Movieline Interviews This Week's Project Runway Loser: 'I Never Listened to Tim Gunn'

I'm playing by the rules this week, sympathizing with our readers who haven't watched last night's episode yet, and not posting the name of the eliminated Project Runway contestant until after the jump. In our interview, learn how the newest castoff feels about Tim Gunn, the contestant he/she believes should've gone home, and the Runway legend he/she currently lives with!

It's Jesus! Since his time on Runway, the plucky Jesus Estrada has joined forces with season five's Gordana Gehlhausen (who found time to say "hi" to Movieline during our interview) and started working with her on various fashions. Jesus's feelings about Tim Gunn may become as legendary as his suspenders.

Tim acknowledges on the Lifetime website that Anna had one of worst dresses in the show's history. Do you think your auf'ing was unfair?

I was absolutely shocked. I don't know if it had to with that I was in the bottom two at the beginning of the show. I love that Janeane said she was worried about me, because I had a complete garment and she didn't. You know what I mean? There's a lot of the show that doesn't air, but her dress had a water stain in it that didn't come off. But you know what, in the end, I satisfied Tricia. It was still me. It was still sexy and cocktail. So I mean, I was shocked -- especially yesterday after watching the show and watching the other dresses coming down the runway. I was sitting with my family and they were actually shocked because I hadn't told them I was going to be eliminated. So when I was onstage, a lot of people, even my fans, thought I was going to be in the top three. But I mean, a pin was holding up Anna's dress, and even Heidi mentioned it.

Tim Gunn never advised you against putting the rhinestone straps on your dress, and that embellishment seemed like it most led to your downfall. Were you mad with him about that?

Actually, when I started designing the dress, I wanted to put the crystals into the stripes. I don't know if you saw, but I never actually listened to Tim Gunn. It was one of those things where -- I mean, I was a fan of Project Runway once, you know? It's one of those things where every time I saw someone talking to Tim Gunn, they ending up going home. I wanted to design what I wanted to design; I didn't want anyone else to tell me what to design. Actually, I was shocked, because Tim had mentioned that my dress was nice. I mean, I don't know, you never know what to expect from the show, you know? But no, I wasn't upset at all. At the end, it's what I wanted to design, and I went with it.

Did I hear that you and Gordana from last season live with each other now? She was my favorite person from last season.

Oh, Gordana, you have a fan! It's Louis from Movieline. Say hello!

(Gordana): Oh! Hello, Louis!

Oh my God. Hello. This is so weird.

Oh! Be kind with Jesus! He's so nice. When you come down to San Diego, you come and visit us, OK?

Oh my God. I have to now!

You have to! OK. Bye! Love you.

So how did this happen, Jesus?

That was my mommy Gordana. OK, so what happened is -- I actually met Gordana a week before I was told I was going to be on the show. I met her at a local fashion show here in San Diego. When I came back from the show, I actually contacted Gordana, and she said, "Oh my Gosh! You haven't gone yet!" And I said, "Actually, I made it to the show, and now I'm back -- to reality." I kind of wanted to take a break [after] coming back, I was still working at an Italian restaurant to kind of pay my bills. I took a little break, and Gordana was working on her spring collection. And she's like, "Oh my gosh, I'm going to be showing in New York." And I said, "I can help you, Gordana." And she's like, "What?" And I'm like, "I can help you! I can do whatever you want me to do on your collection." So I helped in her spring collection, everything came together beautifully. We went to New York, and she showed in New York. At that time, I was kind of struggling with my boyfriend and broke up with him, and I needed a place to stay. Gordana said, "Well, I have an extra bedroom that's empty." From then on we'd been like, friends, and everything's been so amazing for the both of us. We kind of wanted to prove to people that -- I mean, designers can be so catty, they never want to share information, contacts, or nothing -- we wanted to prove that both of us are capable of having different aesthetics and working together.

You used seal fur in the garments you showed in your audition, and Tim Gunn said it was illegal material. Have you used it since the show?

I haven't. That fur was actually donated to me, and it's expensive, you know? I only did it for this one show. I mean, I'm 21 years old, I can't afford a thousand dollars in fabrics, you know what I mean? That stuff was donated to me. I used it, but I'm so gullible that I didn't know it was going to upset so many people. Haven't used it since, I'd rather create my own fur.

Will you stay in San Diego for the long haul?

I really believe in San Diego, and I believe it just takes the right people to put something together here. Eventually Gordana and I would love to have a San Diego fashion week where we invite other designers and things like that. But at the end, if we do want to make it big in the industry, we can't be in San Diego, you know? We may move to L.A., we might move to New York. We don't know where life will take us. We're just going to live in the day as we go, you know?

Lastly, who are your style icons?

Victoria Beckham and Lady Gaga. I would've died if Victoria Beckham was a judge, she's so my style icon. I love that Lady Gaga doesn't care about what people think. That's one of the things that's in my personality. I love her aesthetic, her fashion is so incredible. And she has stories for every outfit. I mean, I love, love her.