It may come as a surprise to hear that Alan Titchmarsh recently found himself being censored during a broadcast in North Korea – particularly as it all related to an item of clothing.
And no, the gardening icon wasn’t wearing a controversial slogan t-shirt or political pin in the 2010 episode of Alan Titchmarsh’s Garden Secrets that recently re-aired on North Korea’s state broadcaster. It actually all had to do with his jeans.
You see, denim jeans are actually banned in the East Asian country, with The Guardian claiming they’re seen “as a symbol of US imperialism”.
As a result, the bottom half of Alan’s outfit was blurred while he was seen demonstrating his gardening expertise to viewers, so they couldn’t see he was wearing the offending garment.
NK News also reported that hour-long episodes of Alan’s show are edited down to just 15-minute snippets, while his commentary is replaced by that of a North Korean narrator.
“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,” the former Ground Force star joked to the BBC.
“You know wearing trousers that are generally considered by those of us of a sensitive disposition to be rather too tight.”
He added: “I’ve never seen myself as a dangerous subversive imperialist – I’m generally regarded as rather cosy and pretty harmless, so actually it’s given me a bit of street cred really hasn’t it?”
Alan previously claimed (per The Guardian): “I never imagined that my programmes would reach North Korea, but hopefully the calming nature of British gardening will be well received there.”