West End star Layton Williams has set the record straight on how much dance training he’s had ahead of his Strictly Come Dancing debut.
The actor and singer, whose stage credits include the titular roles in Billy Elliot and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, is one of the 15 famous faces taking part in the BBC series this year.
Ahead of the show’s return, some fans have questioned whether Layton’s West End experience could give him an unfair advantage on the Strictly ballroom.
One person wrote on Twitter: “[I’m] 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 wasted no time in addressing the speculation though, and tweeted: “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.”
The 28 year old – who has been named as one of the bookies’ favourites to win the Glitterball trophy – then took on a critic who brutally wrote: “Here’s hoping you get dumped out week one.”
Quote-tweeting them, Layton quipped: “No one gets voted out week 1 luckily.”
While the celebs are still weeks away from being paired up with their professional partners, Layton has confirmed that he will be in a same-sex couple.
Speaking to The One Show’s Richie Anderson (who was paired up with Giovanni Pernice last year), he said: “I’m happy so long as [my partner] is a guy. I’ve said I want to dance with a man, I want to be thrown around.”
He added: “Basically, at college I used to always be very jealous of the girls being thrown around and I was like ‘I want to be that’, so I can’t wait to be flung around and wear some glittery costumes.”
Layton played Billy Elliot in the West End when he was just 12 years old and as a child star, he also landed parts in Thriller – Live and BBC series Beautiful People.
He attended both the famous Sylvia Young Theatre School and prestigious Italia Conti theatre acting school as a teenager.
On Strictly, Layton will compete against famous faces including EastEnders actor Bobby Brazier and former Coronation Street star Ellie Leach.
Angela Scanlon, Les Dennis, and Angela Rippon will also be getting their dancing shoes on alongside Strictly’s first ever ex-Love Islander, Zara McDermott. See the full Strictly Come Dancing line-up here.
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One next month.