‘I sang the Calgon theme at daycare and Asda was my first word – now I do voiceover work for a rapper and rail sector’

A voice artist who sang “Washing machines live longer with Calgon!” as a two-year-old at daycare now makes a living making announcements for a rapper, shops and the rail sector.

Seb Sargent, a 21-year-old broadcast journalist and voice artist based in Salford, Manchester, grew up mimicking TV adverts and recorded professional voiceovers from the age of 13.

At 18 he provided voiceovers for rapper Central Cee, and has also done voiceover work for the Department for Transport.

In 2020 he posted a video on TikTok under the handle @sebsargent, blending examples of his own train announcement voiceover work with impressions of other well-known railway voices.

Since then, Seb has continued sharing his voiceovers and impressions on social media, racking up millions of views on videos, including one showing him performing live on a train after a train manager recognised him.

He also pretends to be the voice of a host of other announcements you might hear during your day.

Diagnosed as neurodivergent in childhood, Seb believes his ADHD has helped him become successful – he currently juggles voice work, studying for his master’s degree and journalism diploma, song-writing and restaurant shifts.

Seb told PA Real Life: “My parents once got a call from my daycare centre when I was two and a half, just to let them know that I’d sat up in the middle of nap time and sang ‘Washing machines live longer with Calgon!’

“My first word was Asda, and there’s a video somewhere of four or five-year-old me wandering around the garden shouting ‘Welcome aboard this South West Trains service to London Waterloo!’

“I (now) get branded as the voice of the UK or the voice of the trains.”

As a child, Seb acted in the West End and in ITV shows, featuring in the National Theatre’s production of Emil And The Detectives, starring alongside Louis Partridge and Sebastian Croft.

Seb was also “infatuated” with famous slogans and catchphrases throughout his childhood, so he does not think it “was a surprise to anyone” when, aged about 13, he decided to start recording and selling voiceovers professionally.

The first professional voiceover he recorded was a voicemail greeting for a wedding car hire company.

This made Seb one of the UK’s youngest professional voiceover artists and he often missed school to attend rehearsals.

At 18 he provided voiceovers for rapper Central Cee for his London Underground-themed set at Parklife and Wireless festivals, and his European tour.

“It was a huge moment for me to work with such a huge international artist, especially as at the time I was a university fresher. Not long before I’d been listening to him in the student union club, and now my voice was being used with his at world famous festivals,” Seb said.

He went on to do voiceover work for the Department for Transport, primarily in the rail sector, and shops.

In 2020, he was “bored one night” during lockdown and created a video showcasing some of his voiceover work.

He said: “(I was) simply reading a Northern safety announcement, but then thought, ‘Why not throw some other recognisable voices that I can impersonate into the mix?’

“I created a video suggesting I was the single person behind pretty much every voice you hear on the railways.

“I’m not, of course – my voice is one of many alongside many other fabulous voice artists.”

Since then, he has continued posting videos of both his voiceovers and his impressions of other voice artists, never revealing which is which.

He said: “I don’t usually like revealing this because keeping people guessing is sort of the niche of my TikTok.

“But I’ve done real work with the Department for Transport for the railways, as I’m known for, and bits for stores and events.”

His videos include voiceovers of self-checkout tills, B&M store announcements, BBC One “up next” presenters and London underground announcements.

Some of his most popular TikToks jokingly involve his friends realising he is the voice behind certain adverts, such as Jet2 Holidays.

Under the handle, @sebsargent, he now has more than 57,000 followers on TikTok and more than 11,000 on Instagram.

In July 2024, he graduated from Cardiff University with a journalism BA and is currently studying for a journalism MA in Salford, which has involved taking shifts, as a broadcast journalist, at the BBC.

He said: “My colleagues are probably sick and tired of hearing about it (my voiceovers) to be honest, there’s a running joke at work about me being a voice actor, and everyone says it’s unsurprising as I never shut up.”

In April 2025, when travelling to Manchester from a week working at BBC News Channel in London, he was recognised by a follower who happened to be the train manager on his Avanti West Coast train.

He encouraged Seb to do a live announcement as they arrived at Manchester Piccadilly.

He explained: “People recognised the voice and found it surreal to see it coming out of my mouth as I spoke into the mic.

“Only the second half of the announcement, where I told customers to remember their belongings, was spoken in my own voice though.

“The first, higher-pitched half was an accurate impression of another voice artist, Emma Lintern.

“I love to mix both my real voiceovers with impressions, because why limit myself to just the voiceovers I’ve done if I have an opportunity to further entertain?”

Looking to the future, he dreams of doing a voiceover for the Bee Network Metrolink.

Seb explained: “That’s the tram network in my home city of Manchester.

“I’m in the process of trying to convince them to let me replace their current announcements for a while now.”