Redeem now - When I competed on season two of Lifetime's "Project Runway: Junior," a few things surprised me.
- Though I got an all-expenses-paid trip to New York, I wasn't compensated for my time on set.
- Shopping at Mood wasn't actually a time crunch, but we did have to watch out for the resident dog.
I'll never forget my time as a contestant on Lifetime's "Project Runway: Junior."
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.The "Project Runway" spin-off exclusively featured fashion designers from ages 13 to 17 and I competed on season two in 2016.
Here are 10 things about competing on the fashion-design show that even superfans may not know.
Casting was a lengthy process that involved an audition tape and many interviews
I auditioned for season one and didn't make it past the phone interviews, but I was cast on "Project Runway: Junior" on my second try.
The entire casting process involved sending in an audition tape and then making it past multiple phone screenings, a Skype interview, and an in-person meeting in either Los Angeles or New York.
After several weeks of interviews, I was invited to Los Angeles so producers could evaluate how I did on camera and see my designs in person. My family took a road trip from Idaho to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, where "Project Runway" alum Nick Verreos sat in on my in-person interview with producers.
There were still a lot of things to do after being cast, including taking a lengthy psychological assessment, establishing a separate bank account for any potential winnings, and participating in various photoshoots and interviews for magazines like Seventeen.
Filming one episode of 'Project Runway: Junior' typically takes multiple days
In part to follow child labor laws, a bit of TV magic was involved in making a "one-day challenge" happen.
Although we received as much time in the workroom for a challenge as adult "Project Runway" participants, "Junior" contestants were only allowed to be on set between six and eight hours per day.
Because of this, challenge introductions and Mood shopping trips were often filmed on one day and the actual workroom time was captured the next.
Occasionally, we'd stop filming in the middle of our workroom time and return the next day in the same outfits for continuity's sake.
A parent or guardian must be on set with each contestant at all times
As minors, each contestant had to have a parent or guardian with them on set. My grandmother spent the summer in New York with me during filming.
The workroom was separate from the guardians' area, so we could not see or talk to them during filming, but they were close by at all times in case they were needed.
They could watch everything that was happening through a live video and audio feed, which they could set to listen to all contestants at once or just their child's feed. Every swear word I uttered while under pressure was typically followed by a "Sorry, Grandma."
I wasn't paid for being a contestant on the show
Though I received a generous food stipend and an all-expenses-paid summer trip to New York City, I was not compensated for my time on the show.
However, 16-year-old Cartier was so enamored with the thought of going to New York that the idea of not being paid didn't phase me at all.
As far as reality TV goes, I think 'Project Runway: Junior' is remarkably true to life
Despite the reputation for dramatization that reality TV shows can have, I think "Project Runway: Junior" depicted contestants' real-life actions and reactions pretty well.
Many things had to be cut and condensed, but I felt that the show accurately portrayed the way that we interacted with each other and made an effort to show each contestant's true personality. I was never pushed by producers to do or say anything that I did not want to, nor to interact with others in ways I wouldn't have otherwise.
The team behind the show created an environment that actually encouraged us to become friends and interact with each other in positive ways.
A few particular measures were put into place to accommodate fabric shopping at Mood
Though Mood was closed to the public during "Project Runway: Junior" filming, contestants had to enter the shop by going up a back elevator so that passersby could not see who was competing on the show before the cast list was released.
The entire store was cleared out except for the "Project Runway: Junior" crew; our guardians, who waited in the stairwell outside the shop and listened to what we were doing; and Mood staff, who were on standby to cut fabric and retrieve notions.
By the time we get to Mood, our designs were usually nearly finalized, so 30 minutes in an empty, organized fabric store was not always the time crunch it was presented as on TV.
Our main challenge at that point was simply not to trip over Swatch, Mood's resident dog.
While on set, contestants are only allowed to speak to each other on camera
To ensure that everything that happened on the show was properly documented, contestants were only allowed to speak to each other when on camera.
In seemingly more relaxed scenarios, such as when safe contestants returned to the designers' lounge on runway days, production assistants called "wranglers" had to make sure that our off-camera conversations were extremely limited and not related to the show.
If conversations became too much, we were told "ice," which was our first warning to wrap up the conversation. If we continued, we were told "hard ice" which was our final warning to stop talking about the challenge until cameras were rolling.
That being said, keeping a room of teenage reality contestants quiet was an impossible task and for as many times as we were told "hard ice," nothing ever happened, so I'm not sure if there were actual consequences for this.
There are many rules for what contestants can and cannot wear during filming
Although we were encouraged to express our personal style, there were many restrictions on what we could and couldn't wear during filming.
Clothing with large brand names or logos was not allowed, as well as shirts with any kind of text. Any clothing with intricate patterns was also not allowed, as it can mirage on camera and be distracting.
Many of our outfits were tested on camera before we began the day to make sure they read well, and we often kept backup outfits on deck just in case something wouldn't come off quite as well during filming as we had hoped.
'Talking head' segments were typically filmed at the end of the day
Since the end of the day on set was usually in the middle of a challenge, the one-on-one interviews contestants had to do often captured us right in the thick of it.
This meant the interviews you see interspersed throughout the episode were very accurate to what we were feeling in the middle of a challenge, but also sometimes made the experience of filming them one of my least favorite parts of the process.
I have vivid memories of not wanting to do interviews because I was stressing over a seam or agonizing over a zipper that I wanted to fix that I knew was just a room away.
Tim Gunn is even nicer in real life than he appears onscreen
Seriously, this man is a saint. I'll forever be grateful to Tim for the great advice that he has imparted to me and the positive impact he has left on my life and career.
Representatives for A+E Networks didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
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