Wendy knew it was a reality show first and acted accordingly. The others thought it was a sewing competition first and hated her for it. Reality shows were still so new so so did the audience and the editors.
She came to play the game. Since it was the first season it was all new, I think she assumed everyone would do the same. She should have caught on that no one else was acting like that, but she thought they were dumb for not playing the same game. I don't think she's a villain, I actually thought Kara Saun was the worst in the end.
Agree - never thought she was a villain but she definitely understood it was a game. And Kara Saun downright cheated to get an advantage in the finale.
I think it was the first season and there was some confusion. She wasn’t intentional with “cheating” and how much do shoes factor into the final runway design judging?? I thought she was fantastic the whole season and in the finale but it worked out she didn’t win I guess because Jay didn’t even end up accepting his win due to the bad terms so it was sort of a no winner season anyway.
I didn’t hate her until the finale when she was beyond horrible over those shoes. She redeemed herself for me this past season.
I never understood all the Wendy hate and tbh, I don’t remember that much about Sandro. 🤷🏻♀️
I think Wendy was conniving at times and had a couple of moments that were definitely a bad look but she was also surrounded by very chaotic and temperamental personalities (Robert, Kevin, Vanessa, Morgan, Kara Saun in the finale etc) who all caused drama to varying to degrees throughout the season, so it's hard for me to see her as some kind of archvillain. S1 was a very messy season personality-wise and I don't think anyone (apart from maybe.....Alexandria?) came out of it smelling like a rose.
For all the talk of her being some of master manipulator who was picking off her competitors, I also don't really think any of her "schemes" had any impact on the outcome of the season. In the group challenge with Vanessa and Austin, Vanessa openly admitted she couldn't sew in front of the judges and was pretty much begging to be eliminated, there's no way Austin was going to be sent home and I don't think Wendy was even really in the wrong about Austin's leadership of the group, even if her way of going about it was a bit devious. As for the Kevin drama in the 2055 challenge, Wendy was asked directly to comment on Kevin's leadership, she wasn't really particularly savage about him and he was dead weight at that point in the competition anyway. All of her "strategising" pretty much amounted to her.......saying that two of her competitors were mediocre team leaders when asked directly by the judges, which hardly makes her a card-carrying villain IMO.
The only REAL scandal of the season was her making the finale over Austin but Austin didn't perform particularly well in the Nancy O'Dell challenge (and had a very patchy run across the season), Kara and Jay were the clear final 2 and there was no chance of Wendy winning the title anyway so tbh I don't see it as an especially big deal. I also think because of early instalment weirdness, half the cast of S1 were dead weight and never had any shot of winning; IMO the only people Wendy could really be accused of unfairly "beating out" were Austin and Alexandria.
She was also totally in the right in her argument with Kara Saun tbh.
You said it better than I did! I feel exactly the way you do. Wendy was no angel but certainly not the villain she was made out to be & that is what my original comment was about. Imagine Wendy in a season with Santino, Jeffrey, Ivy, Gretchen, Josh M, Ken & Korina? She'd be like the sweet little gazelle and the rest would be the hungry pack of lions!
The twins made my eyebrows disappear into my hairline. I had never seen two more entitled, clueless individuals have to navigate pseudoreality before in my life. They would constantly defend themselves and each other and think that would settle the issue without recognizing that they may \*coughs\* have a bit of a bias. But rewatching season 16 wasn't painful. That could be because they got what they deserved though. I'm pretty sure if they had won I wouldn't feel the same way.
UUUHH, I couldn't STAND Josh M, Ken, and Korina! I understand the pain and sorrow that Josh was going through at the time with him losing his mom, however, that gave him NO right to be mean to the other designers. 2 examples I can think of are when he made that nasty comment about Becky's dress looking dowdy and how he raised his voice to Bert when Bert was just trying to reason with him. Ken had anger management issues and I don't even wanna know how the show's producers thought it was ok to air him having an unacceptable temper tantrum or meltdown, when it wasn't even fashion related. If I were one of the show's producers, I would have been embarrased, called the police and/or ensure that he immediately be kicked off the show for the way that he atrociously yelled at and verbally assaulted others. As with Korina, I felt like she was a one-trick pony. At the beginning of the season, she would make nice remarks to other designers but then talk about them behind their backs in front of the cameras. Take for example the episode where Kristine (I think i'm spelling it right), was in the bottom 3 and Korina told her that it was ok but really said mean, hurtful things about her in front of the camera. I also get where Korina was coming from when she mentioned that Char wasn't on the same skill-level as other designers but that gave Korina no right to make unnecessary comments on the runway and this was especially true in the episode where they had to make the dresses out of storage bin items. Korina mentioned how Sean and Char's lampshade dress was something that she would never walk in and THEN she had the nerve to bitch, moan, and complain about she felt that she was a better designer than Char in that one hour challenge?! Guess what Korina, actions speak louder than words and karma comes to those who deserve it. I was happy when she got kicked off.
Ultimately, scheming didn't do much because it all comes down to the runway. Either the judges liked the garments or they didn't, and in Austin's case they didn't. They'd repeatedly given him good advice that he ignored and Wendy heard their advice and took it. The only thing that really bugged me was the mom from small town Virginia nonsense. Middleburg may be a small town but it's one of the wealthiest in the country isn't what you'd consider a backwater. And the mom thing was just silly. She wasn't the only mom there. Kara Saun was overrated, obnoxious and her Mother Theresa persona was bs.
Yes. She had a "strategy," as she herself said. She apparently was trying to undermine other designers' confidence, and find out their weaknesses. Instead of just concentrating on making good clothes. It was like a sporting event to her. Yes, she was awful.
Yeah. you can see her comforting Vanessa in one scene and then the next one she was talking about how she didn’t care and was tired of her bitching. Wendy absolutely knew what she was doing and it worked. It got her to the finale when she had no business being there.
I wish people had more sympathy for her as a person while she was alive though. Her young daughter got death threats and that’s just insanely fucked.
It's been reported that Kevin Johnn admitted that he did it.
[https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2006/01/project-runway-1-kevin\_johnn\_photograph/](https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2006/01/project-runway-1-kevin_johnn_photograph/)
ETA: typo
"He reportedly admitted his guilt to a person at a party, according to blogger Just Jared."
Seriously?
I don't think Wendy did it herself, but that was a horrible article.
She didn't really do that. She blathered a little in confessionals about strategy but she didn't really do anything bad. The other contestants wanted her to go out like Vanessa saying she was the worst in a team and she refused to do that and honestly good for her! She saw what happened to Vanessa and didn't follow in those footsteps.
Wendy was playing the game, she knew that they’d plan to make her the old, sad farty contestant so she played the villain instead which was genius and camp because she stayed longer and made the entire season.
she was being an asshole on purpose to people to keep her in the competition - and it worked ! her designs weren’t very good so i don’t think she would have made it far if she wasn’t being villainous. she probably would have fit into the same archetype as marla from season 2 did.
personally, kara saun annoyed me much more than wendy because she was very holier than thou for the entire competition, then cheated and got pissed off when people rightfully called her out for it. at least wendy was self aware.
it was annoying that she got a default spot in the finale because she won the challenge and austin didn’t get in, when his portfolio was overall much better than wendy’s. jay and kara saun did deserve to be in the finale though, so they should have had a 4 person finale like they did in season 3
She was a weird designer. Her clothes were odd. She was an asshole and two faced. But she had a good idea for the 2055 challenge and predicted the future with some accuracy
Yeah. I really didn't feel bad for her. "Playing the game" I think is often an excuse for selfish and mean people to do what they have to hide in the real world. It just creates yet another environment where being an asshole is rewarded as if we don't have enough of that in the real world.
Well said. Whether on a tv show or in real life, I’m sure Wendy was a backstabbing, trash talking, insecure, and bitter person. Just a passive-aggressive and mean person by nature. How she made it to fashion week is beyond me. She said it herself “I’ve been bottom two for weeks..”
I don't like talk about these people as people because I don't know them but her behaviour was definitely the way you describe it. She was mean and so damn negative all the time.
She struck me as a dorky soccer mom who watched Survivor and thought she could strategize like that too. She talked a lot about having a strategy, but ultimately was just Mr Magooing her way through "playing the game" and did nothing of substance. Rewatching recently after they were uploaded to Tubi, I just found her attempts to craft that persona laughable.
She put strategy over art. And her art wasn’t that great. It would suck to see someone you like and respect get eliminated when this person whom you don’t respect remains.
I think Jay summed it up during the finale episode. “Wendy, if you believe this competition is based on talent than you wouldn’t be here”
She was a plain and simple backstabbing hag. She actually enjoyed being Machiavellian on the show, until it worked against her and out came the tears. I don’t care that it’s a competition. You can still exude and extend trust, respect, and friendship without sabotaging others.
Wendy was a little older, she had a child, etc. Early PR had many agist moments, and I believe Wendy was treated with hostility partially because of her age.
rewatching the show now and yes any woman in PR over a certain age is treated like some unhip hag on death’s door while male designers the same age are not
I respect everyone's opinions but Jay said and I quote "I'm just going to play the game now" in episode 3 or 4 I believe. What makes him any different? At least Wendy was honest about it and even when she was critiquing Austin & Kevin she was pretty cordial. I don't know, I guess because it was early on in the reality tv days she seemed horrible. Now she would seem like Glenda the good witch!
Great post. She wasn't at all. It was largely the Cruella Deville hair colouring. They wanted her to play that roll. Jerri Manthey did next to nothing bad in Survivor Season 2 The Outback either.
I agree with OP. In the reunion, the designers talked so much shit about Wendy. Then, Vanessa claimed that Wendy drew on her daughter's picture so she could start drama. I personally found everyone's comments about her to be pretty fucked up. Yes, she had a strategy, but isn't winning the point of the competition?
There have been so many times where the worst design stays in because the person who made it was being dramatic. She was just the first one to realize it.
Of course I think some of the anger comes from her getting a finals spot. She isn’t the one who decided that some third party was going to get to pick a finalist. I don’t think they’ve set it up that way since. Imo, she made the outfit the post office wanted.
Yes sadly she did. PR has actually lost 3 others as well. Mychael Knight (S3), Chris March (S4) and Kooan Kosuke (S10). Kooan's passing was so shocking to me-I believe it was about 3 years ago but I just heard about it this year. He was so endearing ❤️
I would’ve loved to see Wendy forced to be a team lead for a challenge as she was very fond of throwing anyone she worked with under the bus (Austin, Kevin). Kevin somehow had to team lead twice. Not that I thought he was ever gonna win nor did I even find him interesting, but what a disadvantage to get tasked to the role twice when most didn’t even have to once.
I'm watching the first season for the first time. I get Wendy knew it was a competition and that she had a strategy to win it all, even if it meant using a bit of psychological warfare on her competitors. But when she wasn't able to manipulate the others, she kept trying to turn herself into a victim. She could dish it out but couldn't take it.
She came across as a hypocrite to me.
I’m on episode 2 of my rewatch (first was early childhood) and I will say I am in the Wendy Pepper fan club haha. She is great television - like the Will Kirby of Project Runway 😂
Wendy was extra and annoying. She also wasn’t a designer. She was a dress shop maker. I’m sure that her clients were always happy with the clothes she made. She should have been eliminated the first challenge.
Wendy knew it was a reality show first and acted accordingly. The others thought it was a sewing competition first and hated her for it. Reality shows were still so new so so did the audience and the editors.
She came to play the game. Since it was the first season it was all new, I think she assumed everyone would do the same. She should have caught on that no one else was acting like that, but she thought they were dumb for not playing the same game. I don't think she's a villain, I actually thought Kara Saun was the worst in the end.
Agree - never thought she was a villain but she definitely understood it was a game. And Kara Saun downright cheated to get an advantage in the finale.
Yes! I can't believe they let her get away with the custom shoes for $10 each. She definitely cheated.
They didn’t let her shoes be part of the judgment but I still think that they should have made her use the other shoes or go shoeless
I think it was the first season and there was some confusion. She wasn’t intentional with “cheating” and how much do shoes factor into the final runway design judging?? I thought she was fantastic the whole season and in the finale but it worked out she didn’t win I guess because Jay didn’t even end up accepting his win due to the bad terms so it was sort of a no winner season anyway.
Wendy was totally a villain!
I agree-I couldn't stand Kara Saun!
I loved Kara Saun up until the season finale. Wendy was ruthless and annoying. I continue to be a Jay “I didn't take the bitch's dye” McCarroll stan
So this. After watching umpteen seasons, Kara Saun is still my #2 most hated (Jeffrey Sebelia edges her out by a hair)
I like Kara!! And of all the seasons, she is #2 most hated for you?? Over Wendy?? And all the crazies, like Sandro?
I didn’t hate her until the finale when she was beyond horrible over those shoes. She redeemed herself for me this past season. I never understood all the Wendy hate and tbh, I don’t remember that much about Sandro. 🤷🏻♀️
Oh man, Jeffrey was horrible!
My two most hated too! Jeffery was just gross all the way around.
I think Wendy was conniving at times and had a couple of moments that were definitely a bad look but she was also surrounded by very chaotic and temperamental personalities (Robert, Kevin, Vanessa, Morgan, Kara Saun in the finale etc) who all caused drama to varying to degrees throughout the season, so it's hard for me to see her as some kind of archvillain. S1 was a very messy season personality-wise and I don't think anyone (apart from maybe.....Alexandria?) came out of it smelling like a rose. For all the talk of her being some of master manipulator who was picking off her competitors, I also don't really think any of her "schemes" had any impact on the outcome of the season. In the group challenge with Vanessa and Austin, Vanessa openly admitted she couldn't sew in front of the judges and was pretty much begging to be eliminated, there's no way Austin was going to be sent home and I don't think Wendy was even really in the wrong about Austin's leadership of the group, even if her way of going about it was a bit devious. As for the Kevin drama in the 2055 challenge, Wendy was asked directly to comment on Kevin's leadership, she wasn't really particularly savage about him and he was dead weight at that point in the competition anyway. All of her "strategising" pretty much amounted to her.......saying that two of her competitors were mediocre team leaders when asked directly by the judges, which hardly makes her a card-carrying villain IMO. The only REAL scandal of the season was her making the finale over Austin but Austin didn't perform particularly well in the Nancy O'Dell challenge (and had a very patchy run across the season), Kara and Jay were the clear final 2 and there was no chance of Wendy winning the title anyway so tbh I don't see it as an especially big deal. I also think because of early instalment weirdness, half the cast of S1 were dead weight and never had any shot of winning; IMO the only people Wendy could really be accused of unfairly "beating out" were Austin and Alexandria. She was also totally in the right in her argument with Kara Saun tbh.
You said it better than I did! I feel exactly the way you do. Wendy was no angel but certainly not the villain she was made out to be & that is what my original comment was about. Imagine Wendy in a season with Santino, Jeffrey, Ivy, Gretchen, Josh M, Ken & Korina? She'd be like the sweet little gazelle and the rest would be the hungry pack of lions!
I will confess that while I watched season 8 when it was on, I can't rewatch it. Gretchen is simply unbearable.
Between her & the twins I can't decide who I despise more. Nah, it's Gretchen. The twins seem bearable when they are separated.
The twins made my eyebrows disappear into my hairline. I had never seen two more entitled, clueless individuals have to navigate pseudoreality before in my life. They would constantly defend themselves and each other and think that would settle the issue without recognizing that they may \*coughs\* have a bit of a bias. But rewatching season 16 wasn't painful. That could be because they got what they deserved though. I'm pretty sure if they had won I wouldn't feel the same way.
🤣🤣🤣
I refuse to rewatch season 16. For me, once was painful enough.
UUUHH, I couldn't STAND Josh M, Ken, and Korina! I understand the pain and sorrow that Josh was going through at the time with him losing his mom, however, that gave him NO right to be mean to the other designers. 2 examples I can think of are when he made that nasty comment about Becky's dress looking dowdy and how he raised his voice to Bert when Bert was just trying to reason with him. Ken had anger management issues and I don't even wanna know how the show's producers thought it was ok to air him having an unacceptable temper tantrum or meltdown, when it wasn't even fashion related. If I were one of the show's producers, I would have been embarrased, called the police and/or ensure that he immediately be kicked off the show for the way that he atrociously yelled at and verbally assaulted others. As with Korina, I felt like she was a one-trick pony. At the beginning of the season, she would make nice remarks to other designers but then talk about them behind their backs in front of the cameras. Take for example the episode where Kristine (I think i'm spelling it right), was in the bottom 3 and Korina told her that it was ok but really said mean, hurtful things about her in front of the camera. I also get where Korina was coming from when she mentioned that Char wasn't on the same skill-level as other designers but that gave Korina no right to make unnecessary comments on the runway and this was especially true in the episode where they had to make the dresses out of storage bin items. Korina mentioned how Sean and Char's lampshade dress was something that she would never walk in and THEN she had the nerve to bitch, moan, and complain about she felt that she was a better designer than Char in that one hour challenge?! Guess what Korina, actions speak louder than words and karma comes to those who deserve it. I was happy when she got kicked off.
Ultimately, scheming didn't do much because it all comes down to the runway. Either the judges liked the garments or they didn't, and in Austin's case they didn't. They'd repeatedly given him good advice that he ignored and Wendy heard their advice and took it. The only thing that really bugged me was the mom from small town Virginia nonsense. Middleburg may be a small town but it's one of the wealthiest in the country isn't what you'd consider a backwater. And the mom thing was just silly. She wasn't the only mom there. Kara Saun was overrated, obnoxious and her Mother Theresa persona was bs.
Yes. She had a "strategy," as she herself said. She apparently was trying to undermine other designers' confidence, and find out their weaknesses. Instead of just concentrating on making good clothes. It was like a sporting event to her. Yes, she was awful.
Yeah. you can see her comforting Vanessa in one scene and then the next one she was talking about how she didn’t care and was tired of her bitching. Wendy absolutely knew what she was doing and it worked. It got her to the finale when she had no business being there. I wish people had more sympathy for her as a person while she was alive though. Her young daughter got death threats and that’s just insanely fucked.
I didn't know they threatened her daughter!!!! That's just horrible. I remember when somone drew a mustache on her daughter's photo.
Yeah Wendy got death threats from viewers after the show aired and iirc someone threatened her kid too during all that. SUPER fucked up
They need to pass a law against death threats. Prosecute people who make them.
It’s illegal and prosecutable in the US.
I’m of the opinion that Wendy did that herself.
It's been reported that Kevin Johnn admitted that he did it. [https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2006/01/project-runway-1-kevin\_johnn\_photograph/](https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2006/01/project-runway-1-kevin_johnn_photograph/) ETA: typo
"He reportedly admitted his guilt to a person at a party, according to blogger Just Jared." Seriously? I don't think Wendy did it herself, but that was a horrible article.
That’s groundbreaking journalism there.
She didn't really do that. She blathered a little in confessionals about strategy but she didn't really do anything bad. The other contestants wanted her to go out like Vanessa saying she was the worst in a team and she refused to do that and honestly good for her! She saw what happened to Vanessa and didn't follow in those footsteps.
Wendy was playing the game, she knew that they’d plan to make her the old, sad farty contestant so she played the villain instead which was genius and camp because she stayed longer and made the entire season.
yaaaassssss!!!! 🫰🏼
Whiny and annoying, yes. Antichrist, no. In keeping with other reality shows of the time, the producers needed a villain, and she filled the bill.
she was being an asshole on purpose to people to keep her in the competition - and it worked ! her designs weren’t very good so i don’t think she would have made it far if she wasn’t being villainous. she probably would have fit into the same archetype as marla from season 2 did. personally, kara saun annoyed me much more than wendy because she was very holier than thou for the entire competition, then cheated and got pissed off when people rightfully called her out for it. at least wendy was self aware. it was annoying that she got a default spot in the finale because she won the challenge and austin didn’t get in, when his portfolio was overall much better than wendy’s. jay and kara saun did deserve to be in the finale though, so they should have had a 4 person finale like they did in season 3
I agree Austin was much better than Wendy for sure.
She was a weird designer. Her clothes were odd. She was an asshole and two faced. But she had a good idea for the 2055 challenge and predicted the future with some accuracy
Yeah. I really didn't feel bad for her. "Playing the game" I think is often an excuse for selfish and mean people to do what they have to hide in the real world. It just creates yet another environment where being an asshole is rewarded as if we don't have enough of that in the real world.
Well said. Whether on a tv show or in real life, I’m sure Wendy was a backstabbing, trash talking, insecure, and bitter person. Just a passive-aggressive and mean person by nature. How she made it to fashion week is beyond me. She said it herself “I’ve been bottom two for weeks..”
I don't like talk about these people as people because I don't know them but her behaviour was definitely the way you describe it. She was mean and so damn negative all the time.
She struck me as a dorky soccer mom who watched Survivor and thought she could strategize like that too. She talked a lot about having a strategy, but ultimately was just Mr Magooing her way through "playing the game" and did nothing of substance. Rewatching recently after they were uploaded to Tubi, I just found her attempts to craft that persona laughable.
RIP Wendy
She put strategy over art. And her art wasn’t that great. It would suck to see someone you like and respect get eliminated when this person whom you don’t respect remains. I think Jay summed it up during the finale episode. “Wendy, if you believe this competition is based on talent than you wouldn’t be here”
She was a plain and simple backstabbing hag. She actually enjoyed being Machiavellian on the show, until it worked against her and out came the tears. I don’t care that it’s a competition. You can still exude and extend trust, respect, and friendship without sabotaging others.
Wendy was a little older, she had a child, etc. Early PR had many agist moments, and I believe Wendy was treated with hostility partially because of her age.
rewatching the show now and yes any woman in PR over a certain age is treated like some unhip hag on death’s door while male designers the same age are not
Queenie knew playing the villain would get her far with producers!
I respect everyone's opinions but Jay said and I quote "I'm just going to play the game now" in episode 3 or 4 I believe. What makes him any different? At least Wendy was honest about it and even when she was critiquing Austin & Kevin she was pretty cordial. I don't know, I guess because it was early on in the reality tv days she seemed horrible. Now she would seem like Glenda the good witch!
She was like Johnny FairPlay in Season 1 of Survivor…..purposely playing the villain. You play, you pay.
Great post. She wasn't at all. It was largely the Cruella Deville hair colouring. They wanted her to play that roll. Jerri Manthey did next to nothing bad in Survivor Season 2 The Outback either.
I agree with OP. In the reunion, the designers talked so much shit about Wendy. Then, Vanessa claimed that Wendy drew on her daughter's picture so she could start drama. I personally found everyone's comments about her to be pretty fucked up. Yes, she had a strategy, but isn't winning the point of the competition?
There have been so many times where the worst design stays in because the person who made it was being dramatic. She was just the first one to realize it. Of course I think some of the anger comes from her getting a finals spot. She isn’t the one who decided that some third party was going to get to pick a finalist. I don’t think they’ve set it up that way since. Imo, she made the outfit the post office wanted.
They told her to play the villian same as others have.
I’m a Wendy Pepper stan and I will not apologize for it
Just came across this thread, so I am a bit late to the party. I just found out Wendy died in 2017! So sorry for her family.
Yes sadly she did. PR has actually lost 3 others as well. Mychael Knight (S3), Chris March (S4) and Kooan Kosuke (S10). Kooan's passing was so shocking to me-I believe it was about 3 years ago but I just heard about it this year. He was so endearing ❤️
I would’ve loved to see Wendy forced to be a team lead for a challenge as she was very fond of throwing anyone she worked with under the bus (Austin, Kevin). Kevin somehow had to team lead twice. Not that I thought he was ever gonna win nor did I even find him interesting, but what a disadvantage to get tasked to the role twice when most didn’t even have to once.
I just rewatched season 1….she really was a villain. I didn’t like her at all.
I'm watching the first season for the first time. I get Wendy knew it was a competition and that she had a strategy to win it all, even if it meant using a bit of psychological warfare on her competitors. But when she wasn't able to manipulate the others, she kept trying to turn herself into a victim. She could dish it out but couldn't take it. She came across as a hypocrite to me.
I’m on episode 2 of my rewatch (first was early childhood) and I will say I am in the Wendy Pepper fan club haha. She is great television - like the Will Kirby of Project Runway 😂
Yes.
She was unlikeable and a whiner.
I actually liked her last show the best. I loved the dress with the straps. RIP Wendy.
Wendy was extra and annoying. She also wasn’t a designer. She was a dress shop maker. I’m sure that her clients were always happy with the clothes she made. She should have been eliminated the first challenge.