Layton Williams Makes Strictly Come Dancing History With Spectacular Quickstep Routine
Layton and Nikita's Quickstep is now among the highest-scoring week two routines in Strictly history
Strictly Come Dancing star Layton Williams stole the show during Saturday’s live show, with an astonishing performance that wowed both viewers and the judging panel.
The West End star and his professional partner Nikita Kuzmin closed the second live show of the series with an intricate Quickstep routine to the classic song Puttin’ On The Ritz.
Layton’s impressive moves had Shirley Ballas and Motsi Mabuse on their feet at the end of his and Nikita’s routine, landing them straight at the top of the leaderboard.
They also got a score of nine from all four members of the panel, matching a long-held Strictly record.
Layton received a score of 36 for his show-stopping performance
Craig Revel Horwood told Layton: “There was certainly nothing basic about that, darling. You are ridiculous. That was incredible.”
Motsi agreed that the Bad Education star had delivered “the dance of the night, end of story”, while Shirley enthused: “I’m a bit lost for words, really.
“You had such difficult choreography, you kept up with it, it’s not easy, you are not trained in ballroom, but I can see that you are determined to show the country that you will get these fundamentals no matter what. I applaud you, congratulations.”
Anton Du Beke concluded: “It was ridiculous and remarkable and extraordinary. Well done. Brilliant dance.”
Watch the routine for yourself below:
After Layton and Nikita received their score of 36 out of a possible 40, presenter Claudia Winkleman pointed out the pair had made Strictly history, as this feat had only been achieved twice during week two of the competition.
Colin Jackson was the first celebrity to receive 36 at that early stage of the competition way back in 2005, while Alexandra Burke also landed the impressive score during her week two routine in 2017.
Layton shows off his moves on the Strictly dance floor
Unfortunately, it was a rather different story for comedian and TV personality Les Dennis.
He fell to the bottom of the leaderboard thanks to his Samba, and after landing in the bottom two with radio presenter Nikita Kanda, Les became the first celebrity to leave the competition.
Next week will see the return of Strictly’s Movies Week festivities, airing on Saturday night at 6.20pm on BBC One.