In addition to the usual stresses and strains, bitchiness, in-fighting, and flashes of sheer design brilliance that we've come to expect from the show, 'Project Runway' fans can expect a few changes when it returns for its eighth season tonight. In an interview with tvguide.com, host and creator Heidi Klum dropped some hints as to what we can expect.

First up, the show's now starting at 9PM ET instead of 10PM ET (check your DVRs, people), and is 90-minutes long instead of 60. Klum said she always thought the original start time was too late, so now we can all watch a longer show and still catch up on our beauty sleep a whole half hour earlier than before.

Plus, having an extra 30 minutes in the show means we'll get to see much more of the judges' deliberation: "Elimination day is all day, but on the show it was down to about 10 minutes. ... Now we have the freedom to show it much longer than we ever could," says Klum.

After seven seasons the competing designers are, by now, knowledgeable fans of the show who know what's coming and know (or think they know) how to play the game. So, this season will throw them some curve balls, such as the first-ever hat challenge, and Klum says this time around "we are going a little harder on the designers and with the challenges. We just try to pump it up a little more and give the designers twists. ... We need to surprise them too, and not just viewers at home."

Another twist is that the premiere epsiode will have 17 contestants instead of the regular 16, but in a "WTF?" moment one of the designers will be eliminated before they're even out of the starting gate. So, no bed in a shared loft for you, loser number one, as whoever does not make it through the initial challenge "will officially not be on the show and will not move into their apartment. So, we give them this last twist before they could even unpack their bags!"

Klum also confirmed that 'Project Runway' will be staying put in New York. The original plan was for the show to go back and forth between New York and Los Angeles, but she thinks that "people respond to it better being here in New York than there."

'Project Runway' season eight premieres tonight on Lifetime, 9PM ET.