One of the most dramatic moments in “Project Runway” history was a hot topic of conversation during the Season 16 reunion special that aired Thursday night on Lifetime. Claire Buitendorp was disqualified from the competition after she admitted to using measuring tape outside of the work room, which was expressly against the rules. However, now Claire and her twin sister Shawn Buitendorp seem to be changing their story.
“That entire situation for me was a blur,” Claire revealed on stage in front of “Project Runway” reunion host Tim Gunn and the entire Season 16 cast. “I literally felt an onslaught of negativity of things that were coming my way. It happened so fast I don’t feel I like was able to articulate and adequately express my side of the story.”
Gunn then chimed in, “This is your opportunity. What is your side of the story?”
“So yes, I admitted to having a measuring tape,” Claire said. “I had absent-mindedly taken it home one day from the work room because, come on, things happen. You have late nights, things get misplaced, they get put in pockets and things come home.” Claire then seemed to backpedal on her previous confession by declaring, “I [only] measured garments in the work room and in the work room bathroom.”
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That’s when Gunn fired back, “One minute! On camera Claire says to me that she used it to measure garments in the apartment.” After an agonizing commercial break, Gunn continued, “Claire, I’m gonna ask a question. Did you have a measuring tape in your apartment/hotel?”
Claire responded, “Yes.”
“And did you use it?” Gunn asked.
“No,” she said, shocking the entire audience.
As for why she falsely confessed previously, Claire explained, “I answered the question that I thought that I had heard. And the question was, ‘Did you have a measuring tape?’ And I said yes, because at one point yes, I had brought a measuring tape home absent-mindedly. You asked if I had taken measurements of clothing and I said yes, because I had taken measurements of clothing in the bathroom in the work room.”
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