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feather_ghyllEpisode 8 - diva week
All the contestants gamely pretended that diva week was a thing, it’s not, it’s just a variant on past themes, but with them all talking about getting into the semi-final, it was a reminder that it was the quarter final. It was also striking that there were only five of them left.
The pattern challenge was a Tina Turner inspired fringe dress, and the fringe was the main problem – Luka and Suzy seemed most confident. Inserting the invisible zip was the task that divided them. Pascha and Suzy decided not to do anything in particular to keep the fringing out of the way and their alignment suffered as a result. The judging was fair, although, as they did Luke’s ‘first rate’ effort first, there was little tension about who would win the round. I thought the gold and red were the most divaish colour choices, while Pascha’s alternating colours worked better than I expected. In order: Luke, Ailsa, Alex, Pascha and Suzy. The latter knew that she was the weakest, but Pascha isn’t used to being close to the bottom.
Transformation challenge: clothes in animal prints (which I generally loathe) into loungewear ‘fit for a diva’. Some people started off with purpose, others were a bit more panicky. I liked Suzy’s colour selection more than Alex’s. Ailsa’s got more impressive, while I never understood what Luke was doing. Pascha managed to cut her top and had to do a rescue job and then dithered over whether to have bikini pants under or over some more transparent shorts that she’d made. Suzy had managed to get a hole in the bum of her shorts. Again, the judging felt fair. Luke’s statement back wasn’t very loungeweary, and I thought Ailsa deserved to be top.
The judges confided to Kiell (although it was rather stating the obvious) that Ailsa had done best that day and Suzy worst, but they emphasised that all the contestants were close.
The made to measure was a stage outfit fit for a diva, and two of them, Luke and Suzy, were designing for Lady Gaga, which the producers must have loved. Ailsa was reprising an animal print and Alex fringing. Her inspiration was Orville Peck, Partrick’s response was ‘who?’ (They should have shown him Googling him or something.) He and Esme were also underwhelmed by the costume she planned to make. But then Patrick was also wondering whether Luke’s costume really needed an LED light on it. Suzy was determined to prove herself, while Pascha was fashioning a pannier, she and Luke had some tough materials to sew.
As Kiell amusingly gave them time checks, it was clear that Alex was far behind on starting on her trousers, Suzi was also sewing in a lot of crinoline, while the others were focusing on details. Pascha’s silver bodysuit with added 3D pannier for Beyonce was well received, Ailsa’s country outfit for Shania Twain with details like gloves attached to the sleeve and a saddle-inspired belt (!?) was praised, but Patrick’s point that it would work better in a music video than on stage was fair. Alex hadn’t finished and the details that she’d hoped would win the judges over were too often a rush job. Suzy hadn’t finished either, she was one button missing and had managed to make another hole, but her outfit crucially had impact – a voluminous opera coat with just enough detailing. Luke’s bike-riding themed outfit, with a mind-boggling harness and some nifty, sharp details, was always going to be garment of the week. (Xyr doing well on diva week, fancy that.)
Another judges confab where we were left pondering whether Alex had messed up enough to pip Suzy for being sent home. And it turned out she had, which is this season’s shock result, as I thought she was sure to go through to the final, whereas Suzy has been towards the bottom consistently, although she always manages to redeem herself in the made to measure. Not quite the four semi-finalists we were expecting, then.
Episode 9 – designer week and the semi-final
Completely unavoidable that there were only four contestants left in the room and one of them would have to go. The theme was designers and the pattern challenge seemed particularly tough, a dress based on Balenciaga’s silhouette-changing style. (The briefing on Balenciaga’s biography was very helpful.) All of the contestants seemed flummoxed, but three of them were up for the challenge, while Ailsa spent a long time selecting the material and was then behind for a long while. Patrick had to remind her to breathe and concentrate on the cutting.
They were ordered to stick to the instructions, which they all got confused by at various points – gussets in the armhole, a belt on the inside, and the front and back being very different. Unsurprisingly some people hadn’t finished – Suzy hadn’t managed the eye and hook or the hemming, Ailsa’s hemming was rough. Luke and Pascha had finished, and they had fewer criticisms for Pascha, so the order wasn’t surprising (especially as all the past weeks suggested that Suzy was the weakest left).
The transformation challenge felt less difficult and more fun: ties (and fastenings) into an outfit, and they all set about it with purpose. Ailsa was plaiting ‘earthy’ colours for the back of her top, Luke had gone for black and white and was sewing the ties together with an eye to their width, Suzy was draping pinks and purples according to their colour, while Pascha had gone for pastels.
It was the second half that distinguished them. The front of Ailsa’s ‘waistcoat’ wasn’t quite as snazzy as her back, but she’d just got her fastenings in when she decided to do a choker, which looked good, but she’d forgotten something Esme would pick up on. Luke had added a touch of white at the top and wanted to echo that at the bottom. Suzy had added a peacock’s feathers type effect to the back of her top and was going to use Velcro for her fastener. All very good, but then she realised she’d sewn it on the wrong side, had to unpick and redo it, which meant that she was behind on actually sewing it all together. Meanwhile, Pascha was opening up the ties to create an asymmetric skirt and finding that the creases were creating an interesting pleat effect.
Esme pointed out that you couldn’t get in or out of the choker, but Suzy’s outfit wasn’t finished. Luke’s had the most visual impact, but there was lots to praise about Pascha’s. They exchanged first and second place, Ailsa came third and Suzi last, which she had to admit was fair. In conversation with Kiell, the judges made out that there had been more differentiation in the first challenge and that it was all going to be down to the made-to-measure.
Which was a Chanel-inspired evening dress. All the contestants went for a different Chanel era, in their characteristic ways (Suzy talked about it being Chanel x Suzy.) Pascha was still cutting when everyone else had started sewing. Luke hadn’t practiced, but seemed confident. Ailsa hadn’t practiced and was soon behind on her multi-tiered skirt (and she was meant to be doing four outfits.) Suzy tried her lining on her model and had to do adjustments by eye. She would then never use her model for fit.
Pascha’s design was 1930s Chanel, but perhaps more safe if you were going for impact, but the main slippy material was demanding. Luke had started well with the quilted collar, and was determined to get a chain sewn onto the hem, which turned out to be difficult. Kiell had much tenser contestants to have to entertain and distract than usual.
Quite late on in the day, Ailsa had to give up on her skirt, even though there were problems with the waist, and move on to her tweed waistcoat – a rush job. When Suzi fitted her dress on the model, it wasn’t the shape she’d wanted and she started crying. Pascha dropped one of her planned ruffles, and Luke realised the collar was sewn the wrong way on, had to unpick and redo it less well, which meant the rest was a rush job. Ailsa sort of did the bib shirt, but had no time for the tie and had to improvise. Pascha was hand-sewing her focal point button through a lot of material to the last, while Suzy was trying to control her shakes enough to finish the eye and hook.
They all looked okay on the runway, although Luke’s collar was blatantly skewwhiff, which the judges had to mention as it set other things off too. Pascha’s sewing, fit and the elegance of her dress were praised. Esme said the impromptu tie was better than Ailsa’s original plan, but the safety pins and general lack of finish were noted. Suzy received praise for her sewing, but the shape of the dress and the messy eye and hook got blasted. It was intimated that Patrick and Esme would have to have A Discussion (I always wonder how they decide, really) about who would leave.
Pascha got garment of the week, but she and Luke were clearly through. A tense wait, and it was announced that Suzy would be leaving, which she took well, revealing that she was a scaredy-cat, so this had been a good experience for her and she’d learned so much (something the others also said about their experiences on the show so far) and was proud of herself.
As ever, not exactly the finalists we were expecting – I’d thought Alex would have been there, not Ailsa, although Ailsa is clearly better than she knows, and that Suzy would have gone earlier. If they had a reunion show and got people back from the early years and gave them some of the challenges they’re giving out now, they’d flounder. I appreciate that the producers have to come up with fresh challenges, but haute couture designers had seamstresses doing some of these things!
Week 10 – final
Even Kiell had dressed up, and Pascha and Ailsa were sporting bright eye-make-up. No theme, exactly, this week, just lots of pressure. The last pattern challenge would be opera gloves, and this time it was Pascha who fell into the mistake of picking the wrong material, choosing lace while the other two chose stretchy black patterns. Luke was the only one who’d ever done gloves, if not to this pattern – there was much talk about gussets. But it was quite early on, when it came to inserting the thumb in the second glove, that Pascha came a cropper. She had a little weep and soldiered on. Ailsa had trouble with the little fingers, and they were all flapping them wildly to get them the right way out, with Luke and Pascha having to fix some holes.
The (hand?) model who had shown what the opera gloves should look like returned, ripped some of Pascha’s gloves in putting them on, had a real struggle getting her fingers into Ailsa’s, but did show off Luke’s. The order was unsurprising: Pascha last (for the first time ever), Ailsa second and Luke first.
On to the transformation challenge, which was bizarre, party accessories – paper hats, napkins, plasticky bunting and tablecloths – into a party outfit. Ailsa started winding colourful bunting around her mannequin, Luke started sewing napkins together to create material, while a burned Pascha hummed and aahed over which material to choose, and rejected one because it ripped. Luke inserted a zip, had a kind of bustle and bow and ruffle, Ailsa was late starting to sew, and managed to sort out how you’d get in and out of the top, while Pascha added a silvery curtain and green streamers to create an asymmetric flapper dress. She was using Velcro as her fastening.
The judges soon pointed out the huge flaw in Ailsa’s efforts, praised both Luka and Pascha, and put Pascha’s first, possibly because it had more sparkle than the pastel, although possibly also because Esme managed to rip a bit of Luke’s dress, which was a demerit for usability. (I’d thought xyr had put in more sewing work.)
Interspersed throughout were interviews with loved ones, where Ailsa’s aunt talked about how Ailsa’s mother had taught her to sew, and it got emotional; Luke’s grandmother had taught xyr to sew; while I learned that Pascha was only 20, but had been making her own fancy dress costumes for years. We’d also had a rundown of their successes – Pascha winning the most rounds, Luke, surprisingly, only winning the one garment of the week after coming close often, and Ailsa’s journey of growing confidence. The judges had a confab with Kiell, where they said that Luka and Pascha were slightly ahead, but not by much, and unlike newbie Kiell, I suspected that it could be won in the made-to-measure.
The challenge was to drape like designers do, not sew from a pattern, and to make evening wear for a friend. (All three were supportive of their person without putting the others down, which is great.) All three designs seemed ambitious and interesting, with Luke making a black and white dress-jacket for a man; Ailsa doing a reinvented waistcoat with a lot of plaid in memory of her grandfather and Scottish heritage; and Pascha making a pink gown of folds and shapes.
Or that was the idea. None of them had done that much draping before – although Luke pointed out xyr had tried to use draping a lot in the transformation challenges. They all started on the mannequin, which was somehow the size of their model. Luke started on the jacket, Ailsa and Pascha were also working on the torso. Pascha spent ages on the bodice, so she was always behind. Time caught up with Luke when it came to the gathers on the skirt, there was no way xyr would be able to make as many as intended, as has been the case with two other contestants quite recently. Pascha was sewing like mad. Ailsa seemed relatively calm, although there was one point where the judges had a whispered conversation where they wondered if any of them would be finished.
Well, they did, sort of, although I think they’d all have appreciated another hour. All three outfits had impact, even if none of them quite lived up to the sketch. Ailsa’s waistcoat thing was a bit…undefined as Patrick said, which was a shame as it stood in contrast to the plaid. Pascha’s skirt was very high up i.e. unfinished, and the fact she’d been rushed showed up in various areas, while the same could be said for the black half of Luke’s top and the fact that the skirt wasn’t quite as dramatic as it could have been, but the jacket part and the contrast between it and the rest were excellent. The judges had a discussion with Kiell where they didn’t reveal much, praising each outfit and how they said something about their maker, only saying that they thought there was a clear winner. As did I, Luke had clearly had the best final.
Friends, family and former contestants came back to be very impressed by the work, and tip their winner – when Janet, bless, tipped Pascha, it was fairly clear it wouldn’t be her. All three finalists were called back for the big announcement, and it was Luke (although I think it was a tie on who was the most tired and emotional). Which is fair enough. Luke has improved enough on precision (and as xyr’s friend commented, speed) to go along with the creativity that’s always been there, and I think xyr’s experience with various techniques (e.g. here gloves) has always helped. As I said, xyr had the best final, and the other two more than proved that they were deserving finalists.
We got the little round-up of what the contestants had been doing since, and I saluted everyone who had been working on new outfits (unless if they were for a ventriloquist’s doll.)
Some of the challenges were quite mad, and sometimes pushing the contestants too far. If they’re going to avoid doing the same things (which means nobody can practice or copy), I suppose that’s inevitable, but I remember the very first round, where barely anybody could finish the pattern challenge, which must have been dispiriting! I wonder if Kiell will return, he’s been amiable enough, and could only get better at knowing how to dispel the tension.
All the contestants gamely pretended that diva week was a thing, it’s not, it’s just a variant on past themes, but with them all talking about getting into the semi-final, it was a reminder that it was the quarter final. It was also striking that there were only five of them left.
The pattern challenge was a Tina Turner inspired fringe dress, and the fringe was the main problem – Luka and Suzy seemed most confident. Inserting the invisible zip was the task that divided them. Pascha and Suzy decided not to do anything in particular to keep the fringing out of the way and their alignment suffered as a result. The judging was fair, although, as they did Luke’s ‘first rate’ effort first, there was little tension about who would win the round. I thought the gold and red were the most divaish colour choices, while Pascha’s alternating colours worked better than I expected. In order: Luke, Ailsa, Alex, Pascha and Suzy. The latter knew that she was the weakest, but Pascha isn’t used to being close to the bottom.
Transformation challenge: clothes in animal prints (which I generally loathe) into loungewear ‘fit for a diva’. Some people started off with purpose, others were a bit more panicky. I liked Suzy’s colour selection more than Alex’s. Ailsa’s got more impressive, while I never understood what Luke was doing. Pascha managed to cut her top and had to do a rescue job and then dithered over whether to have bikini pants under or over some more transparent shorts that she’d made. Suzy had managed to get a hole in the bum of her shorts. Again, the judging felt fair. Luke’s statement back wasn’t very loungeweary, and I thought Ailsa deserved to be top.
The judges confided to Kiell (although it was rather stating the obvious) that Ailsa had done best that day and Suzy worst, but they emphasised that all the contestants were close.
The made to measure was a stage outfit fit for a diva, and two of them, Luke and Suzy, were designing for Lady Gaga, which the producers must have loved. Ailsa was reprising an animal print and Alex fringing. Her inspiration was Orville Peck, Partrick’s response was ‘who?’ (They should have shown him Googling him or something.) He and Esme were also underwhelmed by the costume she planned to make. But then Patrick was also wondering whether Luke’s costume really needed an LED light on it. Suzy was determined to prove herself, while Pascha was fashioning a pannier, she and Luke had some tough materials to sew.
As Kiell amusingly gave them time checks, it was clear that Alex was far behind on starting on her trousers, Suzi was also sewing in a lot of crinoline, while the others were focusing on details. Pascha’s silver bodysuit with added 3D pannier for Beyonce was well received, Ailsa’s country outfit for Shania Twain with details like gloves attached to the sleeve and a saddle-inspired belt (!?) was praised, but Patrick’s point that it would work better in a music video than on stage was fair. Alex hadn’t finished and the details that she’d hoped would win the judges over were too often a rush job. Suzy hadn’t finished either, she was one button missing and had managed to make another hole, but her outfit crucially had impact – a voluminous opera coat with just enough detailing. Luke’s bike-riding themed outfit, with a mind-boggling harness and some nifty, sharp details, was always going to be garment of the week. (Xyr doing well on diva week, fancy that.)
Another judges confab where we were left pondering whether Alex had messed up enough to pip Suzy for being sent home. And it turned out she had, which is this season’s shock result, as I thought she was sure to go through to the final, whereas Suzy has been towards the bottom consistently, although she always manages to redeem herself in the made to measure. Not quite the four semi-finalists we were expecting, then.
Episode 9 – designer week and the semi-final
Completely unavoidable that there were only four contestants left in the room and one of them would have to go. The theme was designers and the pattern challenge seemed particularly tough, a dress based on Balenciaga’s silhouette-changing style. (The briefing on Balenciaga’s biography was very helpful.) All of the contestants seemed flummoxed, but three of them were up for the challenge, while Ailsa spent a long time selecting the material and was then behind for a long while. Patrick had to remind her to breathe and concentrate on the cutting.
They were ordered to stick to the instructions, which they all got confused by at various points – gussets in the armhole, a belt on the inside, and the front and back being very different. Unsurprisingly some people hadn’t finished – Suzy hadn’t managed the eye and hook or the hemming, Ailsa’s hemming was rough. Luke and Pascha had finished, and they had fewer criticisms for Pascha, so the order wasn’t surprising (especially as all the past weeks suggested that Suzy was the weakest left).
The transformation challenge felt less difficult and more fun: ties (and fastenings) into an outfit, and they all set about it with purpose. Ailsa was plaiting ‘earthy’ colours for the back of her top, Luke had gone for black and white and was sewing the ties together with an eye to their width, Suzy was draping pinks and purples according to their colour, while Pascha had gone for pastels.
It was the second half that distinguished them. The front of Ailsa’s ‘waistcoat’ wasn’t quite as snazzy as her back, but she’d just got her fastenings in when she decided to do a choker, which looked good, but she’d forgotten something Esme would pick up on. Luke had added a touch of white at the top and wanted to echo that at the bottom. Suzy had added a peacock’s feathers type effect to the back of her top and was going to use Velcro for her fastener. All very good, but then she realised she’d sewn it on the wrong side, had to unpick and redo it, which meant that she was behind on actually sewing it all together. Meanwhile, Pascha was opening up the ties to create an asymmetric skirt and finding that the creases were creating an interesting pleat effect.
Esme pointed out that you couldn’t get in or out of the choker, but Suzy’s outfit wasn’t finished. Luke’s had the most visual impact, but there was lots to praise about Pascha’s. They exchanged first and second place, Ailsa came third and Suzi last, which she had to admit was fair. In conversation with Kiell, the judges made out that there had been more differentiation in the first challenge and that it was all going to be down to the made-to-measure.
Which was a Chanel-inspired evening dress. All the contestants went for a different Chanel era, in their characteristic ways (Suzy talked about it being Chanel x Suzy.) Pascha was still cutting when everyone else had started sewing. Luke hadn’t practiced, but seemed confident. Ailsa hadn’t practiced and was soon behind on her multi-tiered skirt (and she was meant to be doing four outfits.) Suzy tried her lining on her model and had to do adjustments by eye. She would then never use her model for fit.
Pascha’s design was 1930s Chanel, but perhaps more safe if you were going for impact, but the main slippy material was demanding. Luke had started well with the quilted collar, and was determined to get a chain sewn onto the hem, which turned out to be difficult. Kiell had much tenser contestants to have to entertain and distract than usual.
Quite late on in the day, Ailsa had to give up on her skirt, even though there were problems with the waist, and move on to her tweed waistcoat – a rush job. When Suzi fitted her dress on the model, it wasn’t the shape she’d wanted and she started crying. Pascha dropped one of her planned ruffles, and Luke realised the collar was sewn the wrong way on, had to unpick and redo it less well, which meant the rest was a rush job. Ailsa sort of did the bib shirt, but had no time for the tie and had to improvise. Pascha was hand-sewing her focal point button through a lot of material to the last, while Suzy was trying to control her shakes enough to finish the eye and hook.
They all looked okay on the runway, although Luke’s collar was blatantly skewwhiff, which the judges had to mention as it set other things off too. Pascha’s sewing, fit and the elegance of her dress were praised. Esme said the impromptu tie was better than Ailsa’s original plan, but the safety pins and general lack of finish were noted. Suzy received praise for her sewing, but the shape of the dress and the messy eye and hook got blasted. It was intimated that Patrick and Esme would have to have A Discussion (I always wonder how they decide, really) about who would leave.
Pascha got garment of the week, but she and Luke were clearly through. A tense wait, and it was announced that Suzy would be leaving, which she took well, revealing that she was a scaredy-cat, so this had been a good experience for her and she’d learned so much (something the others also said about their experiences on the show so far) and was proud of herself.
As ever, not exactly the finalists we were expecting – I’d thought Alex would have been there, not Ailsa, although Ailsa is clearly better than she knows, and that Suzy would have gone earlier. If they had a reunion show and got people back from the early years and gave them some of the challenges they’re giving out now, they’d flounder. I appreciate that the producers have to come up with fresh challenges, but haute couture designers had seamstresses doing some of these things!
Week 10 – final
Even Kiell had dressed up, and Pascha and Ailsa were sporting bright eye-make-up. No theme, exactly, this week, just lots of pressure. The last pattern challenge would be opera gloves, and this time it was Pascha who fell into the mistake of picking the wrong material, choosing lace while the other two chose stretchy black patterns. Luke was the only one who’d ever done gloves, if not to this pattern – there was much talk about gussets. But it was quite early on, when it came to inserting the thumb in the second glove, that Pascha came a cropper. She had a little weep and soldiered on. Ailsa had trouble with the little fingers, and they were all flapping them wildly to get them the right way out, with Luke and Pascha having to fix some holes.
The (hand?) model who had shown what the opera gloves should look like returned, ripped some of Pascha’s gloves in putting them on, had a real struggle getting her fingers into Ailsa’s, but did show off Luke’s. The order was unsurprising: Pascha last (for the first time ever), Ailsa second and Luke first.
On to the transformation challenge, which was bizarre, party accessories – paper hats, napkins, plasticky bunting and tablecloths – into a party outfit. Ailsa started winding colourful bunting around her mannequin, Luke started sewing napkins together to create material, while a burned Pascha hummed and aahed over which material to choose, and rejected one because it ripped. Luke inserted a zip, had a kind of bustle and bow and ruffle, Ailsa was late starting to sew, and managed to sort out how you’d get in and out of the top, while Pascha added a silvery curtain and green streamers to create an asymmetric flapper dress. She was using Velcro as her fastening.
The judges soon pointed out the huge flaw in Ailsa’s efforts, praised both Luka and Pascha, and put Pascha’s first, possibly because it had more sparkle than the pastel, although possibly also because Esme managed to rip a bit of Luke’s dress, which was a demerit for usability. (I’d thought xyr had put in more sewing work.)
Interspersed throughout were interviews with loved ones, where Ailsa’s aunt talked about how Ailsa’s mother had taught her to sew, and it got emotional; Luke’s grandmother had taught xyr to sew; while I learned that Pascha was only 20, but had been making her own fancy dress costumes for years. We’d also had a rundown of their successes – Pascha winning the most rounds, Luke, surprisingly, only winning the one garment of the week after coming close often, and Ailsa’s journey of growing confidence. The judges had a confab with Kiell, where they said that Luka and Pascha were slightly ahead, but not by much, and unlike newbie Kiell, I suspected that it could be won in the made-to-measure.
The challenge was to drape like designers do, not sew from a pattern, and to make evening wear for a friend. (All three were supportive of their person without putting the others down, which is great.) All three designs seemed ambitious and interesting, with Luke making a black and white dress-jacket for a man; Ailsa doing a reinvented waistcoat with a lot of plaid in memory of her grandfather and Scottish heritage; and Pascha making a pink gown of folds and shapes.
Or that was the idea. None of them had done that much draping before – although Luke pointed out xyr had tried to use draping a lot in the transformation challenges. They all started on the mannequin, which was somehow the size of their model. Luke started on the jacket, Ailsa and Pascha were also working on the torso. Pascha spent ages on the bodice, so she was always behind. Time caught up with Luke when it came to the gathers on the skirt, there was no way xyr would be able to make as many as intended, as has been the case with two other contestants quite recently. Pascha was sewing like mad. Ailsa seemed relatively calm, although there was one point where the judges had a whispered conversation where they wondered if any of them would be finished.
Well, they did, sort of, although I think they’d all have appreciated another hour. All three outfits had impact, even if none of them quite lived up to the sketch. Ailsa’s waistcoat thing was a bit…undefined as Patrick said, which was a shame as it stood in contrast to the plaid. Pascha’s skirt was very high up i.e. unfinished, and the fact she’d been rushed showed up in various areas, while the same could be said for the black half of Luke’s top and the fact that the skirt wasn’t quite as dramatic as it could have been, but the jacket part and the contrast between it and the rest were excellent. The judges had a discussion with Kiell where they didn’t reveal much, praising each outfit and how they said something about their maker, only saying that they thought there was a clear winner. As did I, Luke had clearly had the best final.
Friends, family and former contestants came back to be very impressed by the work, and tip their winner – when Janet, bless, tipped Pascha, it was fairly clear it wouldn’t be her. All three finalists were called back for the big announcement, and it was Luke (although I think it was a tie on who was the most tired and emotional). Which is fair enough. Luke has improved enough on precision (and as xyr’s friend commented, speed) to go along with the creativity that’s always been there, and I think xyr’s experience with various techniques (e.g. here gloves) has always helped. As I said, xyr had the best final, and the other two more than proved that they were deserving finalists.
We got the little round-up of what the contestants had been doing since, and I saluted everyone who had been working on new outfits (unless if they were for a ventriloquist’s doll.)
Some of the challenges were quite mad, and sometimes pushing the contestants too far. If they’re going to avoid doing the same things (which means nobody can practice or copy), I suppose that’s inevitable, but I remember the very first round, where barely anybody could finish the pattern challenge, which must have been dispiriting! I wonder if Kiell will return, he’s been amiable enough, and could only get better at knowing how to dispel the tension.
