going to be on the panel. Among my friends, there were comments about him being over-the-top, taking his criticisms too far on past competition shows. But I disagreed; I thought his direct-to-the-point-of-devastation critiques, even when dramatic, added something to these shows that’s been missing for a while.

And much to my satisfaction, Roach has delivered all that and more on Project Runway. He’s keeping it real — and really salty — and doing so right from the first episode. Evaluating the winners and losers of the episode’s princesses or villains-inspired challenge, Roach told Jesus Estrada (who had gotten positive feedback from the others), “I hated it. I was the only one. I was out-judged.”

The statement shocked Klum, who told him that “hate is such a big word.” But that didn’t deter the new judge from doubling down: “It’s a short word. It’s only four letters,” Roach said. He later added, “I hate the whole look,” bringing Estrada to tears.

A few episodes later, he let everyone know how he really felt about their presentation. While reviewing a collection meant to be worn by guest judge Sofia Vergara, he let them have it: “I’m really pissed off about this collection. I did not come to work and get this beautiful glam to look at a bunch of f—ing ugly clothes.”

Was it harsh? Yes. A bit extreme? Sure. Great TV? 100%. But he gets away with it cause he actually knows what he’s talking about. (Look at anything he’s done with Zendaya or how he’s styled any number of celebrities throughout his career.)

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In fact, Roach’s cutting approach on Project Runway is something that’s disappeared from reality competitions over the years, though it was once a foundational element of many of the most popular. Thank (or blame) The Great British Baking Show, a radically kind competition, in which contestants helped one another out and someone’s tears were usually the result of than from former judge Mary Berry telling them their dessert has a “soggy bottom.” 

Even other shows such as Top Chef, which used to have a serrated edge thanks to head judge Tom Colicchio’s high standards in the kitchen and distaste for okra or bad risotto, have gone from eliminating a contestant on the spot for a literal hack job on a piece of meat (see Tyler in the premiere of season 9) to nurturing personal narratives out of the chef-testants with an eye towards inspiration, rather than schaudenfreude.

But, honestly, I miss the reign of mean, snarky and unhinged. So much of it was why we tuned in the first place. And certainly one of the standard-bearers of snark was one of Project Runway’s original judges, Michael Kors, who delivered quip after hot take after snide face during his 10 seasons on the competition. (There’s a whole supercut of “slutty, slutty, slutty” remarks that never fails to make me laugh.)

And he wasn’t alone. Remember the disdain of Janice Dickinson or shock and awe of the late and great Andre Leon Talley on ANTM? During the early days of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Michelle Visage used to smack the makeup right off some of the queens while former Project Runway contestant-turned-judge Santino Rice ripped their gowns to shreds. Also, who could forget the originators of mean, like Simon Cowell, who used to dish it out on American Idol, and Gordon Ramsay, who always lost it on some poor chef struggling on one of his many, many competitions? 

Certainly,, Ramsay’s temper could sometimes explode too often, and sometimes the judging snark tipped into cruelty, but when appropriately calibrated, there is a time and place for it — and we’re ready for it to resurge. Even Ramsay’s acid tongue has come back around to being enjoyable on Next Level Chef, which is among a few of the competitions still willing to not play nice. Elsewhere is Alan Cumming, who is serving c—- as he prances around the halls of Ardross Castle on The Traitors while Naomi Campbell and Jeremy Scott took time to cut a design down on Making the Cut during its short run. (R.I.P.)

Of course, in the wake of Kors, Project Runway tried to keep the snark going, with his successors, Zac Posen and Brandon Maxwell, both giving it a shot. But it’s Roach who got the brief about playing mean and keeping audiences entertained in the process. As he said in the premiere, when he was finished eviscerating several contestants’ designs, “This is so much fun. I love this job.”