GAY DESIGN GURU Jonathan Adler was traumatized by a professor in college.

“I had a [Rhode Island School of Design] professor who said I should give up my dream of being a potter,” says Adler, now a successful furniture and house wares designer. “I think everyone should have a hater in his or her life to prove wrong.”

Adler may just be that hater for 12 designers on the new Bravo show “Top Design,” where Adler serves as one of three judges for an interior design competition.

However, the host and mentor on the show, gay fashion and furniture designer Todd Oldham, says there is nothing cruel about this competition. “[Judging other people] is something that just isn’t in my DNA,” Oldham says. “I’m such a fan of design. [I’m] glad to be involved in this and that we found someone as kind as Jonathan to do what I can’t seem to do.”

“Top Design” is the latest in what seems to be a new franchise of reality shows for Bravo, shows that are stemming out of the success of its hit show “Project Runway,” which is the most-watched show on the channel and one of the highest-rated on cable.

In fact, “Top Design” debuted on Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 11 p.m. right after the finale of “Top Chef,” the channel’s cooking competition, before settling into its regular 10 p.m., Wednesday slot.

IF YOU COULDN’T tell from the title or the talent they enlisted for the show, “Top Design” is about interior design, where 12 contestants (including a handful of gay designers) design rooms that are evaluated by the judges: Adler; Margaret Russell, editor in chief of Elle Décor magazine; and Kelly Wearstler, a noted interior designer. Each week, a contestant or two is booted off the show for having the worst design.

Oldham steps into a combination of the Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn roles, serving as both the person who explains the challenges and the person who talks to them about their projects.

“I’m there to problem solve,” Oldham says of his role. “There are things that to my eye didn’t look as lovely as they could, but this isn’t about my taste. Before
I said something to the designer,
I always asked how they approached it. If I thought they didn’t think about it enough, I asked them enough questions that they really thought it through.”

It’s not unfair to draw parallels between “Design” and “Runway” because the two have a very similar feel, even more so than “Runway” and “Top Chef.” The biggest difference, aside from the creative discipline, is that the designers get outside help. Instead of creating something out of nothing (namely a garment), here designers go shopping to create a room, and they have carpenters to help them construct furniture and structures.

While such support is necessary to get the work done in a short amount of time, it seems to take some of the drama out of the show and makes the stakes seem low.

Even with the inevitable loss of contestants, both Adler and Oldham praise the talent of the designers on the show, saying that they all have big futures in the design world — no matter that they got their start on a reality show.

“I have enough Kelly Clarkson downloaded on my computer that I’m over the reality television stigma,” Adler jokes.

So, whether or not there is a Simon Cowell-sized hater on the show, Adler says that gay audiences will love to see the innovative interior design, adding, “What they’ll also see that’s old but always welcome is plenty of drama.”

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