"Project Runway"'s Ricky: more than just a sob story.

This past week’s episode of Project Runway saw the elimination of Ricky Lizalde, the openly gay New York-based lingerie designer who made each week’s round of fashion challenges and catwalk drama his own emotional version of The Crying Game. In just about every episode, when it came time for Ricky to face the cameras confessional-style and offer his take on the fashion frenzy as it unfolded, you could pretty much be sure that he’d get a bit choked up and shed a tear. Or 20.

Nonetheless, with one of his signature “Steamboat Willie-meets-Ab Fab” hats perched perkily on his head, Ricky put up a good fight amid a field of pretty sure-handed, talented design rivals. He sparred with Victorya over who was really their time leader in the “Trendsetter” challenge, but scored a win with his cute little Amy Winehouse-y denim dress for the Levi’s smackdown.

However, last week when it came time to whip up some sporty, stretchy sass for his WWE Diva Layla, even her killer strut couldn’t sell the judges on the orange “swimsuit” Ricky had wrought.

With a box of Kleenex at the ready, we chatted up Ricky following his ousting from the show — and just a day after his house was broken into. Still, he was amiable and happy to chat about his time on the show, his penchant for wacky headgear, his take on the final five’s show in Bryant Park, Nina Garcia and that mouthy little Christian.

And yes, we asked about the crying.

AfterElton.com: Hi Ricky! Are you having a better day today? I heard there was some craziness going on yesterday, with your house getting burglarized!
Ricky Lizalde: Yeah, they took some antique watches. I collect old watches and so… But, whatever! It’s just stuff; you just have to look at it like that.

AE: Was there really a rivalry between you and Christian?
RL: The thing between me and Christian — I didn’t know that things were being said about me, so… Listen, he’s 21. That’s my only real answer to that. When you’re 21 and coming out and realizing who you are as a person, I think there are a lot of things that tend to be toned down or turned up, so I get it. He can say what he wants to say. And I’m not going to respond tit for tat. That’s not my style.

Christian Siriano

AE: We saw you crying a lot on the show. It was an emotional experience obviously, but what can you say to those of us wondering “Why is Ricky crying so much?”
RL: [He chuckles] First off, I guess I am an emotional person, and for me the journey of Project Runway was really an emotional journey, and I think I was discovering things and allowing people to see who I am. I sort of put myself out there, and when I’m disappointed in myself and at how I don’t produce, or when I’m under pressure, instead of getting angry or ugly, I just take it internally.

And in order to get it out, that’s how I expressed it, instead of biting of someone’s head off. It was just my way of dealing with my frustration.

AE: Well, at the very end, when you left you held it together. So maybe you made some progress?
RL: It all really was a journey. When I started the competition, I was coming from lingerie — a whole different background. And I was thinking, “Wow. How am I going to compete against all of these people who do ready-to-wear already? And being in the lingerie industry for so long, you kind of sort of lose sight of other things that are out there in the fashion industry, so for me it was doubly hard. But I made it work! [Laughs]