The fuming face of Siânnise Fudge launched a thousand memes last week, when her expression at the sight of new girl Rebecca Gormley entering the villa was just too good not to screenshot. But it has also been her accent which has got us talking.
Some viewers have been tweeting their horror at Siânnise’s thick Bristolian accent. One said, ‘Sorry but there needs to be a flat out ban on the Bristol accent being on TV’. Another wrote, ‘I can't take Siânnise serious with that Bristol accent [sic]’, while another said, ‘I’ve absolutely nothing against Bristol but that accent is RIDICULOUS Siânnise.’
Others have leapt to her defence, with one viewer tweeting, ‘I think I’m the only one rooting for Siânnise. Being a Bristol gal myself, and seeing all the insults about her accent, really hits home.’
This shock at hearing an accent like Siannise’s isn’t unexpected, especially within the context of the show: she is the first female contestant with a broad West Country accent to appear on Love Island, and the first to hail from Bristol.
In the greater context of film and television in general, there is very little representation of West Country accents on our screens. Examples include the Bristol-based Noughties teen drama Skins (which actually featured only a handful of genuine Bristol accents among its cast anyway), Worzel Gummidge, Gareth Keenan from The Office, the locals in Simon Pegg’s police comedy Hot Fuzz and more recently the BBC comedy This Country. Other than Skins, I think we can agree that these are not exactly sexy examples.
I grew up in neighbouring Bath which has a very similar accent; there are differences that are imperceptible to anyone who isn’t local - Bristolians will say ‘yowa’ instead of ‘you’ for example, and ‘toad’ instead of ‘told’. While I don’t have the accent anymore I did speak with a proper Bath twang until I moved to London, I lost it over time - unintentionally, but I don't miss it.
Although I love it for its warmth, the West Country accent is regularly dismissed as the most unattractive of British accents, or becomes the butt of jokes. Last year it was actually voted one of the least sexy in a poll of UK accents, being beaten only by the Hull and Brummie accents.
Siânnise, with her Disney obsession and her penchant for asking her dates if they want marriage and children within minutes of sitting down, is still doing something right
A lot of this accent-hate comes down to snobbery. Sociolinguist Gerry Howley has said that he has identified specific linguistic discrimination, also called linguicism, against Love Island contestants based on their vocabulary, the sound of their accent, or their grammar. He said that contestants on the show including Liverpudlian Hayley Hughes and Coventry-born Niall Aslam attracted this kind of hate, adding that ‘more standard southern accents are less criticised’.
She might be getting negged for her accent but Siânnise, with her Disney obsession and her penchant for asking her dates if they want marriage and children within minutes of sitting down, is still doing something right. On Sunday night’s show she and Nas Majeed, who she picked to be in a friendship couple with her on Saturday, were voted as one of the most popular couples over genuine couple Sophie and Connor. Her row with Rebecca on Sunday night’s show might have turned more viewers against her (isn’t choosing the guy someone else likes sort of the point of the whole show?), but it was great TV.
Whether you like it or can’t stand it, you can’t deny that Siânnise’s accent makes soundbites like, ‘I am sweet, shall I tell you why? Because my second name is Fudge. As in the chocolate! Do you like fudge’ all the more entertaining. I hope she goes all the way.
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