I'm normally quite an advocate for 'supporting my own' on these shows but that girl is awful. In a few years she will watch that back and absolutely cringe at how she's coming across.
It's not even what she says but its her tone and how aggressive she is at pushing her idea forward. It comes across as a lack of maturity.
However as other posters have said it seems like they all really like her outside of the challenges so I guess she isn't like that all the time.

I don't think the Irish pronounced pounds as "poinds" (not being disrespectful, just pointing out the accent), maybe West Country?

A typical example of a (Northern) Irish accent is 'I said noy (no) and I mean noy' So 'poinds' fits the same pattern.

I can clear this up. She has a very strong Belfast accent. Her 'poinds' and 'noy' are typical of the accent up here. I'm from a part of NI where the accent is very mild and neutral and honestly living in Belfast there are times when I'd need a translator with me.

Her accents not as much strong as it is posh. I'm Belfast born and bred and there are very few people i've came across who speak like her. She's got more of a Greater Belfast or Bangor accent really.

Yeah that direction hollywoodish maybe? She sounds like a girl on my course whos from there, its all I'm basing my guess on.
I didn't think anyone would know where that was if I went into the places surrounding Belfast though. You're 100% that she's not working class Belfast accent wise.

Lol definitely not! She would most certainly need subtitles 'here be's me til lord sugar, oi dead on' :-P

Haha I did that with an accent in my head when I read it, brilliant!

Haha

Well, I imagine that she wouldn't talk to Lord Sugar like that, even if she did talk like that at home... it's like, I have a friend who is Scottish, and normally he has a Scottish accent but talks like most other people in England. But there was one time I was with him and he got a call from a family member in Scotland, and he went into a really Scottish dialect on the phone! It was very funny, and so obvious he was talking to one of his family.

I'm from Belfast (originally!) and there are a number of potential accents. The "working class" estates where most of the Troubles were used to feature interviews with residents quite often on the TV News. The accent there was very distinct (and different to both of Maria's and mine!)

For all those wondering and talking about her accent she is from Belfast. I kinda know her. Scary how our accents sound on TV.

I know she's getting a lot of abuse on here and yes she does seem aggressive. Age isn't an excuse but she's 17 now and at the end of the day all the candidates will want to win so will be vocal about things. Obviously Maria is more so than others, but she said outside the show she's kinda learnt from others about it since the show (it was filmed over Summer).

Also as for the whole editing thing obviously BBC will edit it to make it more entertaining but Maria told me she didn't get on with Alice so the hug at the end of last weeks show surprised me.

After last night's discussion my sister arrived home from uni today (she studies marketing) and who came in to give them a talk on interview skills but . . . Maria!
Apparently she's as full of confidence as she appears and talks 100 miles a minute, and was a tad patronizing telling them all how well they'd done to get to university (considering she's at school) but she gave them great insight into the apprentice experience and the amount of auditions they had to go through before they even got onto the programme, one of which had them putting together a table from Ikea. Not even selling it, just putting it together.
For those on here who know Belfast and are trying to pinpoint the accent she goes to a posh school off the lisburn road. Although I know kids do travel from surrounding areas to school in the city so I'm not sure that helps.
Oh and she says she cringes watching herself and how she comes across but she was trying to make sure she stood out . . . it worked.
Last edited by Cassy990 : 28-11-2012 at 15:32

She seems posh.

If she goes to Methody (Methodist College, my alma mater) or Victoria College, she could come from anywhere in and around the City - as even in my day kids travelled for miles to get to the good schools, and they still do!

As a former resident of Belfast, all I can confirm is that she isn't from the area immediately surrounding her school..... I'd hazard a guess that she is from the Ormeau/ Ravenhill area.

You've guessed right. Like I say I see kids swarming to both schools from the train station every day so I'm not sure where she's from but that she is from Belfast and not the West Country as some suggested.

She's at a school near Lisburn Road doing A2 Levels but she lives in Belfast so that's what her accent is. That's what we all sound like on TV.
Last edited by xKatieLx : 28-11-2012 at 16:24

Yes, that's what I acknowledged, naming 2 posh schools near Lisburn Road...... Which she may or may not attend

As I am from Belfast myself, I know perfectly well what a Belfast accent sounds like as I hear one every time I open my mouth (a Malone Road one by the way!).

Maria talk just like one of my friends from Ravenhill, which is why I suggested that was where she comes from.

*waves* (almost neighbours)

She attends one of them schools but not sure where she lives. She sounds like she has a Belfast accent anyway.

I'm sure a lot of contestants are horrified watching themselves. Claire Young from series 4 said she was aghast watching herself and found herself dreadful - it wasn't at all what she'd thought she was like.

She did well this week. Taught the lesson well, got the science to work, presented well, had some of the good ideas. Crunch time next week as its her turn, and last chance, to be PM and it looks like she is. A case of do well or die.......

Everytime I see her I think of Sid from Ice Age.

Sid

She doesn't learn though - she still mouths off generally.

I don't think you mean no. That's not N Irish for No.
Maybe you mean now.