In recent history, Paris Hilton has made no secret of the fact that the speaking voice she became synonymous with at the peak of her fame in the mid-2000s was not representative of how she really talked.
Back in 2016, Paris told the Today show that the “baby voice” she used in The Simple Life was not her “real voice”, and revealed on This Morning last year: “That was just a character I was playing.”
“I’m not a dumb blonde, I’m just very good at pretending to be one,” she added.
Last week, people got to witness Paris’ voice-switch in real time when she made an appearance at US congress, to testify about the abuse she witnessed and was subjected to at so-called “troubled teen” centres in her younger years.
In videos from the beginning of her testimony, Paris was heard speaking about the representative’s “sparkly” outfit in the voice that most of us would associate her with.
When she switched to more serious subject matters, though, she immediately entered her lower register, with viewers stunned at how quickly she was able to adapt her speaking voice.
But Paris isn’t the only public figure whose speaking voice has raised eyebrows in the last few weeks.
Ariana Grande previously spoke out after viewers noticed her switching up her voice during an interview on Penn Badgeley’s podcast.
She put the change down to “habit” after spending two years in character as Glinda in Wicked, as well as “vocal health”.
“I intentionally change my vocal placement (high/low) often depending on how much singing I’m doing,” she added. “I’ve always done this.”