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AE: Not naming names, but how many of the other designers are gay?
RB: Let me give you the list. [Laughs.] The cast was a really good mix of every kind of person. It was representative of society. Jeffrey [Sebelia] was straight and crazy, and Laura [Bennett] was insane. Oh wait, that's just a personal opinion. No, I think it really did cover a good cross section of every kind of person. It was a pretty even mix of gay to straight, guys to girls.

KG: I think there were five gays, all boys.

AE: There don't seem to be as many lesbians in fashion.
RB: Actually, I think Zulema [Griffin, from Season 2] was a lesbian. She came out in The Advocate about how she was a lesbian, but the show played it down.

AE: Do you think there's any truth to the stereotype that most male fashion designers are gay?
RB: Yeah. I would argue it, but it seems to be true for the most part.

KG: You'll find a lot, just like with hairdressers and makeup people, anything that's creative or has to do with glamour or fabulousness, it's just something that we tend to excel at. I think the numbers are definitely higher. I haven't done any studies, but from what I've experienced, there're a lot more homosexuals in fashion design, than say, farming. [Laughs.]

RB: Actually, I've run the numbers … [laughs] I think it's true. It's one of the cases where stereotypes are stereotypes because there are numbers to back them up. While I'm sure there are straight designers just like there are gay pro football players, it's more likely that they [designers] will be gay men.

AE: Kayne, was it a difficult decision to turn Keith [Michael] in for having the illegal pattern books?
KG: It was, to be honest. I did not come to Project Runway to be a mean person or to be a villain, whatever. It's not like I wanted to be put in that situation, so it was definitely hard. I walked in that evening, and he had a couple of the books out. One was under his bed and literally, I read on the binder what they were, and I was in shock. I know clearly in my contract it had said I was not allowed to have so much as a spool of thread, much less a pattern-making book. I didn't say a word at the time. I just hung out and talked like I always did anyway.

This was a couple weeks into it, so I had seen him, been around him, shared things together, and I'd never seen them before. So I decided to sleep on it and see how I felt after that. The next morning, of course, it was still eating at me. So on the walk to Parson's the next day, I talked to Robert, who was my closest friend there, and I said, “Robert, this is the deal. I have to talk to somebody. I don't want to spread it or be a big tattletale, but I saw Keith with a pattern-making book. What should I do? Should I let it alone or say something?”

And Robert was like, “Absolutely not. The producers just went over everything yesterday, and you know it. They said if we saw anything that we were uncomfortable with or is against the rules, we have to tell them.”

So we get to Parson's, and I pulled a producer aside privately — no cameras around — and I just say the situation that happened. I don't want to be a snitch, and really don't want anybody to know about this, but just please take care of it because I don't think that's cool. The producer was totally understanding. They did a sweep of the room, found the books and, honestly, it took a couple of days before anything was said.

RB: That was the shocking thing, I guess. How long it took.

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