Eight years after Heidi Klum left Project Runway as a host, it's been announced that she will be returning to the series to reprise her role for season 21 of the fashion competition show. The 21st season was announced in October 2023 and the producers said that the show was going to be reworked with new judges and a new network in order to bring the show to "a new generation."
Heidi Klum originally hosted Project Runway through season 16
Heidi Klum was the host of Project Runway from its first season in 2004 through the 16th season in 2017 when she, along with mentor to the contestants Tim Gunn, made their departure from the show.
As a host of the show for those 13 years, Heidi Klum was nominated for an impressive nine Emmy Awards and the show itself has been nominated a total of 49 times throughout different categories at the TV award show, taking home two of the awards.
The show also had seasons focused on younger designers and bringing back previous contestants for All-Stars seasons, all with Heidi Klum bringing her personality to the judging panels and her supermodel sense of style to each episode for 16 seasons.
When Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum announced they were leaving the show, they likened being on Project Runway and watching it grow for 16 seasons to having a baby and watching it grow up.
Heidi Klum told PEOPLE at the time that, "This was our baby. Our baby is 16 years old now. Our baby can walk and it’s going to walk by itself. And we love our baby -- we love our baby and we wish our baby good luck. But now we're ready to pop out a new one."
When the two of them exited the show, Karlie Kloss and Christian Siriano took over as the host and mentor of the show, stepping into Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn's shoes respectively. Christian Siriano won season 4 of Project Runway, so him being able to take over Tim Gunn's position as mentor to contestants whose shoes he was once in was a special moment for contestants and fans alike.
Currently, there's no news on whether or not this means Tim Gunn will also be returning to their "baby," but Heidi Klum coming back after an eight year absence on Project Runway is exciting news for fans of the fashion competition series.
Where to watch season 21 of Project Runway
When Project Runway first began airing, it was on Bravo before it was moved to Lifetime and then back to Bravo. But when it returns for its 21st season, the show will be once again calling a brand new network home as it will be airing on Freeform as well as streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
Since Heidi Klum's return to Project Runway was only recently announced and the new judges for the latest season haven't been announced yet, it will likely be a while before the premiere date for season 21 of Project Runway is announced.
It's estimated that the season will premiere sometime in 2025, but nothing has been announced just yet.