Project Runway All Stars

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley reportedly left her job as the host of Project Runway: All Stars shortly before filming began to work on the upcoming movie Mad Max: Fury Road in Namibia. The move is said to have sent the show's producers on a last-minute hunt for a replacement.

Huntington-Whiteley would have replaced Angela Lindvall, who left the host's chair after one season without explanation. Now Carolyn Murphy, whose last television appearance was a segment of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in 2005, has been selected for the hosting job — but that didn't happen before The Weinstein Company hastily auditioned her, Karolina Kurkova, Hilary Rhoda, Elaine Irwin, and Rachel Roy for the position.

A friend of Huntington-Whiteley's insists she was "never fully committed to the project and there was no signed contract." The model may not be the host of the show, but it is believed that she will come back as a guest judge. Nevertheless, another source claims her departure caused a big fuss.

"Literally days before filming, the show suddenly had no host," a source said. "Rosie had been pushing really hard for the job. She'd charmed everyone. But then with less than three weeks to go, Rosie pulled out to do Mad Max, creating a huge drama. It put the production in a terrible position, and the Weinstein Co. even threatened to sue Rosie."

Filming on Project Runway: All Stars began early last month and features Georgina Chapman and Isaac Mizrahi as judges. Marie Claire editor in chief Joanna Coles will mentor the designers on the show, and so far guest judges have included Katie Holmes and Kylie Minogue.

Huntington-Whiteley will star in Mad Max: Fury Road alongside fellow model Abbey Lee Kershaw, Charlize Theron, and Zoe Kravitz. Last year she starred in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Murphy had a small role in the 1999 film Liberty Heights.

>> Speculation that arose last week has been confirmed: Angela Lindvall — not Heidi Klum — will host Lifetime's upcoming Project Runway All Stars spinoff. "Here I am in New York City! I landed a huge opportunity that will have me here for a month," Lindvall wrote last month on her blog. "Have to keep it top secret for now."

In place of Project Runway judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, Isaac Mizrahi and Marchesa's Georgina Chapman (who also happens to be married to the show's executive producer Harvey Weinstein) will join Lindvall on the All Stars judging panel. The show will premiere later this year on Lifetime.

And speaking of models heading to television, Carolyn Murphy just noted that she's currently "working on a TV show."

>> Heidi Klum has been Project Runway's host from the start, but as the show prepares for Project Runway All-Stars — an upcoming eight-episode spin-off series bringing back some of the show's alumni to compete against one another — Klum will not be pulling double hosting duties. According to a Lifetime spokesperson, All-Stars "is a completely separate show, with a separate host and a separate set of judges."

So who will be stepping in to host the spin-off? Originally, it was thought that Miranda Kerr might be a candidate, after she was spotted meeting with Project Runway executive producer Harvey Weinstein last week. But it sounds like Kerr is just in talks to be an All-Stars guest judge. Now, rumors have pointed in another direction: Modelinia reports hearing that Angela Lindvall has signed on as host. Lindvall has done TV — aside from walking in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show — in the past: she co-starred in the green makeover series Alter Eco back in 2008.