I'm a Celebrity star Tom Read Wilson's mum has insisted that her son's accent is genuine.
The TV personality is currently roughing it in the ITV jungle and viewers have been fascinated by his posh accent and refined vocabulary. Some have wondered whether it's authentic, but his mum Juliet has now confirmed that he isn't putting on an act.
Speaking on ITV's This Morning on Monday (December 1), she revealed that Tom's polished tone and manner of speaking originated from her and his father, reports the Express.
Host Ben Shephard asked: "Can we talk a little bit about Tom's accent? I adore your son and I have known him for a long time... but lots of people have been very struck by how he speaks and his accent and whether it's actually real or not."
She responded: "Well, my husband and I, he's an English teacher and I'm a teacher. And he was born into sort of very good knowledge of Shakespeare and all sorts of things. And he had a giant vocabulary from very early on. And I suppose we, some people might say we're a bit posh."
"I don't know where the accent came from, but it is real," said Juliet, who is in Australia while her son is in the jungle. "And he does talk like that all the time."
"So really it came from a mixture of me and his father," she explained.
Juliet also shared with Ben and his co-presenter Cat Deeley how touching it was watching Tom become emotional as he received his letter from home in scenes that were broadcast at the weekend.
"Oh, it was so emotional," she admitted.
"We were all sitting there with tissues just crying, but it was lovely to see him and it was nice to see him cry, but, you know, he was obviously happy as well because he'd heard from everybody. So it was nice."
Tom's mum also revealed that he didn't inform her about his late entry into I'm a Celebrity alongside Vogue Williams. Instead, she got the news from his sister.
"Then Tom had been out filming and I thought, well, that's strange because he hasn't told me he's been filming," she shared.
"And he rang me and he said, 'I've got something to tell you, mummy.' And I said, 'I think I already know what it is, Tom.' And then he said, 'Actually, do you want to come with me?' And I said, 'I can't believe it'."
"So, yes, it was wonderful," she concluded. "But a very, very, very short notice."