GOOD Morning Britain viewers have been baffled by Liam Payne’s accent after reacting to Will Smith’s Oscars “assault”.
The former One Direction star was interviewed on the red carpet of the celebrity-packed evening, giving his verdict on the turn of events.
Liam, 28, was quizzed by GMB’s entertainment representative as he headed home from the 94th Academy Awards in Los Angeles.
The musician was quick to defend the King Richard star, who took home the Best Actor awards on Sunday night, shortly after the incident.
“I’ve got to be honest with you, Will Smith used to actually live behind my house, I had the blessing of knowing his son and his daughter very well,” Liam began.
“I believe whatever he felt that he did, he had the right to do. I also believe that there were three losers in that fight.
“He didn’t know, being Chris Rock, he didn’t want to do what he had to do, being Will Smith, and she did nothing, being Jada.
“I had to leave my chair I’ll be honest with you, it cut me really deep.”
READ MORE ON THE OSCARS
Under the video clip, which was posted to GMB’s Twitter page, fans fought it out amongst themselves over Will’s actions on stage.
But many were left distracted by Liam’s apparent change in accent, which had him sounding “not even English” in parts of the interview.
The star – born and raised in Wolverhampton – appeared to have a number of different twangs, including Welsh, Italian and Dutch.
“Watching GMB and what the hell has happened to Liam Payne’s accent? He has an American twang but sounds like he isn’t even English,” one wrote.
“Why is Liam Payne speaking like this? What accent does he have now?” a second chimed in.
“Why is the world not talking about Liam Payne’s bizarre new accent?” a third asked, as a fourth concurred: “What’s happened to Liam Payne’s accent?”
“What’s going on with Liam Payne’s accent? He sounds Dutch,” a fifth concluded of the bizarre-sounding interview.
It comes after Will Smith punched presenter Chris Rock in the face as he took to the Oscars stage in fury on Sunday night.
Will, 53, took offence at the joke about his wife shaving her head and stormed the stage before hitting the presenter with a right hook.
“Jada, I love you, G. I. Jane 2, can’t wait to see it,” Chris tried to joke – referencing how Demi Moore shaved her head for the role in 1997.
Jada, 50, on the contrary, has been struggling with hair loss for years, and last year decided to shave it all off.
While broadcasters in the US were able to cut off the visual and audio feed for a number of seconds, international cameras caught the ordeal.
After the confrontation, a stunned Chris told the rolling cameras: “Will Smith just smacked the s**t out of me.”
When the video restarted, Will looked furious, as he yelled at the comedian: “Leave my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”
Minutes later, Will was back on-stage, in tears, accepting the Best Actor award for his latest role in King Richard.
He opened his acceptance speech with a tense voice, explaining: “Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family.”
