12 April 2023 , 15:09
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These days AJ Odudu is one of the best British presenters on TV and is known and loved for her broad northern accent.
But the Blackburn-born star has revealed that when she first moved to London at the age of 21 things were very different.
The now 35-year-old shot to fame hosting Big Brother ’s Bit on the Side, Married At First Sight: Afters and Channel 4 ’s revamped morning show, The Big Breakfast.
She became a household name after appearing on the 2021 series of Strictly Come Dancing, but famously pulled out of the final with partner Kai Widdrington after injuring her ankle.
Although she’s massively successful now, AJ shared the way she speaks initially left her feeling “insecure” when she went for jobs.
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AJ is known for her broad Lancashire accent - but says TV bosses tried to change it (Instagram)This was after TV producers tried to give her elocution lessons in a bid to “soften” her Lancashire accent.
Writing an op ed piece for The i paper, AJ said the early experience led to her developing “imposter syndrome”.
She wrote: “Reflecting personally, I think I struggled with what we now know to be called ‘imposter syndrome’ when I first moved to London from Blackburn aged 21 to pursue my television career.
“I’d been buzzing to get there and start achieving my dreams of taking over the telly for as long could remember, but when I started having meetings and doing auditions there was often an emphasis on my accent which became a source of insecurity for me early in my career.”
AJ and Mo Gilligan hosted Channel 4's revamped Big Breakfast (PA)Recalling one particular incident, AJ shared: “I remember a producer, who was trying to be genuinely helpful, said they could arrange some elocution lessons to ‘soften’ my northern accent.
“That stuck with me: all of my insecurities were being reinforced by the team that were meant to be supporting me and I started to believe that there was, in fact, something wrong with how I spoke.”
These days, AJ says she “loves” her accent and says she had “learned to embrace” the things that make her stand out.
She added things that once made her feel inadequate in the past are now parts of herself she wouldn’t change, as they make her who she is.
AJ made it to the Strictly finals, but was sadly forced to pull out due to injury (Guy Levy/BBC)Discussing her rise to fame in an exclusive interview with the Mirror last year, AJ revealed it was “tough” to get into TV because she’s "Black, northern and female".
She said: “I found it tricky to navigate my way around a space that sometimes made me feel ‘other’.
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“My accent was a big thing, but what was confusing was there were other regional accents – Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac were on BBC Sounds.
“It was more that I was Black and northern, rather than just northern. It was hard for people to get over that. It was a lot being Black, female and northern all at once.”
*AJ Odudu has teamed up with Young Women’s Trust and Galaxy Chocolate to shine a spotlight on imposter syndrome in their vlog series. Watch the episodes on Galaxy Chocolate UK’s YouTube channel