Project Runway's Wendy Pepper Dead At Age 53

Bummer. I really liked Wendy. She was misunderstood.

Ironic that one of the most well-known contestants from the show should die, right when the show is about to die.

I don't think there will be a season 17, after this current shitfest of a no-talent season.

[Quote] She was misunderstood.

Agree.

Wasn't she the show's laughingstock who kept making awful stuff, and ended up in the final three by some sort of fluke?

Loved Wendy. That dress she did for "Banana Republic" is still a PR classic. Her competitors hated her because she was over 40.

Pinchface Kills.

r5 So does fat.

Actually R3, I thought that Wendy's collection was the most elegant of the top three of herself, Jay, and Kara.

Wendy and Austin Scarlett became good friends during the All-Stars season.

In her interviews she seems pretty down to earth.

Awful news.

The show's having quite a renaissance this season so it's not dead yet. Five threads on DL only confirm this.

I'm going to guess some kind of lady cancer.

I didn't really care for Wendy's designs. I expected more, especially on her return in All Stars. I liked her personality and agree she was misunderstood. Sounds like her death was expected since her family was with her.

[R1] I agree this season was a shiftiest. Having those no-talent twins was a bad move. I know they were there as a gimmick - twins who will cause a lot of drama, which they did. This season was a loss. I rather liked Brandon until the end. As much as I love flamingoes I'm pretty sure I wouldn't make them my whole collection. The colors were too muted and the clothes too sloppy. Don't know if I'll be around for next season. Not sure what they're looking for in contestants but it doesn't seem to be talent.

That's two formers who have died in just a few months.

Mychael Knight and Wendy Pepper.

Really sad. :o(

Wendy's season 1 finale collection at the link...

Second half of the video, after Santino's collection.

I thought Wendy did a great job. I loved the colors.

I'm very sorry to hear this. She was a talented designer and had a young daughter at the time of her original season...my thoughts are with her and the rest of her family.

I thought her final PR collection was beautiful, As someone said I think the other designers didn't want to understand an older persons perspective. Even Kevin who was older but acted like a teenager never gave her the credit due.

I hated her and her tacky-ass designs. But that's way too young. And her daughter is still very young also--I feel for her.

I was also devastated hearing about Mychael's death--he was such a nice guy.

[quote] Wendy and Austin Scarlett became good friends during the All-Stars season

Whoops, I meant Wendy and Suede, not Austin.

Wendy was based in Virginia, not DC. Her project Runway finale dress was lovely, the rest "meh". Her level of mean girl was definitely matched by Kara Sun.

She was a unique individual, and appeared more so on her AllStars episodes.

Very sad too hear of her passing so soon. And the loss of Michael Knight even more so. He was an exceptionally nice person.

Oops, Kara Saun...

She lived in Middleburg, VA. (Along with Linda Tripp.)

Oh my god this is terrible. I really wonder what happened? And her poor daughter. This is sad to me..

So, who will be the third?

R4 the other contestants and the viewers hated Wendy, because she was a total bitch. And she knew it. She decided that she would be the mean girl. Then after making enemies of everyone; she played the victim. Not to mention her heinous designs. I can still hear Micael Kors critiquing her postal uniform. Why would take something that’s already dowdy and make it even dowdier? Kara Saun was a fan favorite. She won 4 out of 9 challenges, and she never finished in the bottom.

It's truly strange that 2 designers from the show passed away so close together. Wendy definitely didn't seem so bad compared to the villains who appeared on later seasons.

What was on her iPod?

r15 '" hated her and her tacky-ass designs"

You're such a fool. Her designs were classic. You probably preferred the 'fairywood designs' of Austin Scarlett.

Jay McCarroll ... now there's a name I haven't heard in a decade.

Whatever happened to him and fellow thinks-he's-hot-shit Daniel Vosovic?

Really sad to hear. And I thought about her randomly the other day...creepy. (My flashback was in the context of the season 1 drama when someone drew a mustache on a photo of her kid.)

I remember she lost a lot of weight and split from her husband before the season 1 finale. She also gave Tim Gunn a tour of her grandmother's mansion, so I always assumed she came from old money.

Yes r22, that's what the script said.

Truly she was the people's harridan.

R22, I really liked Kara Saun, but she was mad shady in the season finale. She flat out wouldn't acknowledge Wendy's presence -- granted, Wendy was acting like she was on 'Survivor' -- but it was still a bit much. When she did talk to her, she'd say passive aggressive things like, "How could you, Wendy? I was nice to you! I gave you a makeover!!"

Kara also pulled some weird shit during the last competition. She got free designer shoes (which was against show policy), while Jay and Wendy had to stretch their budgets by shopping at Payless. Kara ultimately got away with it because she gave something like $5 to the friend who hooked her up with the shoes.

I'd still rather have Kara (or Jay) dress me, but at least Wendy owned being a bitch.

R22, Reality TV was in its infancy but Wendy Pepper already knew how to play the game. She stayed in the competition longer than other contestants who were more talented. But she never did anything that was underhanded and history will certainly be on her side on Season One. On the other hand, Kara Saun shows up with these shoes from Dollhouse, no receipt and then miraculously comes up with receipts charging these shoes Goodwill prices. That was far worse cheating than what happened with the twins this season.

Her real name was Anne Eustis Pepper. I kinda like it.

Wonder why she chose "Wendy?"

On her Ipod...

Didn't she descend from an old aristocratic family?

^ like a testicle?

I loved her. She was one of the original reality villains and was one of the reasons Season 1 was so compelling. Her villainy was pretty tame in comparison to what followed

[quote] [R22], Reality TV was in its infancy but Wendy Pepper already knew how to play the game. She stayed in the competition longer than other contestants who were more talented. But she never did anything that was underhanded and history will certainly be on her side on Season One. On the other hand, Kara Saun shows up with these shoes from Dollhouse, no receipt and then miraculously comes up with receipts charging these shoes Goodwill prices. That was far worse cheating than what happened with the twins this season.

She chose to be a bitch to her fellow contestants. When that backfired and everyone hated her; she played victim. Which made her even more unlikable. She was a manipulative bitch. True she manipulated way into the finale, after finishing at the bottom of most of the challenges. Kara Saun was hands down the most talented of the bunch. Again she won almost half of the challenges. The shoe thing was kind of a non-incident. And since each finalist is still tied to a budget and they probably all look for discounts. No that wasn't far worse than anything else.

R36 = Kara Saun. You didn't look for bargains, you had shoes made for you. They matched your collection, what a coincidence. When questioned, you didn't have a receipt for the shoes, which were commissioned at Dollhouse. All of a sudden, you call Dollhouse and they came up with a ridiculous total. Tim didn't believe it and suggested that the cost of the custom made shoes might have been equal to the entire budget. Remember how you even had a stooge helping you in the studio? You won the most challenges in the season. So did Brandon this season. Big deal. You had a great deal of goodwill until you pulled that.

That’s a transwoman, right?

I can't believe we have a Wendy Pepper fanatic here. Her clothes were shit, she should have been eliminated in the first episode with that monstrosity.

Her collection was not on the same playing field as Jay or Kara Saun. Come to reality

That said, RIP. I never thought she was a bad person.

R39, Wendy Pepper ushered in the Reality Show villainess and for that, she should be a DL queen.

Had the same thought, R38. Is the daughter adopted?

What r40 said.

Some of you cunts are truly over the top with your Wendy hate.

Get a life! Sheeeeeeesh!!!!

Amorosa is the Queen of reality's most hated contestant.

I actually do think that R36 is Kara Saun.

do we know what she died of?

Isn't Kara a lesbian? And the show, for whatever reason, kept it quiet (never showed any scenes where she talked about it) ? I thought I read something about this after the season aired.

How the hell is prostitute Jack Makenroth still alive when the others are dropping like flies?

R47, yeah, interesting point. You just never know with life.

Iirc, it was some kind of cancer.

I wonder what she'd think about the Final Four being all Negro Fruits on All-Stars.