BBC Strictly Come Dancing is changing, people might not notice

The change concerns the costumes used in the BBC dance competition.

A little change is coming to the next season of Strictly Come Dancing – one that many viewers may not even notice. This summer marked the 20th anniversary of the BBC series’ arrival on our screens.

Two decades later, the show has undergone various changes, ranging from confusion in the presenting duo to a change in the jury. Now, another change is set to come into play for the 2025 edition of the dance competition.

After an appeal from animal rights organization PETA, highlighting how much birds suffer for the feather industry, Strictly Come Dancing confirmed the show was “moving further and further away from the use of real feathers in recent seasons” and worked with fake feathers.

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Executive producer Sarah James said of this season’s costume feathers: “It’s unlikely we’ll use them again in the future.”

PETA requested that the feathers be donated to its feather amnesty campaign. The feathers would be used for educational exhibitions at fashion schools, eye-catching events, and much more. The activist group’s vice president of corporate projects, Yvonne Taylor, said: “Behind every feather fashion item is a once-living bird that was shocked, shot and violently plucked for its plumage.

“PETA commends Strictly Come Dancing for doing its best and cruelly gaining feathers from the show. She is excited to see the exclusively faux feather costumes she will unveil in 2025.”

Yvonne explained how: “In their natural habitat, ostriches form strong social bonds, raise their young for up to three years and can live for over 40 years. Yet in some cases in the feather industry, workers “forcibly retain ostriches from a very young age.” a year, stun them electrically and slit their throats before tearing the feathers from their still warm bodies.

She added that other birds fare no better – peacocks, pheasants, emus, turkeys and chickens can endure “miserable lives on overcrowded farms and painful deaths so that their feathers can be put to use.” for fashion.