Karl Sponholtz

Team Gay's Karl

Sponholtz is so close to being the next HGTV Design Star he can smell

it – and he got a good whiff of first season winner David Bromstad along the way, too.

"David smells amazing," Sponholtz said about the

reality competition show's official mentor. "He loves to hug, and he

smells really good when he's doing it."

Sponholtz, a Chicago-based designer for an architecture firm

and freelance interior designer, didn't expect to find himself in the final

two. Nonetheless, tonight he'll square off against fellow Chicagoan Meg Caswell for the Season Six crown in

front of judges Vern Yip, Genevieve Gorder, and design queen Candice Olson.

"Like most people in this field, I was a victim of the

recession," Sponholtz told AfterElton.com, "I had a lot of time on my

hands, so I dropped off my application on the way to a party. I didn't think

anything would come of it."

From the beginning, Sponholtz delivered both star-quality

space planning and polished rooms. His weaknesses were an occasional

time-management misstep and a bad case of nerves in front of the camera.

"I can talk to a thousand people in a live audience no

problem," he said. "I did fine when we appeared on The Nate

Berkus Show for one of the challenges, with the studio audience. But

when it's just me and the camera, I freak out a little."

In last week's episode, each of the final three designers

was given a one-room "tiny house" in Battery Park to decorate from

top to bottom, including building a loft bedroom, storage and bathroom

facilities. His design was dazzling – it was my personal favorite of all the

challenges – and there was little sign of the nerves that had marred his

earlier camera segments. That, combined with a failed art installation by Miami designer Mark Diaz, earned Sponholtz his spot in

the final two.

"I was so sad to see Mark go," he said. "So

were my friends. All the gay men I know are really into Mark, and when they

found out we'd become friends, it was all, 'What kind of pajamas does he wear? What's

he really like?' It was hysterical."

Sponholtz said all the final six were close, and by that

stage of the competition it was hard to see anyone leave. "Kellie (Clements) was my closest friend

on the show," he said. "But I love Meg, too. It's hard to compete

with people you care about, but you just have to realize you do your best work

and after that, it's out of all of our hands, and the cards are going to land

where they land."

Armchair designers might wonder at some of the disasters

that befall the contestants, but Sponholtz says he understands it better now.

"For five seasons I sat on the sofa and watched that show, going, 'Why on

earth would anyone put that lamp with that table?' But I understand it now. You

have no money, no access to stores, and above all, no time."

Sponholtz said his least favorite challenge was the wedding

reception – which was painful to watch, although the bride seemed happy – and

his favorite guest judge was Curb Appeal's

John Gidding. "He's so

cute," he said. "Energetic, animated, and flirtatious. I loved

him."

Coming out publicly wasn't a debate for Sponholtz. "I

came out as soon as I realized I was gay, back in high school," he told

me. "Living any other way feels like a form of deceit to me. And I don't

think it's hurt me, as a designer or on the show."

It didn't hurt him in his personal life, either; he and

partner Jeff Colgan have been together for more than a decade. "He's

usually the one who makes all the plans, while I make the martinis,"

Sponholtz said, laughing. "So in a lot of ways, I think he's pretty amazed

– and very proud – that I did this, and got where I am."

Sponholtz is the last gay standing this season, but he

started out as one of four, including the show's first out lesbian contestant, Leslie Ezelle.

Which is great, but it also reminds me it's time to ask, yet

again, whether we're ever going to get another out Design Star. After Bromstad

took the prize in Season One and went on to star in one of the network's

top-rated shows, Color Splash, many

members of Team Gay have competed, and even made it to the final two, but none

has won.

Spornholtz (left) walks David Bromstad through his "tiny house" design

I didn't ask Sponholtz about the show's "always the

bridesmaid, never the bride" track record for queer contestants, mostly

because I'm getting worn down with the wait. It's also a touchy subject, because

he already knows if he won and I don't – which makes discussing that very issue

kind of problematic, with the publicists on the watch for any hints of

spoilerage.

The thing is, if this wasn't an interior design competition,

one out gay winner in six seasons wouldn't annoy me; a Kinseyan 10 percent

works just fine for a competition between, say, tech geeks or health care

providers.

But I'm pretty sure the world of designers and decorators

has a slightly higher concentration of our people than a lot of other fields. Am

I wrong? Is there a brave new post-gay decorating world I'm not aware of?

Win or lose, Sponholtz says he's proud he did his best, and

that he did it as an out gay man. "I can help my community by being out on

Design Star, and if you can get the

person you work next to comfortable being around a gay person because you're

out and relaxed and comfortable with yourself, that changes the world, too.

"Whether you have a big stage or a small stage, the important thing is to

remember to give back to the community. Because we're not there yet, and that's

the only thing that will move us forward."

The season finale of Design

Star airs tonight, Monday, Sept. 12, at 9

PM Eastern and Pacific/8 PM Central, on HGTV.