Rob Rinder opens up about growing up near Amy Winehouse, reveals reason he changed his accent

Virgin Radio

18 Jul 2024, 14:55

Author and TV star Rob Rinder has revealed the reason he went to great lengths to change his accent before finding fame. 

He’s back with his second crime novel, The Suspect, which is a sequel to his Sunday Times best-seller The Trial in 2023. 

While chatting on Ryan Tubridy’s mid-morning show on Virgin Radio today (18th July), Rinder candidly revealed the origins of his accent, despite growing up in north London nearby to one of music’s biggest names. 

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“I grew up in Southgate, around the corner from Amy Winehouse…[people there] don't sound like me. This was a cultivated choice.”

When Ryan praised his bravery for being open about his real accent, Rinder quickly replied: “Why lie? It’s full of artifice. I've looked for recordings of me when I was young to see if I didn't sound like somehow I was related to minor royalty, but no.”

It turns out Rinder grew up knowing he was “different” and decided to curate a new and unique voice to match. 

He added: “It was probably because I was gay, but also because the people I was surrounded by, I thought, ‘I don't really share any of your interests. I need to go and become this thing'.”

When discussing how he turned his north London accent into his rather posh articulation, the Judge Rinder star admitted it wasn’t a “conscious” evolution, but rather a protest against living the life set out for him. 

He added: “I would listen to radio and determine or curate the things that I was interested in, in a way that was oppositional from everything else other people were interested in. It’s a really strong sense I've always had of being contrarian, but not in a boring way.  I care about [this] for everybody, that nobody gets to write your story or conscript you into a narrative. You hold the pen to write the content of your own chapters.”

It turns out that Rinder also drew upon his upbringing and legal experience while creating the stories for his book series. 

In The Suspect, the UK’s favourite breakfast TV presenter dies live on air the evidence points to celebrity chef, Sebastian Brooks. Junior Barrister Adam Green is soon to discover the case isn’t as clear cut as it looks.

In this book, Rob draws on his experience of being a criminal barrister and presenting daytime television to give his readers exclusive access to these rarified worlds.

Adam Green is a barrister in training with similarities to Rinder himself, they're both Jewish with single mothers, from working-class backgrounds

“He is loosely based on me,” the TV star admitted. “A working class kid that went to a good university and ends up in the rarefied world of chambers and always feels a little bit like an imposter. 

“You have this sort of whodunit at the heart of it, which people have really enjoyed. But the subplot, both in this and in the trial, are based loosely on real cases that I've done, and the impact, especially class, let's say, has on people's experience of the justice system.”

While chatting to Ryan, the Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour presenter gave an update on his legal career, and confessed he’s still a “full member of the chambers” but not able to do trials anymore given his public profile. 

Rinder shared: “I teach a little bit, and I care about championing the work of barristers and helping the public better understand what lawyers do, especially lawyers who represent the least powerful. I try to carry on doing that work.”

Referencing his time on Strictly Come Dancing, the broadcaster said of his current legal standing: “Obviously, I can't do jury trials anymore, because it wouldn't be fair. People need to be able to sit on juries, as well as clients and victims, to have confidence that people are focusing on the evidence rather than worrying halfway through a speech whether or not he would have given me a seven in the Cha Cha.”

Rob Rinder’s new book, The Suspect, is out now.