On Oct. 10, Strictly Come Dancing aired a rehearsal clip of Bethany Antonia and her partner, Nancy Xu, working on their American Smooth. In it, Antonia wore a plain white T-shirt.
It wasn’t plain the day before. A video the BBC posted to Instagram on Oct. 9, apparently shot at the same rehearsal, showed the shirt’s front: “Protect the Dolls,” the slogan for trans women that designer Conner Ives first put on a top in 2025, the Press Association reported. By broadcast, the words were gone.
The BBC’s Explanation for the “Protect the Dolls” Edit
The broadcaster says the shirt got the same treatment as any logo would. “As is standard practice on any entertainment show on the BBC and in line with our editorial guidelines, appropriate steps are taken to reduce the inclusion of any overt branding or slogans that may be present, regardless of the wording or statement in question,” a BBC spokesperson said.
The Press Association reported on Oct. 12 that Ives’ shirt cost £75, with proceeds going to Not A Phase, a UK charity that runs events and support spaces for the trans community. Pedro Pascal, Tilda Swinton and Troye Sivan have all worn it.
What Bethany Antonia Said About the Blurred Shirt
Antonia, who plays Baela Targaryen on HBO’s House of the Dragon, defended the BBC’s decision. In her interview with Digital Spy, she said she hadn’t thought about the shirt’s link to a charity when she put it on.
“The BBC had to do what they had to do when they edited it out, to keep it fair for everybody,” she said. “But I stand with my trans family in every way, and they knew what I was thinking when I wore that T-shirt. And that’s all that matters.”
She and Xu are a same-sex pairing. Strictly had its first in 2020, when Nicola Adams danced with Katya Jones.
Why “Protect the Dolls” Lands Differently in the UK
“Dolls” is slang in the LGBTQ+ community for trans women. In April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that the terms “sex,” “woman” and “man” in the Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. The judgment did not remove the Act’s protections against discrimination on the basis of gender reassignment. Fights over which bathrooms, changing rooms and sports teams trans women can use have followed.
That’s the backdrop. Some viewers saw the blur as the BBC picking a side. The BBC says it treats every slogan the same, whatever it says.
More from Gayety: LGBTQ+ rights coverage.
