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JENNI MURRAY: I hid my Northern accent to get ahead in my career - but by gum I wish I hadn't By Jenni Murray for the Daily Mail Published: 16:57 BST, 19 June 2024 | Updated: 17:29 BST, 19 June 2024 e-mail View comments Growing up, I felt lucky to have a mother who recognised what a drawback my Yorkshire accent would be, that it could prevent me from enjoying success in whatever field I chose. It was her life’s work to prepare me to rise above my working-class roots. She constantly lectured me about the way I must speak.

Nicely was the word she used: ‘Not like those young ruffians you try to play with on the street.’ She sent me for elocution lessons, or speech and drama as I prefer to call it, from the age of five to 18. I loved it and could fully understand why it was important not to speak the kind of ‘Ee by gum’ Yorkshire dialect that might make me incomprehensible to others.



But when I read this week that young Olivia Cooke, the actress currently starring in the Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon , felt she had to get rid of her Northern accent in order to succeed, it made me think. Olivia Cooke, from Oldham, the actress currently starring in the Game of Thrones prequel House of The Dragon, felt she had to get rid of her Northern accent to succeed Did my generation of Northerners let down those who followed in our footsteps? Should we have stood our ground, showed pride in where we came from and insisted our accents did not indicate we were stupid or t.

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