‘It’s not offensive or vulgar, just fun’: Organiser behind No Trousers Tube Ride hits back at critics of ‘traumatic’ flashmob who stripped to their underwear in front of shocked families and tourists

The organiser of the controversial ‘No Trousers Tube Ride’ has insisted it is ‘not offensive and vulgar’ despite a backlash over the event.

The annual gathering, which has been running for 17 years, sees Londoners strip to their underwear and travel on the Underground with no trousers – often shocking families and tourists in the process.

But calls are growing for the event to end amid fears it is causing unnecessary trauma for those who have suffered sexual assaults on the capital’s transport network.

British Transport Police confirmed it is ‘not a criminal offence to go trouser-less on the Tube in itself’, but have urged participants to be ‘respectful of fellow passengers’.

The latest iteration was held on Sunday afternoon and saw scores of people take part, despite the cold temperatures outside.

The event originally arrived in London as a US import in 2009, with the very first ‘No Pants Subway Ride’ taking place in New York in 2002.

The ride began in the UK as an event organised by the Stiff Upper Lip Society, a flash-mob group who ran it each year – apart from during the pandemic – until 2023.

Since then, organisation for the event has been taken on by group member Dave Selkirk, a personal trainer originally from South Africa who did his first ride in 2013.

Defending the event, Mr Selkirk told the Daily Mail: ‘It is obviously a little risqué but it’s certainly far more covered up than you would be on the beach. I never respond to anyone online [criticising the event] because no one looks good in an online debate.

‘The world is made up of very different people and different people like different things. I would like to say that us being in our underwear, you can choose to take offence or not. I don’t think it’s offensive. You’d be far more exposed on a beach.’

He added: ‘In summer people wear less than that on the Tube anyway, so as long as no one else is hurt, everybody is entitled to their own enjoyment.’

Asked about the trauma it could cause to victims of sexual offences on the Tube, Mr Selkirk said: ‘I can’t speak to what triggers other people. I really empathise with the woman who was sexually assaulted. I hope that wasn’t someone on our ride.’

He added: ‘The reason that I’m so fond of the event is it’s only for the sake of fun and I do firmly believe it is harmless fun. 

‘On my group when I lead it, I’m very adamant that we’re here to make fun and make friends. There’s no vulgarity. 

‘We’re not doing it from any point of malice, it is just fun, it’s not offensive and vulgar.’

Mr Selkirk said he took over organisation in 2024 after the Stiff Upper Lip Society said 2023 should be the last year because ‘they felt it had run its course’ – but he ‘felt it still had legs’.

He organised this year’s ride with another Londoner called Rammi Chiratheep, who is originally from Thailand – and confirmed he was planning to continue next year as long as there is still interest.

Mr Selkirk said: ‘I’d like to say as long as people keep turning up, I’ll keep organising it. One day I might turn up and it’s just me and the loudhailer.’

It comes after Glamour writer Emma Clarke said the ride had ‘long been brushed off as just a bit of silly fun’, but she found it ‘extremely triggering’ because of a sexual assault she had suffered on the Tube

She explained a man began performing a sex act over her while licking his lips on the District line during the pandemic.

Ms Clarke took photographs of the man and reported the incident to Transport for London (TfL) staff and BTP officers but he was never caught.

Writing in Glamour, she said: ‘When campaigners are calling for women-only Tube carriages and the stark VAWG figures in the UK bear an overwhelming weight, this ‘silly’ tradition of forgoing clothing is not only outdated – it’s completely tone deaf, and poses yet another safety risk.

‘Yes, the event has both men and women participating. And I’m sure back in 2009, when it was first thought up, it was seen as a novelty.

‘But when we are fighting to protect our rights as women and girls, ‘No Trousers Day’ offers yet another excuse for would-be predators, and exposes us to yet more potential threat.

‘For me, it has no place in our city’s culture – and should firmly stay a thing of the past.’

Ms Clarke also cited BTP data released last month which showed there were 595 sexual offences across all Tube lines in 2024/25, the most since 2019/20 when there were 776.

Independent columnist Ryan Coogan wrote of the event two years ago: ‘It turns a normal commute into an anxiety-ridden ordeal, not least because the Tube is often packed tight with people, meaning your chances of accidentally making physical contact with a pantsless stranger absolutely skyrocket.

‘Looking at pictures of previous years, there are sat in seats trying desperately to avoid looking at eye-level tighty whities.

‘Women do take part, but the vast majority of participants appear to be male, which is a huge problem for any women who might feel understandably vulnerable when confronted by a semi-nude horde on their way to the shops.’

A Reddit post about the event has also prompted much discussion in recent days, with one user writing: ‘The No Trousers Tube Ride is embarrassing nonsense and it absolutely stinks of the 2014 moustache and bacon internet.

‘That era of forced quirky humour where people thought wearing silly props and doing dares counted as having a personality. Nobody wants to see your crusty underwear in public.’

Another said: ‘Am I the only one who thinks this it utterly repulsive?’

But a third wrote: ‘The reactions to this post make me so sad. Anything silly, quirky, out of the norm, or fun for the sake of fun, entirely squashed and eradicated by a new wave of puritans. It’s not dangerous to be silly: it’s life-threatening to never put a smile on your face.’

This year’s participants gathered in Soho’s Chinatown from 2.45pm on Sunday before heading down to the Tube then stripping their lower half down to their underpants.

In a Facebook event post, organisers asked those involved to: ‘Keep the (under)pants as normal or low-key as possible, so it looks like you’ve just forgotten your trousers.’

They added that there were ‘no official organisers’ and ‘All participants do so at their own risk – please behave safely and be mindful of your own safety.’

The event is done purely for ‘fun’, and not for charity or to raise awareness of any cause.

The first ‘No Pants Subway Ride’ in New York in 2002 was the brainchild of comedian Charlie Todd, who lives in the city and had the idea because he thought it would be comical.

He previously told the BBC: ‘It would be unusual in New York, although you can see anything on our subway system, but what would really be funny is if at the next stop, a couple of minutes later, when the doors open and additional persons got on, not wearing trousers as well.

‘And they act like they don´t know each other, and they act like… it´s no big deal and they just forgot their trousers.’

Mr Todd added: ‘You know, it’s meant to be a bit of harmless fun. Certainly we are living in a climate where, you know, people like to have culture war fights.

‘My rule in New York was always the goal of this event is to amuse other people, to give people a laugh. It´s not to be provocative, it’s not to irritate someone. So hopefully the spirit of that continues.’

A BTP spokeswoman told the Daily Mail: ‘It is not a criminal offence to go trouser-less on the Tube in itself, however we ask that participants are respectful of fellow passengers, and we continue to campaign relentlessly to encourage the reporting of sexual harassment and sexual offences.’

She added: ‘Tackling sexual offences is our top priority and we take every report of sexual harassment or violence extremely seriously.

‘If any passengers feel they were directly targeted by anyone on-board a Tube service, in a harassing or intimidating way, we ask they report this to us for investigation.’

BTP added that it has patrols of uniformed and specially trained plain clothes officers across the railway day and night to catch offenders and reassure passengers as they travel, along with access to over 150,000 cameras across the railway network.

Anyone who experiences or witnesses sexual harassment or a sexual offence on the railway is urged to report it to BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 405040 – or 999 in an emergency.

TfL declined to comment.