If you haven’t watched the recent adaptation of One Day on Netflix, first of all: congrats on not being emotionally tormented like the rest of us and, secondly, leading man Leo Woodall might have just given you an extra little incentive by declaring Mancunian as the most attractive accent.
‘Soft’ Manc, to be specific. We’re not exactly what that sounds like or where about in Greater Manchester he’s referring to it, but we’ll get into all that later.
The much-adored piece of contemporary romance was previously made into a film back in 2011 but a whole new generation of viewers are now stumbling across the love story thanks to the 14-part Netflix series which was released this February.
Don’t worry, we won’t go into too much detail on the plot as there’s no way we’re spoiling this for you but, as it turns out, actor Leo Woodall — who plays the heart-throb everyone loves to hate, Dexter Mayhew, in the show — told journalist Olivia Marks in a recent interview with that he loves Manc accents.
As you can see in the short clip, taken from Marks’ chat with Woodall and co-star Ambika Mod, who plays female lead Emma Morley, after receiving some praise for voice in the show, the pair are then asked what accents they find most attractive in real life after Timmy Chalamet went viral for his answer.
ADVERTISEMENT
While Mod, who delivers a virtually flawless Leeds accent, admits she’s a sucker for an Irish accent (aren’t we all?), ‘Dex’ himself says that “a soft Mancunian [accent] is great” — yet another reason to jump on the bandwagon and watch One Day, this guy clearly knows his stuff.
Jumping at the chance to let the 27-year-old actor that she’ll “take that” as she is also a Mancunian, though she did admit she may have “lost it a bit because [she’s] been in London for so long”.
ADVERTISEMENT
Again, similar to Leo’s very specific answer, we’re not exactly sure whereabouts in the region Olivia is from, but come back up North whenever you’re ready, mate — we’ll get the kettle on.
So yeah, do ignore our blushing but you heard it here first, a very undeniably good-looking bloke off the telly said that we have the most attractive accent and he should know a thing or two about that, just look at the state of the bugger.
Of course, he’s not the first person to state what we deem as a simple fact of human nature at this point; in fact, a survey of over 2,500 Brits carried out in 2023 officially voted us in the ‘sexiest accent in the UK’ and we’re taking that straight to the handsome bank with all the other pretty people.
ADVERTISEMENT
Seriously though, you should all go and watch One Day on Netflix and not just because Dexter—sorry, Leo, said we sound nice. Just make sure to buy a big box of tissues and be ready to message all of your loved ones saying you need a hug.
As for the interview itself, you can watch ‘r Liv’s full chat with the cast of One Day down below:
Featured Images — Olivia Lily Marks (via TikTok)/Hits Radio (via YouTube)/Netflix
TV & Showbiz
Sir Ian McKellen pays emotional tribute to long-time friend and fellow northern actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Emily Sergeant
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, following his death.
Sir Patrick Stewart – who was born and bred in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and is best-known for his theatre work alongside an illustrious 60-year screen career, taking on prominent roles in franchises such as Star Trek and X-Men – sadly passed away at the age of 86, with his death being announced publicly yesterday evening (29 October).
And now, his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Ian McKellen, has paid tribute.
Sir Patrick and Sir Ian shared the stage together countless times over their decades-long careers, but also famously starred alongside each other in the X-Men franchise, and subsequent Marvel movies, as Charles Xavier/Professor X and Magneto.
The tribute, shared across Sir Ian’s social media platforms, reads: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions.
“My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did, for not just his devoted Trekkies, but film and theatre audiences who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin.
“But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”
Sir Patrick Stewart’s farewell performance will be in Avengers: Doomsday, which is being released in UK cinemas on 18 December 2026
Featured Image – Gage Skidmore (via Flickr)
TV & Showbiz
James Acaster reveals eerie song all Traitors contestants are forced to listen to before every roundtable
Emily Sergeant
James Acaster has revealed the eerie (and pretty surprising) song that all Traitors contestants are forced to listen to before every roundtable.
In case you’ve been living comfortably under a rock, you’ll probably be aware that comedian James Acaster is currently a contestant on this current season of BBC‘s smash-hit reality TV competition show, The Celebrity Traitors – a show that viewers in their millions are tuning into each week, with some big names on the cast.
Acaster is currently (spoiler alert… but it shouldn’t be at this point, we are several weeks in after all) one of three Traitors competing on the show, and he’s doing a pretty good job at it.
But we wonder how much of his success can be put down to the producers’ love of a certain song they like to play before every roundtable? Probably next to none, but it’s surprising to find out how much of an integral role the tune plays though.
The song we’re referring to here, it has been revealed, is ‘The Hanging Tree’ – a folk ballad made popular by The Hunger Games.
‘The Hanging Tree’, composed by James Newton Howard and Suzanne Collins, was famously sung by Jennifer Lawrence’s character Katniss Everdeen in the third instalment of the film franchise, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1.
The lyrics are as follows:
Are you, are you Coming to the tree Where they strung up a man They say who murdered three? Strange things did happen here No stranger would it be If we met at midnight In the hanging tree
So, as you can see, the song does make reference to ‘murder’, which is a key part of The Traitors game (not real murder, of course), but even with that context, we’re still not sure why the producers are keen to play it out before every roundtable.
During a viral TikTok clip from an on-stage Q&A this week, Acaster revealed the song’s usage to the audience: “You all walk in silence down the corridor, and you all sit down, and they don’t announce it’s gonna happen.
“The first time this will completely blindside you, but they do it every single roundtable. They play that song from The Hunger Games, that ‘coming to the tree’ song. Like acapella, Jennifer Lawrence.”
He continued: “It was every f***ing time, it was the only song we heard the whole time we were in there, and all day I would have it in my head constantly, everyone would, I’d go ‘have you got coming to the tree in your head?’ and they’d go ‘yes, it’s in my head, again’.”
Viewers who watch the show may have spotted the song being played in the background or transition between certain scenes, but now it’s been revealed that the contestants hear it too.
Who would’ve thought?
Featured Image – Euan Cherry / BBC / Studio Lambert
Danny Jones -
27th February 2024 
