"On the Road" Review: Finally Santino Gets the Spotlight

“Project Runway” has tried many times, but it has never been able to duplicate Santino Rice.

Santino was brash and offensive and absolutely hilarious. I mean, who could forget his spot-on impersonation of Tim Gunn or the Daniel Franco song he sang with Nick? If there was any “Runway” contestant screaming for his own show, it was Santino.

And now, six years later, it’s finally happened. And he’s bringing another of the best-known “Runway” contestants with him…

“On the Road with Austin and Santino” teams Santino with Season 1’s flamboyant Austin Scarlett. They’re going on the road to visit small towns across the country to give complete fashion makeovers to women for special occasions in their life. But there’s a catch. The duo can only use materials that are available to them where they are.

In other words, there’s no Mood fabric store around the corner…

In the premiere, Austin and Santino must design a cocktail dress for a rodeo trick rider for a cowgirl ball. The duo disagree immediately over which material they should use—gingham or lace—and the client doesn’t really help them any. So now they must put their differences aside and come up with the right dress.

Of course, they do. But in the process they also come up with a pretty charming show that showcases two fun personalities. You have to hand it to Lifetime for going with this one AND for dumping the dreadful “Models of the Runway” to make it happen.

“On the Road with Austin and Santino” premieres Thursday, July 29th at 10:30 p.m. on Lifetime, after the 90-minute season premiere of “Project Runway.”

Photo Credit: Darren Michaels/Lifetime