32 Epic Moments in Reality-TV History

High fashion has never been an industry that has welcomed outsiders with open arms. But when supermodel Heidi Klum launched Project Runway, a fashion-design reality show, in 2004 with designer Michael Kors and then Elle fashion director Nina Garcia, fans from all backgrounds flocked to the series. Designer Keith Michael was the early favorite in the third season of the popular show, winning the first challenge and impressing the judges in the second and third weeks. But in the fourth episode, Michael was abruptly disqualified for allegedly violating the show’s contract by having design how-to books and leaving the premises to use the Internet. Those actions, host Tim Gunn explained, constituted cheating, and he sent Michael packing immediately. The departure of a contestant wasn’t a total shocker — the show had teased a forthcoming dramatic fallout for weeks — but the fact that it was such a promising designer like Michael both shocked and saddened fans of the fashion-design competition.