North Korea’s state TV station blurred out the jeans of BBC gardening guru Alan Titchmarsh during the broadcast of his show Garden Secrets.
The decision to censor Titchmarsh’s trousers comes as part of the country’s stringent stance against what it perceives as symbols of Western imperialism. Jeans, specifically, have been banned in communist North Korea since the 1990s, viewed as a clothing item that embodies American cultural invasion.
Titchmarsh, known for his wholesome demeanour, found the news amusing.
He told the BBC: “It’s taken me to reach the age of 74 to be regarded in the same sort of breath as Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Rod Stewart. You know wearing trousers that are generally considered by those of us of a sensitive disposition to be rather too tight,” he told the BBC.
He added: “I’ve never seen myself as a dangerous subversive imperialist.”
The incident has raised curiosity about the availability of foreign media in North Korea, a country that fiercely guards its citizens from external cultural influences. The country implements a strict ban on ownership of foreign media and restricts global internet access.
Still, whether smuggled in over the Chinese border or pirated and edited by the regime, content from around the world seems to be available.
