Ohio College Student Fakes British Accent for 5 Years, Refuses to Come Clean Because it Will Ruin Her Friendships: 'I Just Wanted to Seem More Interesting'

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Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor
Sep 3, 2026 7:45 AM EDT

How has she gotten away with this for five years? 

I used to think all Americans doing fake accents were incredibly obviously fake. That was until this past weekend, when my friend Shira bet me that she could convince a stranger at this party that she was Australian. If the stranger could tell it was fake, I got paid. If the stranger couldn't tell it was fake, she got paid. Lo and behold, she busted out an incredibly compelling Australian accent that fooled someone at the party. To be honest, if I hadn't known her, I probably would've been fooled too! Maybe it's because I don't know that many Australians, but not all Americans are as bad at doing foreign accents as you'd think!

Doing a fake Australian accent for 10 minutes at a party is one thing. Not saying that Shira's feat wasn't impressive, but I highly doubt she could've kept that charade up for months and years at a time. Basically nobody could. Well, nobody but Daniel Day-Lewis, and the college student from Ohio in this story. Somehow, she has faked a British accent for five years, convincing all of the friends she made in college that she's actually from London. To me, that's far more deranged than dressing up as Abraham Lincoln to go to the grocery store. 

She's in a bit of a pickle now that her parents are coming to town for her college graduation, and her friends are planning a British-themed graduation party for her. Do you think this girl is telling the full truth to r/AITAH? I think you have to read the full story to form an opinion. 

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  • 01
    A pretty young woman standing outdoors holding laptop computer
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    An American college student who pretends to be British to impress her classmates. 

    Actor performance of story events.

  • 02

    Am I the bad guy for faking an accent for 5 years? Now everyone thinks I’m moving to “my home country” but I’m actually from Ohio?

    so here's the thing. i've been faking a british accent for the past 5 years. it started as a joke freshman year at asu during orientation. i thought it would be funny to do it just for the day, but people started buying
    via u/notactuallybritishi
  • 03
    it, and for some reason i just kept going with it. every time i met someone new, i used the accent and eventually it became part of who i was.
    via u/notactuallybritishi
  • 04
    now i'm about to graduate, and literally everyone in my life thinks i'm from england. i've told people stories about "growing up in london," shared fake experiences about british schools, and even made up a whole background of where my
    via u/notactuallybritishi
  • 05
    A couple of kids that are sitting at a table
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    British schoolchildren painting in their school art class.

    Models pictured are not representative.

  • 06
    "family" lives in the uk. it got to the point where professors even made small comments about my accent, and i just kept up the act.
    via u/notactuallybritishi
  • 07
    it's gotten so bad that people are throwing me a big graduation party themed around my "britishness." they've been doing these dumb british- themed things like practicing british slang and talking about how much they're going to
    via u/notactuallybritishi
  • 08
    Three British flags hanging on a clothes line
    via Chris Boland

    Union Jack flags used to decorate a "British" themed graduation party.

    Scene shown is a visual representation.

  • 09
    miss my "british charm." i don't know why i didn't stop it sooner, but here we are. the problem is, i'm not british. at all. i'm from ohio, and i've never even been to england. my
    via u/notactuallybritishi
  • 10
    family back home knows nothing about this, and i don't even think they could pull off a fake british act if i tried to get them involved. i thought about coming clean, but it would destroy everything—my friendships, my
    via u/notactuallybritishi
  • 11
    reputation, everything i've built these last few years. aita for starting this whole mess? i just wanted to seem more interesting, and now i don't know how to get out of it.
    via u/notactuallybritishi
  • 12
    Lostinny001 Two choices come clean or move to the UK and make it real...
    via u/Lostinny001
  • 13
    [deleted] This is going to make life awkward if you run into any of them in the workplace.... YTA
    via u/[deleted]
  • 14
    Any_Incident_9272 No one thinks you're British. So not the AH, but definitely the laughing stock. Congrats!
    via u/Any_Incident_9272
  • 15
    bronzepixel4320 you dug you grave, now you lay in it. i get it, but there was no need to fake it in the first place just to seem more interesting i'd just confess, because it will come out somehow someday, and it'd be better if the truth came from you. i wish the best for you
    via u/bronzepixel4320
  • 16
    cacao64 I mean who else would be the AH in this case? Just you.
    via u/cacao64
  • 17
    Still-Preference5464 Lol I bet any Brit knew it was fake
    via u/Still-Preference5464
  • 18
    Stoic_Honest_Truth YTA If it is true it is the most hilarious thing in the world. If that is the case, you should just do a big annunciation during that party saying that from now on you will adopt an American accent as you want to stay in America forever :D This way you can come out kind of clean at least on the speech side :D
    via u/Stoic_Honest_Truth
  • 19
    Fabulous_Cry_7816 You are a sociopath - get help!
    via u/Fabulous_Cry_7816

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college students ohio college student united kingdom school england lies London friends lying accents British accent arizona
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