Yes - having been brought up in Yorkshire, studied in the Midlands and lived in London with a Londoner for several years, my accent moves around when I do - much to my annoyance most people think I'm from Birmingham. My Yorkshire accent is still there and I imagine if I went back to live in the North it would return. There are probably bits of all sorts in my accent but it's not "put on" - just reflects the fact that I tend to start sounding like the people I'm with the most after a while.

I don't think elocution lessons necessarily iron out your regional accent, just help you speak more clearly.

Hopefully not to be considered argumentative (that'd be a first for some) on our first move up from London to Manchester, we found that the locals spoke much slower than did we.

I'm a Scot living in England and speak with an English accent most of the time.

The more worked up I get about something, the more my Scots accent shows. I speak to my family in a Scots accent and a muddled mixture when I meet a Scottish stranger (except when I'm in Scotland and speaking in a full blown Scots accent). My friends can tell when I've just been on the phone to my Mum and being in the same room in England as family & friends is fun! It's not something I can control because it not natural and my brain makes it uncomfortable if I try!

PS I do say 'och' in any accent!

BIB Bet it sounds better in Scots though, Buddy!

I try to adopt a 'posher' accent when I am at work as it sounds better on the telephone. Doesn't always work, though as I sometimes forget when I'm carrying on a conversation and my natural Yorkshire 'tongue' emerges!

To be honest, i don't care much for the broad Yorkshire. I'm from the West Yorkshire area and although it's pretty broadish, it's nothing compared to say, the Barnsley accent, which is really full-on!

There's lots of local idioms too - which people from other counties (and particularly the South) just don't understand. I expect that's the same in any area, though; each has its own local idiosyncracies.

Och aye!

I'm a native of a town not far from where she grew up. Remembering some of the previous annual DS conferences on the subject () I think some folk didn't do their research before passing judgement (pronounced as Tess would in my house), read a bit too much into her marrying a Boltonian, in Bolton, and the rest is history.

Thus it was assumed it would be natural for her to pronounce the "o" in "vote" in an elongated way, as Boltonians do, so as to rhyme with the "o" in "more". Or that the "o" she actually uses must have been an attempt to emulate Southerners, whereas it is pretty much stock pronunciation where she grew up. You do get variations, but they are usually from people who've moved in from bordering areas where things are a bit different.

As I say, an old chestnut of a debate, but at least this year it hasn't descended too far into tribalism

I suppose it depends what part of Manchester you moved to? (or whether people realised you were Southerners and slowed their speech pattern so that you would understand them )

Mancunian varies quite a lot across the city, if you were raised in Manchester/Salford you can identify accents down to small districts, for example people from Swinton in Salford say 'Buzz' instead of Bus.

Most regional accents aren't as distinct since the advent of television though.

You're right - and there were some pretty dreadful programmes in decades past, though far fewer reality ones. Luckily, I can ignore all the endless cooking /Jeremy Kyle / Judge Judy-type dross (my opinion only) by watching Netflix and suchlike, so it's not a problem for me. We're lucky to live in a world that gives us such a lot of viewing choices. I'm happy to watch certain reality progs like SCD and X Factor though!

As for Tess and Claudia - I love them and am very happy with their presentation of the show. I also really like Donny as an additional judge

We live on the edge of North Cheshire, "more Londoners live around here than locals!" It was even like that before the, "BBC invasion."
The dialects are stronger North of the Mersey.
I had no difficulty understanding them, no they weren't slowing down their speech. That's how I've found people in Oldham, Bolton, Blackburn, etc., speak.
Londoners usually have more rapid speech delivery than in many areas and we've lived in many parts of the country.

Areas of London have or did have distinctive local accents. Many years ago I was working in Worcester and I was recognised as a Londoner by my accent by a "ex-Londoner" lady who'd lived in Worcester for some years, but she couldn't place from what part of London I came.
I said I knew exactly where she was brought up by her accent and said "Peckham" and I was correct, which astonished her.
Since the importation of Australian soaps, it's very evident the number of kids who watch them, by their upwards inflection of the last word in sentences. That's one of the way speech can be influenced by what people hear on the TV.
My favourite is "faux" West Indian accents amongst some black teenagers, who've been no further West than Brixton.

I bet you can roll your Rs. Especially doing the Rumba ...

Maybe one day Tess will make those who think they have her sussed happy by declaring that she is off to see ur urdresser cuz she as ditched that Vernon feller an as got a new blooork called Uric ooze rart narse.

I'm brrrrilliant at rolling my Rs!

The mis-pronunciation of words is very noticeable, who even is 'Claud' anyway?

Well they could, with carefully selected words, send her up like they did Chris Eubank, on TOTP.

"At Thicks, Thuggs, with Thecilia."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmhk7B1hdfY