The BBC has defended an edit to TV show Let It Shine which saw Lady Gaga’s gay anthem Born This Way rehashed to omit reference to LGBT people.

The broadcaster faced accusations of censoring LGBT-related lyrics from the song last month during a performance on Gary Barlow talent contest Let It Shine.

The version of the song performed by semi-finalists Iron Sun omitted the lines “No matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgender life. I’m on the right track baby. I was born to survive”. “Don’t be a drag, just be a queen” was also removed.

The BBC had initially tried to blame time constraints for the edit, claiming the lyrics were cut for time reasons.



Fans rubbished the suggestion, pointing out they had added in an extra repetition of the first chorus in place of the lyrics.

The BBC changed their story in an official response to complaints sent out today – claiming the edit was actually needed for stylistic reasons and to accommodate a “dance break”.

In the statement the production team said: “All the tracks were edited for length, musical beats and crucially to ensure the boys each had a section to showcase.

“Therefore, typically sections came out of all of the songs performed for the show. In this case, to get a dance break in, we did what we often do which was to repeat the first chorus as opposed to putting in the second one, especially as in this version of the song we had a slow version of the first chorus.

“It made sense therefore musically in an edit, to go with a repeated chorus with a faster tempo the second time around.”

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