Strictly Come Dancing is just around the corner, and there are plenty of reports on who might be taking part this year, with Nigel Harmon and Angela Rippon among the names. However, one West End theatre star’s name has also been hinted at - and it looks like the star would be a favourite to win in an all-male pairing.
Layton Williams is an actor who starred on the West End in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, as well as Bad Education and I Hate Suzie. The star also has a very impressive history of starring in shows from a youngster, having also appeared in Rent, Hairspray and Billy in Billy Elliot, and studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
According to the MailOnline, the actor has requested a male partner, with bosses hoping that he will have a shot at winning the Glitterball trophy.
The star previously opened up about auditioning for Billy Elliot, explaining: "I was so raw – I didn't do ballet, I didn't do tap, I had no vocal training – I was basically the Billy Elliot story. I would love to see my tapes, because they said, 'If you can't do the stuff then just pretend.' I was pretending to do pliés and I just faked it until I made it and then, two years later, I was on the West End stage."
© David M. BenettLayton wouldn’t be the first star to appear in a same-sex couple, as the show has already included the likes of Richie Anderson, Nicole Adams, Jayde Adams and John Whaite, who performed with Giovanni Pernice, Katya Jones, Karen Hauer and Johannes Rabade respectively.
Every Strictly Come Dancing winner so far
- 2004: Natisha Kaplinsky (partner Brendan Cole)
- 2004: Jill Halfpenny (partner Darren Bennett)
- 2005: Darren Gough (partner Lilia Kopylova)
- 2006: Mark Ramprakash (partner Karen Hardy)
- 2007: Alesha Dixon (partner Matthew Cutler)
- 2008: Tom Chambers (partner Camilla Dallerup)
- 2009: Chris Hollins (partner Ola Jordan)
- 2010: Kara Tointon (partner Artem Chigvintsev)
- 2011: Harry Judd (partner Aliona Vilani)
- 2012: Louis Smith (partner Flavia Cacace)
- 2013: Abbey Clancy (partner Aljaž Škorjanec)
- 2014: Caroline Flack (partner Pasha Kovalev)
- 2015: Jay McGuiness (partner Aliona Vilani)
- 2016: Ore Oduba (partner Joanne Clifton)
- 2017: Joe McFadden (partner Katya Jones)
- 2018: Stacey Dooley (partner Kevin Clifton)
- 2019: Kelvin Fletcher (partner Oti Mabuse)
- 2020: Bill Bailey (partner Oti Mabuse)
- 2021: Rose Ayling-Ellis (partner Giovanni Pernice)
- 2022: Hamza Yassin (partner Jowita Przystał)
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John, who was the runner-up back in 2021 after losing out on first place to Rose Ayling-Ellis, spoke to the BBC about becoming the first all-male pairing, saying: "What’s more exciting for me, is that I’m going to be one half of the first all-male partnership, which is a great step forward in representation and inclusion. Whoever it is I’m paired with, I hope they are up for a challenge as I want our routines to include lots of spectacular lifts!”
© Shane Anthony Sinclair/BAFTAHe added to Sky News: "I feel immensely proud. This is what we have been fighting for, whether it's the gay community, the deaf community, or any minority who's had less in life or has suffered.
"We’ve fought for each other's rights and freedoms and to be able to do this now on a huge platform... and to have no question around it - we've had very little hate, very little flak, we've had overwhelming support and love - and to be able to do that it just shows how far we've come in terms of our attitudes to diversity generally. Not just gay diversity, but diversity at large. And it's remarkable, it's very, very humbling."
