French dethroned as the world's sexiest accent

French is no longer the world's sexiest accent according to language learning platform Babbel. Instead, Italian has been rated the new sexiest accent in the world.

6,000 people were asked to rate the accent they found most sexy, romantic and passionate, with Italian being the clear winner.

"There are certain characteristics of Italian that may contribute to its appeal," Babbel language teacher Noël Wolf told Daily Mail.

READ MORE: Harry to fly to UK to be at King Charles' side after cancer diagnosis

"The rise and fall of pitch in spoken Italian can create a musical quality, which some people find alluring and attractive."

She said certain "phonetic features, such as the rolling of 'r' sounds, can be distinctive in Italian, which to many is regarded as charming or attractive."

The same survey named the German accent as "most direct" and British English as "most polite."

READ MORE: Supermarket strategy that could be costing you more

In 2023 eHarmony deemed the French accent to be the most attractive foreign accent, followed by British English, and Italian.

When it came to deciding the most romantic accent, Italian moved up the list, coming in second after French.

Psychologist Sharon Draper told 3AW there are a number of factors that contribute to these results.

"I think a lot of it is related to the social and cultural associations with accents," she said at the time.

READ MORE: Replicate Taylor Swift's iconic red lip with these smudge-proof stayers

Spanish came in third following French and Italian.

British English was deemed to be the most intelligent, honest and sophisticated.