Strictly Come Dancing star Layton Williams has admitted he’s a little suspicious of the judges’ scoring – despite receiving the highest score of the series so far.
The West End star has won the hearts of the nation and been tearing up the dancefloor in a same sex pairing with Nikita Kuzmin.
But, his background in dance hasn’t gone unnoticed, with trolls blasting the Bad Education star in early weeks of the series over his past performing experience and accusing him of having an unfair advantage.
Layton previously shut down any ‘fix’ claims, clearing things up on X, formerly known as Twitter, when one person wrote: ‘not a dance expert as such but I am a dancer and know for a fact he will have studied ballroom and/or Latin to some degree’.
Layton wrote back: ‘Lemme clear up this *fact* real quick.
‘I had my 1st introduction to Ballroom & Latin class in rehearsals yesterday (along with the rest of the @bbcstrictly cast) and it was so much fun xxx’
Lemme clear up this *fact* real quick. I had my 1st introduction to Ballroom & Latin class in rehearsals yesterday (along with the rest of the @bbcstrictly cast) and it was so much fun 🤗 xxx https://t.co/g8apXHrNiz
— Layton Williams (@LaytonWilliams) August 12, 2023
He’s now addressed the claims again, saying: ‘I’ve taken it on the chin; I get what everyone’s saying.’
He continued to The Guardian: ‘But if you could be a fly on the wall in this rehearsal room, it’s not easy for me.’
He added that he’s prepared to take on Nikita’s challenging choreography, but ‘suspects the judges score him with his musical theatre background in mind’.
‘I’m not sad about that – I want to rise to the challenge,’ Layton, 29, added.
This follows his awe-inspiring and gravity-defying performance on Saturday.
Layton stunned the judges and earned 37 points for his dance cha cha to Million Dollar Bill, with head judge Shirley Ballas declaring the male duo “back in the game.”
Meanwhile, Anton Du Beke called their performance ‘just brilliant’ and Craig Revel Horwood told them ‘million dollar bill, million dollar dance’.
Motsi Mabuse gave them a 10 and stated she could watch them ‘day and night,’ which added to their total and handed them the honour of highest series score thus far.
Fans were astounded to see the celebrity soar into the air and elegantly land in the splits position.
Taking to social media, one penned: ‘Layton just changed my life with this’, while another said: ‘If that wasn’t worth 40, I’m not sure what dance is!!!’
Strictly Come Dancing continues at 6.35pm on Saturday on BBC One and iPlayer.
