In the third season of the reality television show Traitors, a contestant from London revealed that she was putting on a Welsh accent to gain people’s trust. Charlotte, the contestant, lives in London but decided to pretend she is from Abergavenny in Monmouthshire to increase her chances of staying in the game. Dr Mercedes Durham, a sociolinguistics professor at Cardiff University, conducted research into the Welsh accent. She found that people associate the accent with being friendly, but not necessarily clever. However, friendliness and trustworthiness are linked, says Dr Durham, so there could be some logic behind Charlotte’s accent strategy.
Traitors is a popular show in which host Claudia Winkleman selects “traitors” who must deceive and gain the trust of other contestants, who are “faithful”. According to Dr Durham, inspiration for the Welsh accent may have come from previous Welsh contestants Andrew Jenkins and Amanda Lovett, who both narrowly missed out on the Traitor trophy in series one and two. While Amanda Lovett believes that her warm Welsh accent helped her succeed in the show, Andrew Jenkins thinks authenticity is the key to winning. Andrew said the Welsh accent is trustworthy, but he would have identified Charlotte’s poor Welsh accent. Charlotte is not the only Welsh contestant in the game this year. Elen is from North Wales, and Leanne is from Holywell in Flintshire.
The Welsh accent has enticed new contact centres to establish themselves or expand in Wales in recent years. Wales’ friendly and trustworthy accent was a significant contributing factor in the decision of a funeral planning company to set up in Newport instead of Middlesbrough. Sandra Busby, CEO of Cnect Wales, which supports contact centres, says accents “play their part”. The Welsh accent has always ranked highly in surveys of the friendliest and most trustworthy regional accents in the UK.
The Welsh accent topped the list of the most relaxing accents across the UK in 2024, according to a study by the University of Sheffield and Spa Seekers. The public has an affinity for all the Celtic accents, including Irish and Scottish, due to their friendly implications. Birmingham, Liverpudlian, and Cockney accents are often not popular and are found low in popularity surveys. The trust in accents can change over time depending on a person’s social circle and daily relationships, according to a study by Ilaria Torre from Plymouth University. Participants’ attitudes toward different accents, like southern English or Liverpudlian, changed depending on first impressions and judgments.
While a Welsh accent might start one off in good stead as a trusted contestant, the odds are still all to play for. With a mix of different accents from across the UK, how will the Welsh ones fare? The first three episodes of The Traitors’ third season are now available on BBC iPlayer. The series airs on BBC One on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights at 9 pm GMT
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