Lunchtime, in a rehearsal room with big windows overlooking south London life several floors below. When his mind should be on Strictly Come Dancing’s cha-cha-cha, or this week’s salsa, Layton Williams might be found getting distracted by something outside. “I’ll be, ‘Oh, look at the kids having fun in the playground, look at that bird,’ and then Nikita’s, like, ‘Hello? Back in the room!’” To be fair, Williams also works very hard, and it shows. His quickstep in week two of Strictly earned him and his professional partner, Nikita Kuzmin, a mammoth 36 points – a dance so ridiculously fun, fast and joyous, I felt a dopamine hit just watching it. The week after, Williams performed a Viennese waltz, looking beautiful in a long skirt. This Sunday, his disco cha-cha-cha brought the highest score so far.
It has been suggested that Williams, who came to prominence in the BBC comedy Bad Education, but began his career at the age of 12 in the stage version of Billy Elliot, has an unfair advantage – he’s a star of musicals, and went to theatre school. “I’ve taken it on the chin; I get what everyone’s saying,” he says of the criticism. “But if you could be a fly on the wall in this rehearsal room, it’s not easy for me.” Kuzmin’s choreography is challenging because he knows Williams will attempt it, and Williams 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.”
