Strictly Come Dancing star Layton Williams has dismissed rumours of a “feud” between himself and head judge Shirley Ballas following this weekend’s shows.
For the first time, the West End star and his professional dancer partner Nikita Kuzmin found themselves in the bottom two after receiving a lukewarm response from the judges for their American Smooth.
The pair were saved by judges Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood, with Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon becoming the ninth celebrity to leave the show.
However, while she didn’t get a vote, Shirley said she’d have opted to keep Angela in the competition, claiming: “Important for me always when it comes to Ballroom and Latin is the character of the dance, that it’s true to the dance, timing and quality.”
The decision sparked a lot of conversation on X (formerly known as Twitter), with many media outlets reporting on a supposed “feud” between Layton and Shirley.
However, Layton shut this down when he and Nikita made an appearance on Tuesday’s edition of This Morning.
“Miss Shirley has been on board. Her 10 paddle has been out a few times. We heart Shirley,” he said.
When This Morning Craig Doyle asked Layton to clarify if that meant the and Shirley were on good terms, Layton insisted: “Oh absolutely. We’re very good.”
On Monday Layton spoke out on Instagram after being saved by the judges.
“That was close!” he wrote. “SO grateful to be through to Musicals Week! Being in the bottom two has given me a [fire] up my [bum]. Big love to all of our supporters.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night on BBC One. This Morning airs every weekday from 10am on ITV1.