" nobody even gave him the light of day from day one. "
I don't think that's true.  The other designers all seemed pretty supportive when he won the first challenge.  It didn't look like they really started to turn against him until he was so stubbornly against Viktor when they worked together.  (Granted, Viktor…

It's true; they always take the whole body of work into account.  The problem is that when a designer tries to argue for staying based on their track record, the judges sanctimoniously shoot him or her down.  "You know that's not what it's about!"

I've never noticed all the listing, so maybe I just find them interesting.  The cliffhangers, though . . . not everything has to be a cliffhanger George, c'mon.