Strictly’s Layton Williams has admitted he has a ‘wobble’ before taking to the dance floor for the very first time on Saturday.
The actor, 29, made the admission during an appearance on the shiow’s BBC2 spin-off Strictly:It Takes Two alongside his professional partner Nikita Kuzmin on Monday.
Speaking to host Janette Manrara, 39, he admitted, despite oozing confidence on screen, that nerves got the better of him before strutting his stuff with a stunning Samba in front of million of viewers.
‘I had a wobble before hand, Nikita took my hands and gave me a meditation moment’.
He went on: ‘I had to do real deep breaths, it’s loads of adrenaline’
Candid: Strictly’s Layton Williams, 29, has admitted he has a ‘wobble’ before taking to the dance floor for the very first time on Saturday
Dancer: Layton (R) made the admission during an appearance on the shiow’s BBC2 spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two alongside his professional partner Nikita Kuzmin (L) on Monday (pictured on Saturday’s show)
The Bad Education star then revealed his next performance would be a Quickstep to Irving Berlin’s classic Puttin’ On The Ritz.
Admitted that the totally different routine would unlike his Samba ‘Not going to give glam’.
West end star Layton’s prior dance experience has been called into question following his first performance.
However despite putting on an incredible display during their Samba to Little Mix’s Touch, which earned them an impressive 29 points, some fans weren’t sold on the performance.
Their dance encouraged a fresh wave of claims that it is ‘unfair’ for Layton to be involved on the BBC1 show because of his dance background.
The controversy was even addressed by judge Anton De Beke, who jumped into defend the performer, who has also starred in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
After the routine, Anton said: ‘I know you have previous dance experience but that’s very different from what we do here especially when you’re tackling a dance like samba with an enormously difficult technique.
‘What you need to work on are your feet, they are a bit turned in. It goes up through the legs. So you start with the basics and it will filter up. From the waist up it’s extraordinary and you’re quite magnificent.’
Honest: Speaking to host Janette Manrara , 39 (L) he admitted that nerves got the better of him before strutting his stuff with a stunning Samba in front of million of viewers
Controversy: West end star Layton ‘s prior dance experience has been called into question following his first performance
Weighing in: The controversy was even addressed by judge Anton De Beke, who jumped into defend the performer, who has also starred in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
However, Anton’s words appeared to have fallen on deaf ears for some viewers, who still complained that Layton had an unfair advantage over the others.
Taking to X – formerly known as Twitter – one person insisted Layton and Nikita would ‘never be getting their vote’ due to his dance history.
They said: ‘Not ok. I will not vote even 1x for this duo, because Layton has had a lot of professional dance experience. It robs all the other very worthy contestants of scores. Bad decision Strictly.’
Another wrote: ‘Layton has an unfair advantage… got dance experience and is used to performing in front of a live audience’.
A third said: ‘Strictly should be about people like Angela Rippon not Layton Williams. Don’t get me wrong, Layton is a fabulous West End performer but he has so much more dance exerience. It should be about those with none or minimal getting noticeably better week on week.’
Another simply said: ‘Clearly Layton has dance experience.’
Oh no! However despite putting on an incredible display during their Samba to Little Mix ‘s Touch, which earned them an impressive 29 points, some fans weren’t sold on the performance
However others decided to see past his background and just enjoy the show, with one saying: ‘Wow Layton. Spectactular. Obviously he has some experience but that was spectacular!’
One other quipped: ‘Nice to see that all the experience through dance schools has paid off for Layton. Not exactly an amateur.’
However others decided to see past his background and just enjoy the show, with one saying: ‘Wow Layton. Spectactular. Obviously he has some experience but that was spectacular!’
Another commented that Layton is not the only one with a dance background, Nigel Harman, who came top with 32 points, has also had prior experience.
Previously addressing his past experience, he said: ‘I did a diploma in musical theatre when I was 16. So we used to dance. I wasn’t in the top stream.’
Noting his experience, one fan said: ‘You brushing of Nigel’s previous dance experience and having a go at Layton for his experience is completely predictable from the female Strictly audience.’
Strictly Come Dancing 2023: Who are the couples?
Nigel Harman and Katya Jones
Bobby Brazier and Diane Buswell
Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe
Zara McDermott and Graziano Di Prima
Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice
Angela Rippon and Kai Widdrington
Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Lauren Oakley
Angela Scanlon and Carlos Gu
Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola
Adam Thomas and Luba Mushtuk
Jody Cundy and Jowita Przystał
Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin
Nikita Kanda and Gorka Marquez
Les Dennis and Nancy Xu
Eddie Kadi and Karen Hauer
