BBC The Traitors: We all laughed at Charlotte for her fake accent but it turned out to be a genius gameplan
When I first heard that Charlotte from The Traitors was going to adopt a fake Welsh accent in this year’s series, I rolled my eyes and I'm pretty sure I wasn’t the only one. Here we go again, I thought, someone will be mimicking the worst Welsh accent on our TV screens since Matt Lucas' Daffyd Thomas from Little Britain.
I had visions of her waltzing around the castle, loudly shouting "shw'mae butty" or "what’s occurrin’?", fuelling Welsh stereotypes in the process. Whether her Abergavenny accent is good or not is up to the people of Monmouthshire to decide, but for someone with a north Whalian ear, I think her accent sounds okay - it's soft, but undoubtedly a Welsh accent.
However, don't get me wrong, I agree with the rest of the fans - I think her game plan is absolutely ridiculous. I sat there in disbelief during the second episode when Charlotte became visibly upset and insisted she was "just being [herself]" and had "nothing to hide" when the rest of her cast members were concerned she was a Traitor. And to make things worse, poor Elen - who was in fact Welsh, was banished at the end of the same episode. Since then, however, fellow players have been falling over themselves to say how much they trust her and believe in their "hearts" she is a true Faithful.
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Some fans have called Charlotte "delusional", while famous fan, comedian Jo Brand said on the visual podcast The Traitors: Uncloaked that she predicted Charlotte would get "too nervous" and "spooked", and "start speaking in an Albanian accent". For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter.
And while Fozia may be wondering "what that's going to get her", I have reasons to believe that - as ridiculous as this game plan is, it has worked well for her. Of course, we have three episodes left of the third series, and things may go pear shaped for Charlotte in the final week, but after nine episodes, this is why I think the fake Welsh accent has worked well for the business director from London.
Firstly, Charlotte explained earlier on in the series that her reason for adopting the fake accent was to make her "more trustworthy" with her fellow cast members. While the ruse initially sounded a bit comical, it did have some basis in reality. Acclaimed psychologist Dr Lalitaa Suglani has said accents such as Welsh are perceived as "warmer and more approachable".
Speaking on behalf of research done by online gambling site Slingo, Dr Lalitta said the Welsh accent along with "certain regional British accents" are often perceived as "friendly" due to their "gentle intonation and rhythm" which in turn, often makes speakers come across as "more emotionally open and relatable". Meanwhile, the expert explained that accents with "sharper or more clipped accent", such as received pronunciation (RP) may come across as "authoritative or detached", which may explain Charlotte's decision to alter her accent. But as we did see with poor Elen, having a Welsh accent may not always be an ironclad strategy.
Secondly, and this might be stating the obvious, but The Traitors is very much a game which focuses on what people do - what they say, how they act, even their careers outside the castle. It has never been - and quite rightfully, about people's appearances or how they speak. And as bizarre and unconventional Charlotte's game plan is, I think it would be even more bizarre and unconventional if someone was to accuse her of faking her accent.
And perhaps Charlotte may have considered the possibility of this happening quite early on in the series. As we saw in the first episode, during a conversation with Elen, she claimed she was Welsh but had lived in London for many years. And as we may know, accents can sometimes change - whether that be consciously or unconsciously, due to exposure to another accent, phonetic awareness, social or cultural environments, which in this hypothetical situation, would explain how Charlotte's Abergavenny accent may have altered over time.
Therefore, in the very rare occasion that someone would be having doubts about her accent and the authenticity of it, how much evidence would this individual have against her? And more importantly, how many of the fellow cast members would back this unusual theory? If someone were to accuse her of using a fake Welsh accent, it would ultimately be a flawed accusation, perhaps it would reflect more on the accuser than the accused and possibly work in Charlotte's favour.
And thirdly, as we saw in episode seven last week, Charlotte is now a Traitor, and for me, she is the strongest out of her and Minah. From the first day she walked into the castle, she has lied about her identity, not only to the Faithful but to her fellow Traitor, Minah, as well. It may explain why it was so easy for her to transition from a Faithful to a Traitor in the seventh episode, it may also allude to her willingness to throw Minah under the bus.
The fact that she has been able to maintain this lie consistently whenever she speaks is not only is impressive, but also shows she has been a 'traitor' to all of them, before the traitors were even selected.
And if she succeeds in keeping up the lie for the last three episodes, I’ll be even more impressed. Yes, her game plan is ridiculous, but it has worked for her. And if she wins, I’ll be glad to see that our adopted Welsh queen of the castle has made it to the top.
The Traitors continues on BBC One this week at 9pm. You can catch up with the full series on iPlayer.
