Protect the Dolls

Yes.

Where one, I think I'm writing the same, one of the contestants in rehearsals was wearing a T-shirt with his slogan, protect the dolls.

Bethany

Antonio was filmed during rehearsals wearing a white T-shirt.

Protect the dolls, that's right.

Emblazoned with the slogan, protect the dolls, which is...

Pro-trends.

I didn't even know that was a pro-trends slogan.

The BBC received hundreds of complaints about its decision to censor a pro-trans message from a Strictly Come Dancing star's t-shirt and your report is revealed.

On Saturday, October 10th, BBC producers edited out the slogan, Protect the Dolls, which had appeared on Game of Thrones star Bethany Antonia's t-shirt during a dance rehearsal.

Protect the Dolls is a pro-trans message that uses language from the 1980s New York ballroom scene.

The slogan first appeared on a t-shirt by fashion designer Connor Ives in early 2025, and has since been worn by stars including Madonna and Pedro Pascal.

The BBC's censoring of the phrase led to accusations it was institutionally transphobic.

However, the broadcaster insisted it was standard practice to reduce the inclusion of any overt branding or slogans that may be present, regardless of the wording or statement in question.

A segment directly before Antonia's, on the same Strictly Calm Dancing show, had included a contestant's visit to Brentford Football Club, the logos and branding of the club, and its various sponsors were not edited out.

Now the BBC has revealed that it received a total of 206 complaints about the censorship of the Protect the Dolls slogan.

So they were wearing a t-shirt.

Protect the Dolls, was that what it was? Yeah, so

one of the contestants was wearing a t-shirt with the slogan Protect the Dolls.

And when the BBC, they aired it or shared pictures and then they re-aired it and re-shared pictures.

And they had edited the t-shirt to just be a plain white t-shirt.

been worn.

I

get that they want to keep things non-political or non-inflammatory, but protect the dolls is very benign.

What happened? Emerging designer Conner Ives is beloved by uptown women for his embroidered silk skirts and fur-trimmed coats.

But he's better known for a hundred-dollar tee that reads "Protect the Dolls," which has been worn by progressive pop singers and movie stars online and off.

Pro-proceeds went to the nonprofit Trans Lifeline.

This season, Ives followed it with a new tee that costs $180 and says, "Bring back shame." What to make of it? Ives seems to possess two qualities needed to break out in fashion today, today: a vision that justifies luxury prices and a meme-able sense of humor that reaches people.

Um, I find it absolutely disgusting.

This comes the same week as the BBC blurred out a T-shirt reading "Protect the Dolls" that was worn by House of the Dragon star Bethany Antonia while she was competing on Strictly Come Dancing.

So the woman from Strictly comes out and she's wearing "Protect the Dolls," which means protect trans pe- you know, protect trans women.

Um, they put out a statement saying, "It's standard practice to," uh- ... with their editorial guidelines blah, blah, blah, to take appropriate steps to, uh, render inclusion of overt branding blah, blah, blah.

It just sounds anti-trans to me.

No.

Even more hysterically, no. Antonia wore, Bethany Antonia wore a white T-shirt that said, "Protect the dolls." Now, I think we're all familiar with that slogan.

Yes.

Uh, it comes from the '80s.

Yes.

So it's a big statement.

And you see actually, so there was a T-shirt that says Protect the Dolls that was designed by a, a guy named Connor Ives that was introduced in Fashion Week, like, a year ago, two years ago.

And suddenly you saw it everywhere.

On Saturday evening, viewers of the flagship BBC entertainment show saw House of the Dragon actor Bethany Antonia rehearse a dance with her professional part, partner, Nancy Xu.

Now, during the montage of their rehearsal, there were points in which Antonia was seen wearing a white T-shirt with the slogan, "Protect the dolls." However, the BBC edited the T-shirt's slogan to make it appear as if it was plain white.

Now, we've got a clip of that to show you here.

So even something as simple as just, like walking across the floor, your foot is doing, like three different things.

I, yeah.

[laughs]

I mean, so Protect the Dolls, um, for anyone listening who might not know, it's a pro-trans message that uses language from the 1980s New York ballroom scene, so therefore you'd think it would be quite fitting for Strictly.

Yeah.