The best new reality show to come out of a typo since The Amazing Mace
By Gary Lim
Watch out Canada; primetime TV will never be the same again with the debut of Project Runaway, the newest addition to Slice TV ’s programming roster. Coming this May, Project Runaway Canada is just the latest in a series of increasingly similar reality TV competitions.
Project Runaway will feature some of the most upand-coming young designers in Canada as well as some of the most downtrodden and desperate people trying to escape their lives. The format of the show is nearly identical to Slice smash-hit Project Runway Canada, with the twist that each designer will be paired with a runaway throughout.
Critics are coming out of VIP pre-screenings of the new show in droves to sing its praises, calling the show “witty,” “provocative,” and a “treatise on the inherent evil that lurks within the hearts of man.” Critics will reveal little more, but do tease that fan favorites appear as early as the first episode, which pairs Trey, owner of popular Yonge street boutique theFRAME, and Soon-Yuk, a once-colonel and now-defector of the North Korean army.
The show’s producers, Sheila Turner and Antony Mattia spoke to The Peak about the format of the new show.
“We are anticipating big things for Project Runaway,” said Turner. “It’s only a slightly different from Project Runway, but these small changes will lead to huge consequences. How do you get some runaway ready when they won’t stop crying, and what do you do when your runaway has chewed through their ankle tether and disappeared into the night? Find out in season one!”
Mattia expanded on the diversity of contestants on the show. “We have designers ranging Vancouver to St. Johns, each with their own unique styles and quirks, and a variety of runaways: two people suffering mid-life crises, an entire family in witness protection, and an honest-to-goodness teenage runaway. So you can expect to see some drama.”
Turner and Mattia also described the higher stakes of the spin-off. “Not only will our designers be playing for
$150,000 and a 2014 Mazda6, but a chance to design their own clothing line to be sold at HBC stores across the country. Similarly the runaways will be playing for new identity in a little Mexican coastal town, and each week losers will be turned over the appropriate authorities/crime families. So you know they’re in it to win it (laughs).”
On the coattails of this news, FOX Broadcasting announced plans for Deaf Chefs, a new reality TV show which features Chef Gordon Ramsay yelling at chefs who previously lost their hearing after working on other Gordon Ramsay reality TV programs.
