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Every North American TikTok user knows her voice.
On Wednesday, Canadian radio host and podcaster Kat Callaghan revealed to the internet that she’s one of the most popular text-to-speech voices on TikTok.
In a TikTok video of her own, Callaghan, a host of Scott & Kat After 9 on the Corus radio station 91.5 The Beat, addressed questions from her radio and podcast listeners about how similar her voice is to the text-to-speech voice.
For a long time I didn’t say a word. But … yes it’s me and yes I have an ongoing awesome relationship with the folks at TikTok. 🎉 The coolest part for me is watching the creativity & awesome content that people are putting out there using my voice. (Also oddly enough this is my first TikTok)
♬ original sound – Kat
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Following narration from Callaghan’s TikTok vocal counterpart, she said, “Finally, I can tell you guys, it is me!”
As of this writing, the 12-second TikTok has been viewed over 20 million times. TikTok uses various local accents in different parts of the world, including a British male voice in the U.K.
“For a long time I didn’t say a word. But … yes it’s me and yes I have an ongoing awesome relationship with the folks at TikTok,” Callaghan wrote in the video’s caption. “The coolest part for me is watching the creativity & awesome content that people are putting out they’re using my voice.”
On Saturday, Callaghan posted a follow-up video in response to the many skeptical comments from users unsure if she really was the TikTok voice.
Let’s see if this does it.
♬ original sound – Kat
In the video, Callaghan again confirmed that it is indeed her.
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Finally, she gave viewers what they had been begging for: a recreation of the unique TikTok text-to-speech voice.
“Yes, I’m the TikTok text-to-speech girl,” she said in the voice’s signature choppy cadence. “My name is Kat. I work with TikTok on TTS (text-to-speech) and other projects.”
Callaghan even joked that TikTok users are likely sick of hearing her voice.
“I am sick of my voice,” she sympathized.
TikTok users have long since enjoyed playing with the app’s text-to-speech feature, causing Callaghan’s digital voice to make some wild statements.
“Sometimes, you guys make me say some pretty horrendous things,” Callaghan said. “It’s pretty messed up, but I kind of think it’s funny.”
a tragic (yet beautiful) love story
♬ original sound – wahony
Oops😳 #fyp #foryou #fypシ #HoldMyMilk #newtiktokvoice
♬ original sound – Josh Cuevas
I had to do it to em. This was Ib @krizaidentiteta #TeamUSATryout #ConjuringHorror #sussybakka #texttospeech
♬ original sound – Lex
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Last year, Callaghan became the new text-to-speech voice after another Ontario voice actor sued TikTok for using her voice in the function.
Bev Standing claimed she recorded 10,000 sentences for the state-backed Chinese Institute of Acoustics research body in 2018. She sued the app and claimed videos with “foul and offensive language” using her text-to-speech voice caused her reputation “irreparable harm.”
In September, TikTok reportedly settled the lawsuit with Standing for an undisclosed amount of financial compensation.
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91.5 The Beat and Global News are both properties of Corus Entertainment.
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