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CHEAT viewers were left confused by Katherine Kelly’s changing accent as Leah Dale during last night's debut episode.

The four-part ITV drama sees the former Coronation Street actress play trainee university lecturer Leah.

 Cheat viewers were left confused by Katherine Kelly’s changing accent as Leah Dale during last night's debut episode
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Cheat viewers were left confused by Katherine Kelly’s changing accent as Leah Dale during last night's debut episodeCredit: ITV

The series is shot at a posh university - with Cambridge used as the backdrop for the fictional establishment - and Katherine adopts an accent to match.

But having been born in Barnsley in Yorkshire, and playing mouthy Becky McDonald in Corrie for six years, some viewers struggled with her new southern-sounding accent.

Taking to Twitter, one wrote: "What accent is Katherine Kelly aiming for in #cheat? It starts posh southern then you get “class” rhyming with “mass” and we’ve gone up north!"

They added in another tweet: "I can’t get passed Katherine Kelly’s accent to start paying proper attention to #Cheat.

 Katherine plays a lecturer at a posh university
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Katherine plays a lecturer at a posh universityCredit: ITV
 But viewers were distracted after she ditched her northern accent for a more southern twang
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But viewers were distracted after she ditched her northern accent for a more southern twangCredit: ITV

"I have the same issue whenever Suranne Jones is on tv. It’s this obsession of leaving #corrie then go all posh as “serious” actors. I much prefer the natural northern accents that they had!"

A fellow viewer agreed, writing: "I’ve only ever watched Katherine Kelly in Corrie, so hearing her with a different accent is weird."

A third tweeted: "Is it obligatory for actresses who’ve been in @itvcorrie to speak with a faux posh voice as soon as they do proper ‘straight’ drama?!

"Suranne Jones was the same in Dr Foster. It’s SO BAD & takes away from their brilliant acting chops."

 Katherine also shocked viewers with a solo sex scene in the uni toilets
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Katherine also shocked viewers with a solo sex scene in the uni toilets
Katherine Kelly performs a solo sex act in ITV drama Cheat

However more viewers were taken aback by the two sex scenes which occurred within the first five minutes of the show starting last night.

University lecturer Leah is unhappy in her marriage with husband Adam and at one moment in the debut episode, they were seen having unexciting sex as they try for a baby.

But it later transpired Leah has a bit of a crush on her university colleague, and the pair were then seen snogging in the toilets.

However, it quickly became clear it was a fantasy, and Leah was actually in the toilets alone while touching herself intimately.


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