For most of us, accent is something that sticks like glue in formative years.
It can soften with new geography but never truly fades away from what it was…unless it seems, you’re an A-lister.
Celebrities aplenty have sparked confused amongst fans over the years when they suddenly don’t quite sound like they once did.
Here, FEMAIL looks at some of the stars who’ve taken a playful approach to their pronunciation…
MILLIE BOBBY BROWN
Millie Bobby Brown’s accent appears to have changed again as she spoke with her native English twang during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show this month
The most recent star to find themselves in the accent spotlight is Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown.
Last week, the star appeared on The Jonathon Ross Show, with fans surprised at her apparent cut-glass British accent.
It was in stark contrast to Millie’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in February where she spoke with a noticeably American twang.
Viewers picked up on Millie’s altered accent with one commenting on YouTube: ‘What an accent change from Millie’s interview with Jimmy Fallon.’
The Stranger Things star raised eyebrows last week while appearing on The Tonight Show as fans called her out for speaking ‘differently’ during her interview with host Jimmy Fallon
Another wrote: ‘I thought she started to lose her accent but here it seems fine maybe cause she’s surrounded by Brits.’
Millie was born in Spain and spent part of her childhood in Bournemouth, England and Orlando, Florida before settling down in Atlanta, Georgia.
It comes after Millie set the record straight last year after she was accused of actively losing her British accent in favor of sounding ‘more American.’
She addressed the backlash on TikTok as she explained how growing up in both the UK and the United States has influenced her accent over the years.
‘So, I’m an actor. I grew up in the public eye. I grew up in America,’ she explained. ‘I come to set and I’m an actor and I adapt. And so I want to mimic people.’
She addressed the backlash on TikTok as she explained how growing up in both the UK and the United States has influenced her accent over the years
Millie maintains that when she’s around Americans like Jimmy Fallon or her fiancé, Jake Bongiovi, she has a natural instinct to mimic the way they speak.
She said: ‘I can’t help that when I’m around my fiancé or when I’m around people like Jimmy Fallon, who have a very American accent, I wanna replicate it.’
‘And now I’m in England, I wanna replicate that. I don’t do it intentional and I’m sorry if it offends you. But listen, I’m trying my best!’ she said while looking directly towards the camera.
Hyping up the entertainment factor, the host chimed in: ‘She’s Millie Bobby Brown and she can speak how she wants.’
‘I’m trying my best,’ the actress reiterated, all while speaking with a dramatic effect.
TAYLOR SWIFT
Taylor Swift fans have long speculated that the singer’s Southern accent – which she spoke and sung with in the early days of her career – was ‘faked’.
The pop star spent the first 14 years of her life living in Pennsylvania before the Swift family relocated to Nashville, Tennessee so Taylor could pursue a music career.
In an interview with Time magazine in 2014, Taylor explained: ‘I decided to move to Nashville when I was about 10 years old.
‘I was obsessed with watching biography TV shows about Faith Hill and Shania Twain, and I noticed that both of them went to Nashville to start their careers.’
Around this time, Andrea and Scott drove their daughter to Nashville so she could hand out her demos at the major record labels – which resulted in her bagging a development deal when she was 13.
Pictured: Taylor Swift in 2005, shortly after she signed her first record deal; fans have questioned if the Southern accent on her early records was authentic
Although it’s possible Taylor picked up her accent as a result of the move, fans have suggested that it was something her parents and publicity team encouraged.
In a video that has amassed over 1.7m views on TikTok, documentary maker Ani Easton Baker alleged: ‘Taylor did a lot to market herself – like faked a Southern accent for the first few years of her career.
‘People forget that. She faked it. She’s not from the South!’
According to JSTOR’s linguist Chi Luu, the single ’22’ is one of the last times fans can hear Taylor’s Southern twang in her songs.
They wrote in 2020: ‘In the genre is pure pop, but the southern accent is still a force to be reckoned with.
Taylor Swift (pictured), 34, pictured at the Grammys this year; the star’s accent on her records has changed over the years
‘The “e” of “twenty” sounds more like “twinny” and the “two” sounds more like “tew.” However, whether Swift code-switches because of the musical genre in which she’s singing, or because she may have only acquired her accent after moving to the South as a young teen.
‘She largely loses the more marked linguistic elements in transitioning into a pop artist, with an appropriately general American accent.’
Taylor has never directly addressed the speculation that her Southern accent was ‘faked’ or any rumours that Andrea and her team encouraged it.
In her music video for her 2017 single Look What You Made Me Do, the ‘Reputation’ album version of herself tells her former country star to stop acting ‘so nice’ before calling her ‘fake’.
LULU
The legendary British pop star has long stayed close to her Scottish roots, she was born in Glasgow, where she spent the first 14 years of her life – and will start her final tour in the country next mont.
However, her accent over the years has bemused fans, with the 75-year-old star seemingly able to switch at whim between a US, English and Scottish accent.
Three accents! Lulu sparked confusion among viewers of the Platinum Jubilee pageant coverage in 2022 when she appeared to speak with an American accent; the star also frequently slips back into her native Glaswegian
At the Platinum Jubilee Pageant for the late Queen in 2022, viewers watching the coverage were confused by the singer’s apparent American accent as she paid tribute to our ‘hardworking queen’.
The footage sparked some ribbing on social media. One person wrote: ‘As is traditional with these occasions, Lulu’s accent has changed between Scottish, American and English at least three times while I’ve been watching’.
Another viewer added: ‘I see Lulu has decided to be Scottish again when she remembers.’
One viewer also wrote: ‘Hae a drink each time Lulu changes her accent’.
BROOKLYN BECKHAM
Brooklyn, the 25-year-old son of Victoria and David Beckham, can sound like he’s stuck in a boat in the middle of the Atlantic, but it’s probably not entirely his fault.
Budding chef Brooklyn Beckham’s cookery videos often showcase his global accent
The chop: Nicola Peltz revealed this month that her husband’s cameo was cut from her new film, because he sounded too British
The star was raised between London, Madrid and Los Angeles, with parents from Essex, a public school education and now, an American wife, all thrown into the accent mix.
Brooklyn’s fans have suggested in the past that his accent bears a striking resemblance to that of Tesla/SpaceX mogul Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa.
His wife Nicola Peltz last month revealed she was forced to cut her husband Brooklyn Beckham’s cameo from her new film Lola – because he sounded too British.
The actress, 29 – who wrote, directed and stars in the drama – admitted that Brooklyn was left ‘really upset,’ but his appearance wasn’t up to scratch.
Speaking in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Nicola explained how her husband ‘ended up on the chopping block.’
‘He had one line, “Hi,” but he kept saying it in a British accent and he was staring directly into the camera, I was like “Oh God, we have to move on, good lord.”
LIAM PAYNE
In 2022, the ex One Directioner was called out by fans for ‘putting on’ a ‘bizarre’ Irish-American twang after being interviewed live on the red carpet at the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s annual Academy Awards viewing party.
The exchange left viewers scratching their heads when he debuted a ‘valley’ twang – before admitting he hadn’t even been on US soil for two years.
Viewers at home rushed to their keyboards to share their surprise at Liam’s twang, writing, ‘OMG what is this accent? Sort it out Liam, cringe [laughing emoji].’
Later the same year, Liam Payne finally spoke out about his ‘bizarre’ accent.
Brummy born Liam Payne has seen his accent take on a more fluid twang in recent years, with the star saying he’s ‘good at accents’
The singer, 30, admitted he had ‘a lot to drink’ on the night of his now-famous interview with Good Morning Britain, where he defended his pal Will Smith for slapping Chris Rock.
He described himself as a ‘social chameleon’ and called his accent is ‘ever-changing’ depending on who he is around, before insisting he is normally ‘good at accents’.
Addressing his interview in an Instagram Live video, Liam joked: ‘I’m good at accents, I pride myself on them! I just wish sometimes I could do my own.
‘No I mean, what can I say about that really? It was quite funny.’
He then said people only need to watch back his X Factor audition for proof of his ‘ever-changing’, where he claims you couldn’t even tell he was from Birmingham.
He added: ‘That day – I’ll tell you the truth – I was staying in a house with two German people, three people from Texas, one person from Liverpool and me.’
PRINCE HARRY
Since moving to California in 2021 with his wife Meghan Markle, Prince Harry’s accent has raised eyebrows on more than one occasion.
A behaviour expert said the Duke of Sussex had adopted elements of an American accent soon after moving to the country, with a rising inflection and ‘blending of words’ during his explosive Oprah interview.
Judi James said being in lockdown with Meghan Markle would have sped up his adoption of Californian English, as she also noted his ‘overkill gesticulation’ with his hands while speaking.
Prince Harry, pictured with his wife Meghan this week as the couple announced the Archewell Foundation Digital Civil Rights Award; the Duke of Sussex’ accent has a hint of a US accent these days
The change was also noted by social media users as they watched the bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview, with one writing, ‘Harry’s accent has gone to LA!’.
She said Prince Harry’s accent is likely to change more in the future.
‘I would have expected this accent change to have been more pronounced though, to be honest,’ she said.
‘Harry, like many of us, has a tendency to adapt to his surroundings by mirroring and it was a trait that his mother Diana was good at too.
‘It can help create rapport as long as it’s not too obvious [eg Tony Blair’s mockney accent] and Harry was seen dressing like James Corden and rapping and jumping about in an echo of his behaviour during that interview.’
In 2022, a language expert said Prince Harry could be ‘modifying’ his British accent with flicks of US English in order to sound more approachable when speaking to Americans.