North Korean TV has targeted gardening legend Alan Titchmarsh after censoring his ‘Western’ jeans during an episode of his BBC show.
The British broadcaster had his blue jeans blurred in an episode of Alan Titchmarsh’s Garden Secrets after it aired on the Korean Central Television on Monday.
The 74-year-old, who became a huge hit with North Korean audiences after the series was first shown on state TV in 2022, has previously expressed his delight that the show was able to ‘transcend barriers’.
The bizarre move is thought to be part of a censorship drive by the North Korean regime to crack down on influences of Western fashion, according to the American-based news outlet NK News.
North Korea analyst Martyn Williams said the airing of the BBC gardening show was unusual as there is ‘very little foreign programming’ on the TV channel, which often covers ‘uncontroversial topics’ such as sport, science and technology.
Blue jeans have been banned in the country since the 1990s as former leader Kim Jong-il believed they were a ‘symbol of American imperialism’ and declared people were forbidden from wearing them.
Gardening legend Alan Titchmarsh had his blue jeans blurred in an episode of Garden Secrets after it was shown on the Korean Central Television on Monday
Here is a clip of the same episode when it aired on the BBC in the UK. His jeans can clearly be seen unblurred
Titchmarsh (pictured) previously said he was stunned to discover the programme had been aired in the secretive authoritarian state
Funnily enough it is not the first time the same episode has been aired it the country, although the censorship of his jeans at the time went unnoticed.
In the segment, Mr Titchmarsh is seen at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, digging into the gardening techniques of the 17th century.
The presenter than plants a parterre-style flower bed, arranged in the shape of a leaf, with three types of thyme.
He also interviews the estate’s head gardener, David Beaumont, creates a topiary cube, and plants a small fruit tree.
During certain wide shots of the episode,a blurring effect can clearly be seen around the 74-year-old’s denim jeans.
At the time, the gardener said he was stunned to discover the programme had been aired in the secretive authoritarian state.
Following the revelation he said he hoped the therapeutic nature of gardening would have a positive effect on those watching.
He said: ‘I never imagined that my programmes would reach North Korea, but hopefully the calming nature of British gardening will be well received there.’
This clip from the same episode aired in North Korea in 2022 shows Titchmarsh’s jeans were also blurred from TV audiences
The bizarre move is thought to be part of a censorship drive by the North Korean regime to crack down on influences of Western fashion. Pictured: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
‘I just think it’s rather nice that whichever country in the world it is… gardening can bring people together,’ Titchmarsh added in an interview with The Times.
He continued: ‘Gardening unifies people and nations and if it has some kind of effect of giving people a sense of peace with the environment and the world we live in, then it’s hugely important and worthwhile. It has that ability to reach out through all nations, to all people, to all classes.’
North Korea analyst Martyn Williams, who monitors the regime’s TV output, was just as surprised as Mr Titchmarsh by the segment.
He said: ‘In general, there is very little foreign programming on KCTV.
‘It’s usually restricted to sports, which airs each day, and science and technology type short reports.
‘This falls into the latter category. They have these short little features on non-controversial topics.’
But Titchmarsh is not the only BBC show to have made it past the state broadcaster’s strict censors.
Dr Who, Top Gear and Teletubbies are all apparently deemed suitable be shown on North Korea’s tightly-controlled state TV.
This came as part of a move to bring a little more light relief to the world’s most isolated country following a BBC initiative in 2014, supported by the Foreign Office, to draw up a list of programmes the regime might consider importing.
At the time the Foreign Secretary William Hague hailed it as ‘a good way to improve understanding about the outside world within such a closed society’.
Top Gear is one of three BBC shows that North Korea has deemed suitable to be shown on the state control TV channel
While Top Gear is likely to be censored before being broadcast, there should be no such problem with the Teletubbies
In 2022, Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un banned mullet hairstyles and skinny jeans over fears that ‘decadent’ Western culture will influence young North Koreans.
Radio Free Asia has previously reported that North Korea has recommended list of 18 hair styles for women and 10 hair styles for men.
It added that, according to sources, some colleges in the hermit kingdom told male students to model their hair after the supreme leader Kim Jong Un.
Just a year later he began cracking down on people sporting ‘capitalist’ fashion, such as ‘tight fitting pants or t-shirts’, according to Radio Free Asia.
And just last year the North Korean leader banned women from wearing shorts under the kingdom’s Rejection of Reactionary Thought and Culture Act.
Any woman who wears clothing that does not reach below the knee line flouts the principles of ‘socialist etiquette’ and will be liable to be slapped with all manner of disproportionate punishments.
A resident of North Korea’s South Pyongan province told Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity: ‘The authorities are stopping women who wear shorts on the streets, saying that it is not in line with socialist tradition and lifestyle.
‘A few years ago, they were cracking down on wide-legged skirt pants, saying they were Japanese fashion,’ she said.
‘Many women are complaining, asking why men can wear shorts and women can’t. They are saying that the authorities are discriminating against us.’
Alan Titchmarsh
Alan Titchmarsh at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2021
From: Yorkshire, England
Age: 74
Career: British broadcaster and beloved gardener
Instagram followers: 138,000
Spouse: Alison Titchmarsh
Children: 2
Favourite item of clothing: Knitted jumper
Most famous friend: King Charles
Most notable quote: ‘The most mundane of plants will flourish to become the most beautiful.’
Kim Jong-Un
Kim Jong Un attends a meeting in Russia in 2023
From: Pyongyang, North Korea
Age: 42
Career: Supreme Leader of North Korea
Instagram followers: N/A
Spouse: Ri Sol Ju
Children: Thought to have 3, although only one has ever been seen in public
Favourite item of clothing: Leather jacket
Most famous friend: Dennis Rodman
Most notable quote: ‘A nuclear button is always on my desk. This is a reality not a threat.’