8 MILE star Brittany Murphy has to surround herself with pals whenever she's in London, to stop her from speaking in a fake British accent.

The American actress admits that whenever she crosses the Atlantic to spend time in the British capital, she can't help but pick up the speech patterns of those around her.

She says, "I just came from London and I have this terrible habit of adapting to environments that I'm in. There have to be people on check around me to make sure I don't start speaking like Madonna when in England. It became that way for a moment. It's a little bit worrisome.

"But I (also) get this strange kind of Eastern European thing if I'm speaking to anyone from any other country. It's so strange. I think that perhaps they'll understand me better... it doesn't work, obviously! I just come across, consequentially, like an a*s."

04/03/2004 13:47