Rather than continue with the “Project Runway” competition, Jack Mackenroth left the series to seek medical treatment for a contagious staph infection. To fill the void left by Jack Mackenroth’s departure, Chris March, who was last eliminated, returned to “Project Runway.”

People interviewed Jack Mackenroth about his departure from the show:

“I just got to a point where I couldn’t even concentrate. I was exhausted. As the bacterial infection spreads, within 48 hours, you get a fever. My work was suffering and I was like, ‘You know what? I really don’t want to leave but I can’t stay here.’ It was not an HIV related thing but I have to be extra cautious.

There was an issue of contagion so I didn’t feel comfortable. It’s bacteria. Anyone can get it by touch. So that’s not fair. And number two, [the medication] is such a strong antibiotic that it takes two hours to administer [intravenously]. It’s four hours a day that I would have been gone. “