The voice behind '˜yanny' or '˜laurel' confirms what he actually said

It was the recording that divided opinion around the world but now the voice behind the '˜yanny' or '˜laurel' recordings has weighed into the debate to confirm what he actually said.

Broadway actor and singer, Jay Aubrey Jones, 64, from New Jersey, has now officially confirmed that he actually said '˜laurel' in the viral recording.

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The recording took place back in 2007 as part of a project Jones was involved with for Vocabulary.com which saw him record around 36,000 words over a six month period for the dictionary website.

'I recorded my batch of words and I thought that was that,' Jones told TIME.

However, 11 years later the recordings received worldwide fame after a student was using the website to study words and heard '˜yanny' instead of the word '˜laurel'.

Jones said: 'I thought, well, it couldn't be that huge. Then I heard the recording again online and I realized what a brouhaha this whole thing was.'

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But despite being the voice behind the recording Jones admits that he too can sometimes hear '˜yanny'.

'More often than not, I hear laurel,' he said.

'I can hear a slight trace of 'yanny'.'

Jones added he has been "amused to no end" by the debate.