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"Project Runway" wouldn’t have been the same without fashion consultant Tim Gunn, who helped guide many of the show’s contestants as a mentor for the first 16 seasons of the reality competition.

Despite being an integral part of the formula that made the TV series so successful, Gunn wasn’t paid for the first two seasons of the show, he told David and John Auten-Schneider on a recent episode of the Living Not So Fabulously podcast.

Before the show aired its first season on Bravo, Gunn was approached by producers while working as a teacher at Parsons School of Design. At the time, he was a “pauper educator” living “paycheck to paycheck to paycheck,” he recalled.

“I really did think, 'If I lose my job, What am I going to do? Move in with my sister?'” he recounted to the hosts.

Despite his tight financial situation, Gunn admitted that he didn’t ask to be paid as he began working on Project Runway — even as he was asked to come back for Season 2. He admitted that even the show’s producers suggested that he should get paid.

“It didn’t bother me not to be paid,” Gunn confessed. "I [had] a full-time job. I thought, 'Will they pay me that?' ... But then we did all of Season 2, and the money conversation never came up again."

Ultimately, Gunn said his calling as a teacher propelled him to continue despite his lack of pay.

“Being a teacher is a bit like being a member of the clergy: It’s a calling, and you’re going to do it no matter what,” he said. “The rewarding part is the students, and that’s what always kept me in, and that was, and still is, extremely, extremely rewarding.”

Gunn was eventually put in contact with a lawyer, who helped him advocate a fair contract for himself as he continued to mentor on the show for 14 more seasons.

Tim Gunn's frugal mindset

Though being such an integral part of "Project Runway" undoubtedly improved Gunn’s financial situation, he admitted that he’s still a particularly frugal person.

“I find spending a lot of money on an item of apparel or an accessory to be really nauseating,” he confessed. “It bugs the living daylights out of me. I believe in clothes that will hold up, that have quality, but I don’t believe in spending a lot of money. It makes me feel really sick.”

Fashion is often known for its high-end price tags. But despite the long-held belief that luxury brands are higher quality, a 2022 study conducted by the environmental charity Hubbub, in partnership with the University of Leeds, actually found otherwise. The study, which analyzed jeans, hoodies, and T-shirts at varying price points, found that a garment’s price tag did not correlate to its durability.