Tim Gunn's 10 Best Confessions

Tim Gunn is unquestionably one of the smartest and most candid figures to gain fame as a reality show regular. As the designers' mentor on Project Runway, he's critical and honest, even if in subsequent interviews he sometimes seems like a shill for the contestants. (Calling season three runner-up Uli Herzner's eye for great prints "second only to Diane von Furstenberg" was and is a stretch.) Still, he's a thrillingly articulate professional. On yesterday's episode of his panel show The Revolution, Gunn enjoyed another moment of refreshing candor, admitting he hasn't had sex in 29 years. He's broached that topic before, but it's time we compile his proud moments of (often harsh) truth-telling in one place. Here are my favorites:

On relishing his 29 years as a single man

"The truth is, I don't have time to be a good partner. Relationships take commitment, and all my energy goes into my work. I wouldn't want to let someone I cared about into my life and then never be home, or always be distracted. To be a good partner, I would have to give something up. What would it be?" (From Gunn's Golden Rules.)

On Taylor Momsen's regrettable behavior during a Gossip Girl taping

"What a diva! She was pathetic, she couldn't remember her lines, and she didn't even have that many. I thought to myself 'why are we all being held hostage by this brat?... I'd say, 'You know young lady, there are hundreds of thousands of girls who are just as attractive and even smarter than you. Why are you acting like this show is a huge burden on you?'"

On Anna Wintour's diva-like descent

"I was with a colleague from Parsons, and we had been discussing the will-she-or-won't-she-take-the-elevator question, so we ran over to the elevator bay to see if Anna would deign to get on. She wasn't there. Then we looked over the stairway railing. And what did we see but Anna being carried down the stairs. The bodyguards had made a fireman's lock and were racing her from landing to landing. She was sitting on their crossed arms."

On fellow reality TV fashion mentor Isaac Mizrahi

"Oh, please, I was so kind to him. I mean, I wouldn't have the words to describe some of the more abhorrent behavior. He really is a terrible, terrible, terrible person."

On Project Runway season two contestant Zulema Griffin, who hoarded muslin from her colleagues

"I would have bitch-slapped her!" (From Gunn's Project Runway podcast, 2006.)

On J. Edgar Hoover, his father's FBI coworker, who he may have met dressed as Vivian Vance:

"My sister and I used to take the FBI tour once a year. It was a big deal in D.C., and we never missed it. One year, 1961, when I was eight, I was on the tour and my father asked me if I'd like to meet Vivian Vance. According to Helen Gandy, Hoover's secretary, Vance was visiting Hoover, and she said she'd be happy to meet us. I was a rabid I Love Lucy fan and was beside myself with excitement... My father smiled and took my sister and me into Hoover's office, where I shook Vivian Vance's hand and chatted with her. I was thrilled. Years later, I was reminiscing with my sister about the meeting, and suddenly I realized something. "Does it seem odd to you," I asked her, "that when we met Vivian Vance in Hoover's office, Hoover wasn't there?" I've since looked at photos of both Hoover and Vivian Vance from that period of time, and the similarities are rather eerie... I've called some Vivian Vance experts, including Rob Edelman and Audrey Kupferberg, who wrote Meet the Mertzes: The Life Stories of I Love Lucy's Other Couple; none of them knew of any meeting between Vance and Hoover." (From Gunn's Golden Rules.)

On never coming out to his own mother:

"On the one hand she is a Chatty Cathy and can talk a blue-streak, on the other hand, she is not comfortable discussing anything personal. Like the chapter in my book says, sometimes you really should just keep your mouth shut! (Laughs.) Now, if I was to bring a guy home, I wouldn’t blind-side her with him. I would make an advance visit and test the waters.”

On season-one winner Jay McCarroll's post-show output:

"Jay is so talented. He’s a great guy. I love him. He shouldn’t blow this. If it doesn’t happen for him, I blame him. There’s a lawyer involved, I think there may be dubious advice there. There are too many voices [in Jay’s camp]. He’s had other issues;, he needs to get out of Pennsylvania [where he still lives]. He comes to New York frequently, but he still lives there. He also had back surgery, so that derailed him for a month. But it’s time now. In another week, it’ll be a year [since Season 1 debuted]. It’s time."

On getting a disturbingly brief email from a celebrity friend:

"I'd been part of a very lengthy cover story about [an unnamed celebrity], and the interview took three days and probably collectively 10 hours. It was a lot. But when the article came out, it was wonderful, and I wrote her a long e-mail about how great the article was and congratulations and I was honored to be a part of it. Two days later -- the time doesn't matter, but I'm setting the stage -- but two days later I get an email back: "T-H-N-X." I didn't even warrant a vowel! T-H-N-X! Horrified!"

On his last partner's bedroom impatience:

"I haven’t had sex in 29 years. Do I feel like less of a person because of it? No... He was impatient with my sexual performance. I'm a perfectly fulfilled person... but it's very psychological."

Any other soundbites to add? Thrill me!