Layton Williams in Strictly

[Char65]

I am a big fan of Strictly but I have lost interest in it this year because of Layton Williams as he is a professional dance. His CV reads

2007–2008: Billy Elliot the Musical
2008–2009: Beautiful People
2016: Hairspray the Musical UK Tour - playing Duane
2016-2017: Rent UK Tour - playing Angel
2017-2018: Hairspray the Musical UK Tour - playing Seaweed J. Stubbs
2018-2019: Kiss Me Kate - playing Bill Calhoun/Luciento
2019-2022: Everyone's Talking About Jamie - playing Jamie New

He was also in a Michael Jackson show - and I believe Jackson could dance a bit!

To me its no fair to pitch a pro against amateurs though I accept a lot of actors have also done dance at stage school but not appeared in the West End like this guy! What do others think?

Given he's had a number of major roles already, he's already "on the roster" as it were. Once you've had one big role, people know you and it gets easier.

No I don’t think it’s a problem at all.
It is a celebrity competition not a let’s pick some random folks off the street competition.
Just as Bake off tends to attract people who can already bake.
The producers can it force people to take part so they have to go with who will do it.
The public (not my opinion) tend to want to see good dances. Those who are terrible get slated on line.
Personally I prefer to watch those who don’t have a clue, it’s more entertaining. Actually I want to see a mix of Layton’s and Ann Whiticombs.

@Holidayhell22 Except in the case of Bake off, no one who's previously been employed as a baker, cook or chef, or done any sort of professional degree or qualification in baking is allowed to compete.

Edited my bad spelling*

I love watching Layton and Nikita dance. I like the mixture of terrible dancers and good dancers. I would not want to watch a whole show of terrible dancers though and I doubt most people would.

Layton was invited to do the show so, of course, he accepted. It's not like he turned up to an audition for it pretending to have little dance experience is it?

I think the hate he is getting is awful. He seems lovely. Watch his face when other couples are being interviewed by Claudia and he really seems to be interested and caring about them all

He does look spectacular and professional to the 'layman' at home, but I don't think the judges are fooled.

For them he lacks technique, and the spins, twirls and acrobatics are rarely parts of the dance as Anton made a point of saying : "I'd have liked to see more actual jive" .

I do think in general Strictly are jumping the shark a bit by having actual professional or trained dancers taking part.

Much as I love Krishnan, if they all danced like that I wouldn’t watch. You have to have a mix of abilities because, actually it’s an entertainment show rather than an actual dance competition. And that’s why Layton is there. 🕺🏾

Yea this!

I agree!

It's not just a dance competition and the winner is determined by audience votes - not necessarily the best dancer in technical terms. So I'm glad they throw in a ringer every year as we get to see some spectacular routines. But ultimately the winner will be someone who connects with the audience and that's usually someone who's learned and improved throughout the show (who also has natural talent, time to commit to training, likeability etc).

In the future, I'll rewatch Layton's dances like I rewatch Danny Mac or Ashley or Jay. They have longevity and great entertainment value. I think Strictly would be poorer without a ringer or two and I never understand the complaining about it every year!

@TangerineNeonLight - you've just reminded me to watch Danni Mac's samba with Oti Mabuse. My all time favourite!

You've missed out his stint dancing with Matthew Bourne's dance company "New Adventures" in their production of The Car Man.

Dd and I think that he is deliberately holding back. For such a highly trained dancer he needs to point his feet and hold his turnout better (note to Craig turnout comes from the hips, not the feet!)

A friend of mine has seen him dance latin before and we know that at his college where he trained at that time students had regular latin classes from a leading teacher.

I’d rather watch the Laytons than the Ann Widdecombes and John Sergeants.

I haven’t voted for Layton, but his dances have been stunning. I’m sure he’ll get to the final, and the only other dancer he could conceivably lose to in a dance-off is Ellie.

I wish they’d stop putting him in a dress though, there’s no need for it, never adds anything - in fact it detracts and distracts, two men dancing together isn’t a new thing even if it’s new-ish to Strictly.

But if he's going to be in the competition (and his level of training far exceeds people like Nigel Harman & Ellie), then come on Layton, show us what you can actually do.

I'm not that much for him as a performer mind. I avoided seeing Jamie when he was in it. I much preferred John McCrae or Noah Thomas in the role.

I couldn't agree more. I find them absolutely electrifying to watch and for me they absolutely make the show. I think I would find it quite boring otherwise. I also don't agree with all the comments about him being cocky - yes he is loud and flamboyant, but you only have to glance at the strictly social media pages to see how much of a cheerleader he is for the other participants, and how thankful he is to still be in the competition. It's Saturday night entertainment at the end of the day, not life and death, and I love him being in the show. Plus he clearly was a huge support to Nikita this week who quietly has been really suffering with a knee injury, and kudos to them for not playing on this for more votes.

I don't think there is any issue with him wearing a dress as long as it suits the dance.

I wonder how Angela R feels about her ringer status? She's not being given anything to do that requires speed or gyration. Fair play, I don't have her level of fitness or flexibility, and she's old enough to be my mum, but she's getting an easier time of it than other contestants.

What can he move out of musical theatre to, though? Just being a telly presenter and endless reality shows? he would be better off sticking with what he is doing.

I like watching him, and I thought when he had the Afro wig on the other week he looked fab. He looks better with more hair!

He’s really good so I see your point. Although, yes there are others with a dance background.

Ive really enjoyed watching him dance - especially the combo of him and Nikita- so I’m glad he’s on the show, even if it’s not really fair.

Doesn’t necessary mean he’ll win though

He should become a headline crowd-pulling name in musicals which presumably would do wonders for his pay. And he'll have panto name recognition for years and years if money is ever tight or he picks up an injury. I wonder whether he'd be able to headline a Matthew Bourne.

Interesting to compare him with Karim from 2019, whose trajectory was very similar, though he wasn't on the same level as a dancer. I think Layton's marmite appeal will actually do much better for him in the long run than Karim's self-effacing puppy dog characteristics.

I agree, many of his big roles were as a child, this could help him cut through to be a name in musical theatre. Only aficionados will have heard of him before.

I enjoyed Layton and Nikita's performance on Saturday, which may have had a few jive steps in it. People should remember that it was a performance rather than a masterclass in jive.
But there's the rub. How do you produce good, entertaining Saturday night television based around a ballroom and Latin dancing competition with a variety of contestants ranging from complete novices to professionals/semi-professionals?
Do you go for a set dance each week plus a dance of the other genre chosen by the couple (would be far too much for most)? Or the former combined with theme weeks? Or set the music, or what?
The dance off yesterday was a classic example. Lovely slow Waltz against a "showy" Rumba. You could see clearly the steps of the waltz and the rumba had a lot of show and story-telling BUT, from Adam's point of view, almost nothing to do with a rumba. It wasn't even "entertaining" to watch (and the music was awful, but I appreciate that is personal taste).
I admired the Layton/Nikita performance and enjoyed the classic skills displayed by Angela and Kai, so I assume the balance was right for me.

I find Laytons camp manner irritating- but damn the boy can dance. But then he is a dancer!

So i watch and enjoy his routines knowing they'll be fab - but also knowing they won't move me as much as Krishnan discovering the joy of dance or Annabel putting her bereavement out there. These are things I can relate to - and i don't feel the connection with Layton.

Either way I think Ellies going to win as shes good AND improving and Vito has won over / taken on a lot of Giovannis fan base 😁

@Comefromaway I agree with you, and yes I had left out Mathew Bourne, I think he is holding back a bit and the judges are not marking him as highly as they could. As someone else said I think the BBC wanted a same sex couple in the final when of course it will be the public the vote for the winner. I know others before him and current contestants have had dance training and been in musicals etc but Layton is a highly skilled professional dancer and if he is ever in a dance off he will win through which I don't think is fair.

Layton will get to the final no doubt - he’s talented enough and there’s also absolutely no one that could beat him in a dance off. But when I mentioned before about Ashley Roberts being in the bottom two constantly, I genuinely think post-Blackpool the same will happen and that’s not fair to his confidence.

as I mentioned earlier - I truly blame for the producers for stitching him up like this. They KNEW as a ringer he would get stuck, and as he is the ringer of all ringers, it was always going to be worse.

that’s why I enjoy his dances but I won’t ever vote for him. In my mind he’s not a contestant, he’s just doing a pro dance in the middle of each show with Nikita.

If Layton and Ellie had been in the dance-off at the weekend the judges would have saved Ellie. She’s the only other contestant who could beat him - depends on the week and the particular dance obviously, but given the disparity of their scores on Saturday, they could hardly save Layton over Ellie’s “finalist” performance, however many no-handed cartwheels he did.