When Layton Willaims was announced as a participant on Strictly Come Dancing, fans were left furious as he already was a trained dancer. Assuming the show will be a piece of cake for him, it was no surprise to see him in the finale. However, it did come as a shock to people when Ellie Leach won the show instead of Layton even after securing a perfect score more than once.
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Amidst all the drama and heat, let’s find out who Layton Williams is away from the BBC dancing universe.
Layton William - Who is he and what’s his net worth?
The 29-year-old is an actor, singer and dancer who has played major roles in many iconic shows. Born in Bury, Greater Manchester in 1994, Layton began his journey on stage by training at Billy Elliot Academy in Leeds. According to OK! Magazine, his family moved from Manchester to London when he was 11 so he could pursue his acting career.
Layton then attended the Italia Conti Academy and debuted in Billy Elliot the Musical on 26 February 2007 in London's West End. His final performance took place on 29 November 2008 after he became the second person of colour to play the role, and the first mixed heritage performer to star in the show.
That’s not all - Layton also went on to play Young Michael Jackson in Thriller – Live musical, Kylie in the BBC series Beautiful People as well as featured in the CBBC documentary series School for Stars. His other achievements include being part of musicals like Rent, Hairspray and Kiss Me Kate.
While his theatre journey started at a young age, his major breakthrough came in 2012 when he was cast in Jack Whitehall’s comedy Bad Education as Stephen Carmichael. The show aired on BBC Three and Layton also appeared in a 2015 spin-off film to reprise his role.
In 2022, the much-loved show staged a triumphant return with a special reunion, setting the stage for a brand-new series. The icing on the cake? Layton stepped into the spotlight as the co-lead for the show's fourth season, sharing the stage with the fantastic Charlie Wernham.
Starting in January 2019, he took centre stage as Jamie New in the hit musical ‘Everybody's Talking About Jamie’ until May 2022. The journey began in the glitzy West End and later embarked on an exciting tour across the UK. In 2023, Layton also appeared on BBC Three’s ‘I Kissed A Boy’ as the narrator before his Strictly announcement. As such, the star’s net worth is calculated to be between $100,000 and $1 million (£797k) in 2023. However, it is likely to go up after his successful Strictly stint.
Layton Williams’ love life - Who is he dating?
Layton has publicly come out as being gay and has also previously spoken about coming to terms with his sexuality while working on Billy Elliot. The star who had so far kept his love life mysterious, recently ‘hard launched’ his boyfriend on his Instagram account. Reportedly, Layton is dating deli owner James Harper.
The two met at Glastonbury and hit it off and spent James’ birthday together last month bathing in wine at a spa in London, confirmed Daily Star. James is also a fellow actor and has starred on stage previously. In November 2023, Layton took to his Instagram to pay tribute to his partner.
Sharing a string of pictures together he celebrated James’ milestone birthday. In the caption, Layton wrote: ‘Birthday boy. How it started vs How it's going.’ with photos showing two different times at the same location.
Giving context on his Instagram story, he added:
From meeting at @glastofest to bathing in wine at @glastofest.
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⋙ Bobby Brazier has had a busy love life: Is the Strictly Come Dancing star dating anyone?
Sources Used
OK! Magazine: Strictly Come Dancing finalist Layton Williams' net worth and childhood in Bury
Daily Star: BBC Strictly Come Dancing Layton Williams' love life with deli-owner and actor boyfriend
