Former ‘Project Runway’ Finalist Mychael Knight Dead at 39

Mychael Knight, who appeared as a contestant on season 3 of Project Runway, has passed away at the age of 39.

“We are still processing the untimely death of our son, brother, friend and uncle. Mychael meant everything to us and we loved him dearly,” the Knight family said in a statement given to Obvious Mag. “He was generous and so full of life. This is how we choose to remember his legacy.”

According to TMZ, Knight had recently checked himself into a Georgia hospital after dealing with intestinal issues.

Knight was introduced to fans of Project Runway in the third season of the show, which was airing on Bravo at the time. He ended up in fourth place behind fellow contestants Laura Bennett, Uli Herzner and the winner, Jeffrey Sebelia.

Following his stint on the show, Knight went on to have his own lines of clothing and lingerie. Other notable accomplishments include appearing on BET’s Rip The Runway, designing a line of custom tees for Starbucks and creating his own fragrance brand called MajK.

The Lifetime network, which currently airs new episodes of Project Runway, released a statement to E! News regarding Knight’s death.

“We are saddened to hear about the passing of a member of the Project Runway family, designer Mychael Knight,” Lifetime wrote in a statement. “It’s a loss of a great talent and we wish his family peace and solace during this difficult time.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Matt Winkelmeyer