UK Edition
Henry Blofeld hints his old Etonian accent had a 'certain disadvantage' at the BBC
Henry Blofeld, the broadcaster, has said his distinctive Old Etonian accent now carries a “certain disadvantage”, saying it would work against him if he employed for a BBC job today.
Blofeld, who has announced he is to retire from the Test Match Special commentary box after 45 years, said employers would now take a view that his voice is “not right at all” for the modern world.
Saying he had never been specifically asked to change his pronunciation, he hinted his on-air career had only lasted because of his long service.
“You may ask why do I speak in the way I do,” he told Radio Times. “I speak in the way I do because my family do. Everyone did at school and so one naturally did and I’ve never talked any other way.”
Suggesting it was not the public that had a problem with his accent but the BBC, he added: “If I came along now, what would people think of me?
“They might take a view and think: ‘This chap’s not right at all.’
“I’ve got a voice now that I think is against me, but because of long usage, I’m there.
“Even more pertinently, if Brian Johnston or John Arlott came along now as young men, what would people think? Arlott had a wonderful voice but would he fit in with 5 Live? I don’t know.”
Asked whether his voice provoked “anti-toff feeling”, Blofeld said: “I think there’s a certain disadvantage, probably. I understand that. It’s a changing world.”
No-one at the BBC has criticised him outright, he said, adding: “But one isn’t entirely stupid. You look, you see: how many people around talk in the same way I do?”
Blofeld added that the BBC had read about his retirement in the newspapers, after he announced it on his own terms.
In an interview with the Telegraph, he said he could no more retire entirely than “fly over the moon”, saying those who stop work too often just “play bad bridge and drink far too much”.
If he ages enough to become a burden to others, he said, “I shall keep a supply of baseball bats so someone can come and hit me over the head with one”.