{"id":188709,"date":"2023-11-15T04:56:49","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T04:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/?p=188709"},"modified":"2023-11-15T04:56:49","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T04:56:49","slug":"layton-williams-mover-shaker-rule-breaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/lifestyle\/layton-williams-mover-shaker-rule-breaker\/","title":{"rendered":"LAYTON WILLIAMS: Mover, shaker, rule breaker"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Strictly&#8217;s Layton Williams reveals how he got his West End start as Billy Elliot when he was 10 &#8211; and danced himself out of a council estate and onto the BBC hit show<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><span>Layton Williams scooped the earliest 10 in Strictly&#8217; s\u00a0history for his cha-cha-cha<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>READ MORE: Adam Thomas breaks his silence on controversial Strictly Come Dancing exit after fans raged at judges for sending him home: &#8216;We can leave with our head held high&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Tuesday of his salsa week on Strictly Come Dancing, and the breakout star of the show, Layton Williams, 29, with his cut-glass cheekbones and boot-camp body, has just finished an impressive run-through of Saturday\u2019s routine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s a bit rough now,\u2019 he says as he takes a seat, an opinion that contradicts every lift, turn, suggestive swivel and synchronised spin I have just witnessed.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re in a dance studio in a municipal leisure centre in South London, with a faint smell of council bleach lingering in the hallways.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not far from where Williams got his first major acting break after auditioning for the lead in Billy Elliot The Musical, aged 10, in 2005.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Eighteen years on, Williams is fully immersed in Strictly world. His salsa went on to score 39 points out of 40, the fastest such a high total has been set for 13 years; he also scooped the earliest 10 in the show\u2019s history for his cha-cha-cha; and his odds of winning (5\/1 at the time of writing) keep tumbling.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600133-12724433-Layton_Williams_29_grew_up_on_an_estate_in_Bury_Greater_Manchest-a-2_1699619258384.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"633\"><\/p>\n<p>Layton Williams, 29, grew up on an estate in Bury, Greater Manchester. His first major acting break came at the age of 10 after auditioning for the lead in Billy Elliot The Musical in 2005. Jumper, Tods<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Obviously Layton is a brilliant dancer. I love him, I\u2019ve worked with him, he\u2019s one of my treasures and he is sensational,\u2019 Dame Arlene Phillips, one of Strictly\u2019s original judges, told Radio 4\u2019s Today programme. \u2018And right now, it looks like gosh, he\u2019s got to win.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>No pressure. \u2018I didn\u2019t really understand what I was getting myself into,\u2019 says Williams. \u2018People would say, \u201cOh, it\u2019s a lot. Buckle up.\u201d But I was like, whatever, how much is this going to be?\u2019 He soon learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Every week, I get a little bit of a wobble on Monday because this is so intense and it\u2019s such a contrast to the week before,\u2019 he tells me.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Yet contrary to many rumours, the behind-the-scenes bonhomie couldn\u2019t be chummier. \u2018They are all such huns. And that\u2019s just not me saying it. We do all really get on.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Angela Scanlon is such a beautiful person, and she can sense when I\u2019m maybe having a bit of a wobble.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;We have lots of voice notes back and forth between each other. I have to say, we\u2019ve got each other\u2019s backs. We\u2019re there for each other.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Saturday night primetime TV gives audiences a sense of ownership over its stars. \u2018It\u2019s an attachment,\u2019 he says, \u2018and in some cases it\u2019s obviously lovely and in some cases not so much. But you have to drown it out and think of the bigger picture.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Like few contestants before him, Williams has proved a lightning rod for online chatter. Each week an explosive debate erupts.<\/p>\n<p>How much professional training has he had? Why didn\u2019t Nikita Kuzmin [his Strictly dance professional] get a female partner?<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s he doing dolled up as Rizzo from Grease? Why is he so proud of himself?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600127-12724433-Layton_scooped_the_earliest_10_in_Strictly_s_history_for_his_cha-a-4_1699619273321.jpg\" height=\"950\" width=\"633\"><\/p>\n<p>Layton scooped the earliest 10 in Strictly&#8217; s history for his cha-cha-cha. Top and trousers, Daniel W Fletcher. Shoes, Christian Louboutin<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/09\/11\/77601777-12724433-image-a-37_1699529624289.jpg\" height=\"951\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Layton dancing the Tango with Strictly partner Nikita Kuzmin. The pair scored an impressive 36 points for their performance on Saturday 28 October\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How much professional training has he had?<\/p>\n<p>A source told The Mail on Sunday that his fellow contestants were \u2018frustrated\u2019 that Williams was already \u2018as good as or even better than his professional partner\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018One thing I would like to make clear is, was I Billy Elliot or did I play Billy Elliot?\u2019 he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Honestly, if I\u2019d auditioned for the Royal Ballet School they would have laughed me out of the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You\u2019ve heard it from Shirley [Ballas, the Strictly judge]. My feet don\u2019t point. These hips don\u2019t turn out. I\u2019m a fake-it-till-you-make-it type.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;That\u2019s how I got Billy Elliot. I was in a show where this boy is supposed to go to the Royal Ballet School.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I used to beat myself up about it \u2013 why am I not good at ballet? I\u2019ve always just been able to get it to the point I need to. There\u2019s so much noise around that stuff but I know I\u2019ve made the right decision.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Staring out of the window, Williams mentions the irony of this studio being in Elephant and Castle, where he auditioned for Billy Elliot.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As the first person of colour to act the role, he says, \u2018I always felt like I had to work hard, especially when I rocked up to my first audition and realised not a lot of boys look like me.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How did that feel? \u2018It was just different. In school, there were so many people from so many beautiful places, so you never were the black boy. At theatre school, I was suddenly the odd one out, and I\u2019d never been that.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600121-12724433-As_the_first_person_of_colour_to_act_the_role_of_Billy_Elliot_in-a-6_1699619293169.jpg\" height=\"950\" width=\"633\"><\/p>\n<p>As the first person of colour to act the role of Billy Elliot in the West End musical, Layton always felt like he had to work hard.\u00a0Top and trousers, Daniel W Fletcher. Shoes, Christian Louboutin<\/p>\n<p>He grew up on an estate in Bury, in Greater Manchester, parts of which rank among the most deprived areas in England. He\u2019s disagreed with his mum about the \u2018estate\u2019 detail recently.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018You know that meme of Victoria Beckham?\u2019 he says, referring to the episode in the Beckham documentary where David and Victoria gently squabble over their working-class credentials, only for David to point out his wife used to be driven to school in a Rolls-Royce. \u2018It was like that, in reverse,\u2019 he laughs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I saw a lot of things that kids my age probably shouldn\u2019t be seeing, so I\u2019ve always had this tough skin. There was always craziness happening around us. At times it was a little bit s**t, you know?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Williams is the second eldest of nine siblings between his mum Michelle and his father, whose family is Jamaican.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Though his parents split up when Williams was small, he says his father was present while stepdads would come and\u00a0go: \u2018It was what it was.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When he talks happily about diversity and his past in his Mancunian accent, he projects the air of a Russell T Davies character.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There is something particularly Queer As Folk about memories of his 18th birthday, celebrated in Manchester\u2019s Gay Village when someone threw a pint at his mum.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018She was so drunk, she was like, \u201cA lesbicon just threw a glass at me.\u201d I was like, \u201cMum, lesbian, please.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600125-12724433-Layton_describes_his_first_foray_into_acting_and_singing_under_B-a-8_1699619303923.jpg\" height=\"950\" width=\"633\"><\/p>\n<p>Layton describes his first foray into acting and singing under Bury theatre hero Carol Godby as &#8216;escapism&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Like Billy Elliot himself, Williams found solace in the performing arts under Bury theatre hero Carol Godby.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018When I fell into acting classes and started doing the singing, it was escapism. Whatever was going on at home didn\u2019t really matter. This was somewhere I could express myself. As soon as I step on stage, all of that noise disappears.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Moving to London aged 12 to do Billy Elliot was a challenge. \u2018London? A musical? The West End? What\u2019s that? I didn\u2019t really know what I was getting myself into. I\u2019d love to sit here and say it was my dream to be in the West End, to be on stage, but it wasn\u2019t because I didn\u2019t know what that dream was until it became my reality.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>From the moment he stepped out on stage in 2007, he had found a new home. \u2018I was just a kid. All these people talking about a black boy playing Billy Elliot? I was just living my best life. I was earning \u00a3200 a week! Couldn\u2019t believe it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Williams spent his first Billy Elliot pay cheque in predictable Viv Nicholson \u2018spend, spend, spend\u2019 Northern style. \u2018I was always in Harrods, me. I should\u2019ve been responsible, but whenever my mum came down, I was like, let\u2019s go to Harrods! What would a boy from a council estate do? He would go to Harrods!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>During his Billy Elliot run, he scored his first television break on the escapist BBC drama Beautiful People.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This introduced him to gay arts royalty: playwright Jonathan Harvey, singer\/songwriter Dan Gillespie Sells, who composed the score, and showrunner Simon Doonan, on whose life story \u2013 from camp child in the UK suburbs to creative director of Barneys, New York \u2013 the show was based.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Later, Gillespie Sells and director Jonathan Butterell cast him in Everybody\u2019s Talking About Jamie, the West End hit about a schoolboy who wants to present his feminine self, a tear-jerking triumph-over-adversity musical.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600129-12724433-Sleeveless_top_Daniel_W_Fletcher_trousers_and_sunglasses_Tod_s-a-10_1699619313664.jpg\" height=\"458\" width=\"305\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600115-12724433-Top_and_boots_Lanvin_skirt_Le_Kilt-a-12_1699619321976.jpg\" height=\"458\" width=\"305\"><\/p>\n<p>While performing in Billy Elliot, Layton scored his first television break on the escapist BBC drama Beautiful People. L-R: Sleeveless top, Daniel W Fletcher; trousers and sunglasses, Tod\u2019s and top and boots, Lanvin; skirt, Le Kilt<\/p>\n<p>As with Billy Elliot, Williams recognised the tale. In London, he had been an out gay teenager; being among some of the staff at Billy Elliot was the first time he\u2019d seen any positive representation of gay people.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Until I moved to London, I didn\u2019t understand happy gay relationships. [I hadn\u2019t] seen gay people thriving.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I had an amazing teacher called Damien who taught us choreography. Matt, who was our gymnastics teacher, was such a queen.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2022 Williams replaced Jack Whitehall as the lead in the edgy BBC sitcom Bad Education, about a teacher who breaks most of the establishment rules.<\/p>\n<p>While on Beautiful People he met perhaps his most important role model, a script editor called Maria who ended up taking Williams in to live with her and her partner Val when he returned to London to film season two.<\/p>\n<p>He was 16 and \u2018they basically brought me up&#8230; I never went back\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>Before he met these positive role models, he says he would be careful, and warn others not to camp it up overly on the tube on the way to school.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I used to care so much about what others thought about me. People wouldn\u2019t know this now, they\u2019d just think, oh, he\u2019s full of himself, this cocky thing. Stop camping it up, they\u2019d say.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600131-12724433-The_first_time_Layton_saw_any_positive_representation_of_gay_peo-a-14_1699619336705.jpg\" height=\"950\" width=\"633\"><\/p>\n<p>The first time Layton saw any positive representation of gay people was when he moved to London and found himself among the staff at Billy Elliot. Blazer, trousers, hat and shoes, Emporio Armani<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But there was a time when I had to fully squish and hide that and I was not in the least bit proud, you know?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;So now, after all these years, being the adult I am, I\u2019m like, f**k you lot! I\u2019d rather die and be kicked out of this show than [live like] that. Because I\u2019ve been there. I\u2019ve got that T-shirt.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>This is why Strictly matters so much to him.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019m getting the most beautiful messages from parents and teachers of young children,\u2019 he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I got one yesterday about this kid called Joseph. I think he was about four or five years old. He would wear his pink watch at home but would never leave the house or go to school in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;And his mum said, \u201cYou know, watching you and seeing how sometimes you\u2019re super-flamboyant, how you present as whatever you want to present as, he went to school in his little pink watch, and he came back with the biggest smile on his face.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Williams replicates the beam. \u2018These are the stories that I need to concentrate on. It\u2019s just so much bigger than me dancing on a TV show at this point. It\u2019s giving people a little beacon of hope in these stressful times.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>It was while explaining the Strictly gig to his new boyfriend, who is not in the entertainment industry, that Williams realised what a life-changing experience it was about to become. (He won\u2019t name the boyfriend \u2018because I haven\u2019t hard-launched him yet\u2019, he says.)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600123-12724433-Top_and_trousers_Daniel_W_Fletcher_Shoes_Christian_Louboutin-a-16_1699619346754.jpg\" height=\"458\" width=\"305\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600117-12724433-Blazer_gilet_kilt_socks_and_boots_Dior-a-18_1699619354019.jpg\" height=\"458\" width=\"305\"><\/p>\n<p>Since joining Strictly, Layton has received messages from parents and teachers of young children who have found a role model in him. L-R: Top and trousers, Daniel W Fletcher. Shoes, Christian Louboutin and blazer, gilet, kilt, socks and boots, Dior<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I had to tell him, \u201cJust so you know, I\u2019m about to go into one of the biggest shows in the UK, so things might get a little bit crazy. Are you down with that?\u201d\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Much to Williams\u2019 appreciation, he was. \u2018He stuck with it, with the madness, which has been really nice.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>They met at Glastonbury in the summer (\u2018both of our firsts\u2019), when their eyes locked over the dancefloor at The NYC Downlow, an elaborate gay disco built in the furthest corner of the festival site.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Perfect time, perfect place, really magical. Honestly, the memories there. The most unbelievable place ever.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We\u2019d travel an hour and a half across the festival just to find each other,\u2019 he recalls.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I remember after Elton John \u2013 I mean, Elton! Unreal! \u2013 and I was with my bestie Liam. He was like, \u201cWhat are you doing? Let\u2019s just go back to NYC Downlow.\u201d And I was like, \u201cI need to go and find him.\u201d\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The only problem: Williams\u2019 phone had died.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I had to go all the way back to my tent, hoping that I could find him, charge my phone.\u2019 Once it was fully charged, they finally met up. \u2018And we were both like, \u201cOh my god, let\u2019s spend this last night together.\u201d It was really beautiful.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/10\/12\/77600119-12724433-Layton_met_his_boyfriend_who_doesn_t_work_in_the_entertainment_i-a-20_1699619365427.jpg\" height=\"792\" width=\"633\"><\/p>\n<p>Layton met his boyfriend, who doesn&#8217;t work in the entertainment industry, at Glastonbury earlier this year\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A framed print of the Glastonbury site now hangs on the living room wall of his new home in Dulwich. The mortgage, signed last October, is another first for Williams.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I think\u00a0I was the first person in my family [to get one],\u2019 he says proudly. \u2018I worked really hard for it. I nearly gave up on it as well because so much goes on that I was so not clued up on. I just thought I could go in, say, \u201cI want that one,\u201d and that was it.\u2019<\/p>\n<h3>LAYTON LETS LOOSE<\/h3>\n<p><span>Biggest fear?<\/span> Falling flat on my face on a Saturday night in front of a live audience.<\/p>\n<p><span>Worst habit?<\/span> Leaving phone messages unread.<\/p>\n<p><span>Specialist subject?<\/span> The Pussycat Dolls.<\/p>\n<p><span>Guilty pleasure?<\/span> Binge-watching Selling Sunset.<\/p>\n<p><span>Unsung hero?<\/span> Nikita Kuzmin, my Strictly dance partner. It\u2019s his world right now, we\u2019re all just living in it.<\/p>\n<p><span>Best place you\u2019ve been kissed?<\/span> Glastonbury.<\/p>\n<p><span>Dream home? <\/span>The Victoria Palace Theatre, the first place I performed.<\/p>\n<p><span>Bucket-list holiday destination?<\/span> Barbados.<\/p>\n<p><span>Designer clothes you\u2019d like to be buried in?<\/span> Vivienne Westwood<\/p>\n<p><span>Who\u2019d play you in your biopic?<\/span> Me, duh!<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, Maria and Val had instilled in him the value of saving. \u2018They drilled it into me: try and get on the ladder. The first few years of me touring and having fun, I wasn\u2019t saving. I was living pay cheque to pay cheque, because I was a teenager \u2013 and why not?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But when I was doing Jamie and I was earning good money, I thought, you know what? I\u2019ve got an opportunity here. I can make something of myself. I can have a place that I can call my own, something to work towards.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Williams is not yet 30 but he\u2019s packed a lot of living into those years. When I ask about his first love, he thinks for a second. \u2018I would say I\u2019ve had a few moments up and down. I\u2019ve definitely had my heartbreaks as well.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I look back at my last relationship with fond memories. But some of my exes? I mean, I\u2019ve got a long list. Lol. One thing I would say is that it\u2019s a positive to have a lot of exes. It means you\u2019re committed!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Later this year he\u2019ll be back in the BBC\u2019s Bad Education reboot, writing for the show as well as starring in it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s a man in demand, but his dance partner Kuzmin recently offered sensible advice for his exploding career. \u2018He said, \u201cYou want it, you don\u2019t need it.\u201d That feels like a good way to look at things.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Nor does he dwell much on his shot at winning Strictly because, in one sense, just by being on it he has won already.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Odds stacked against him as a kid, he has turned into the exact role model he looked for when he was young and didn\u2019t see on TV.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018That\u2019s what\u2019s so nice about doing Strictly,\u2019 he says. \u2018It feels like a massive hug for your career.\u2019<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Watch Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday evenings. Bad Education returns to BBC Three and BBC iPlayer this Christmas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/home\/you\/article-12724433\/Strictlys-Layton-Williams-reveals-got-West-End-start-Billy-Elliot-10-danced-council-estate-BBC-hit-show.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Strictly&#8217;s Layton Williams reveals how he got his West End start as Billy Elliot when he was 10 &#8211; and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>LAYTON WILLIAMS: Mover, shaker, rule breaker - News Need News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newsneednews.com\/lifestyle\/layton-williams-mover-shaker-rule-breaker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LAYTON WILLIAMS: Mover, shaker, rule breaker - News Need News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Strictly&#8217;s Layton Williams reveals how he got his West End start as Billy Elliot when he was 10 &#8211; 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