Bravo’s final season of “Project Runway” ended Wednesday night (the show is being picked up next season by Lifetime) with a finale episode that left me wondering- has “Project Runway” become a personality competition?

Some shows have always been about personality, such as “The Real World,” and others have begun to move in that direction, like “America’s Next Top Model.” In its initial seasons, “America’s Next Top Model” based its results solely on the performance of the contestants. But now that host Tyra Banks has her own talk show, she feels the need to personally analyze each contestant. If they have an “emotional barrier” or lack confidence (or too much confidence) they are deemed bad models. That hardly seems fair.

‘Project Runway’ seemed different; the show evaluated the performance of fashion designers. In a challenge one designer would be eliminated each week by host Heidi Klum until only one was left standing. But this season added a bit more “personality” to the mix, and I don’t know if it benefited the contestants.

Let’s face it- we’ve all seen reality shows. And whether it’s stock casting or brilliant editing, the same “characters” are on every show: the mean one, the nice one, the over-confident one, the homosexual, the mother… the list could go on forever. It felt like “Project Runway” finally succumbed to that stale bit this season: Kenley was mean AND over-confident, Korto was a mother, Leanne was nice, Blayne was… flamboyant, Suede referred to himself in the third person, and Daniel was a snob.

While this often makes for an interesting show, it can also make for a predictable one. “Project Runway” subjected us to weeks of Blayne adding the suffix “-licious” to every word, Leanne being quiet and boring in the corner, and Kenley alienating everyone, including the judges. But we are not the only people who see the show- the judges and the producers notice the behaviors and get to decide what makes for a good show week after week.

So when we finally got to Wednesday’s finale, we ended up with mean Kenley, mommy Korto, and meek Leanne. Kenley’s collection went down the Bryant Park runway first and, for someone who knows absolutely nothing about fashion aside from what I learn on this show, I thought it was a really inventive line. Each piece looked different, not only from each other but from other fashions I’d seen before. It was a vast improvement over Kenley’s repetitive work throughout the season.

Next, Korto’s collection debuted (after a self-introduction in which Korto repeatedly mentioned that she was a mother and that she looked good) and though it focused on a tribal, African theme, the pieces looked wearable and fit for any number of women, not just one variety of shape or culture.

Leanne went last and, personally, I felt her collection was the weakest. Not only did Leanne use the same “petals” technique on every garment, they were all the same color. Presenting a cohesive collection doesn’t mean that the pieces should be mix-and-match. Overall, the collection was like Leanne: nice but boring.

When it came down to judging, I thought I had this one figured out. Since Tim Gunn was the guest judge and he’d seen Kenley at her worst throughout the season, both in designing and in her attitude, I figured that Kenley wouldn’t make the cut. Since Leanne’s line was a snooze, I assumed she would be dismissed and confident mother Korto would be declared the winner.

Spoiler alert: I was wrong. Kenley was dismissed first and, proving that she hasn’t learned a single thing about tact while on the show, childishly whined about the judge’s decision, saying it was “bull****.” Nice mouth. (Did I mention that she’s the daughter of a tugboat captain?) Korto and Leanne were left on the runway and, in a shocking move, Heidi declared that Leanne was the winner.

Again, I’m a girl that wears a t-shirt and jeans on a daily basis, but I truly felt that Leanne’s collection was boring. It looked like designs I’d seen before and, color-wise, it was a one-note line. It lacked the drama of last season’s winner, Christian Siriano, whose larger-than-life designs constantly made eyes pop and jaws drop. So if her collection wasn’t fabulous (and even the judges showed concern about the repetitive “petal” technique), I can’t help but wonder if Leanne won just because she was nice. In my opinion, Kenley and Korto were clearly more innovative and inventive designers with large color palettes and larger imaginations. But they both had big personalities that maybe the judges felt overshadowed their work.

But what do I know? All in all, Christian is still my favorite winner ever and I guess I’m happy that certain negative character traits weren’t rewarded with a Web site collection and a hybrid car. But if next season offers more of the same, I don’t know if I can stick with it. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll stay with the show as it moves to Lifetime anyway, if only because I can’t stand the commercials on that channel. Auf wiedersehen, “Project Runway!”