Strictly Come Dancing star Layton Williams has slammed criticism that he has an "unfair" advantage over other celebrities on the BBC show.
The actor and theatre star, 29, has been competing alongside Ukrainian professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin during the show's 21st series this year. Already, however, Layton is cleaning up from the judges' scores, earning a massive 36 points from a quickstep in Week 2.
But despite this, the Bad Education star has admitted that he continues to receive copious amounts of hate due to his career in musical theatre, having starred in the likes of Billy Elliot at the age of 12. Layton's education in musical theatre school has also been grounds criticism, as fans at home say he is essentially cheating by already having experience.
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Williams, however, shut down the criticism in an interview with The Guardian. Speaking about the allegations of cheating, Layton hit back: "I've taken it on the chin; I get what everyone is saying.
"But if you could be a fly on the wall in the rehearsal room, it's not easy for me," he continued. He insisted that he is willing to take things up a notch, saying: "I want to rise to the challenge."
Layton has had a number of challenging experiences during his time on the show already, becoming just the third same-sex partner duo in the history of the show. He, together with partner Nikita, follow in the footsteps of John Whaite with his partner Johannes Radebe, and Richie Anderson who was paired with Giovanni Pernice last year.
The musical theatre star admitted that having a male partner has been refreshing for both him and the show, quipping: "It's nice to celebrate the fact that a straight man and a gay man can be the best of friends. It's a love and respect for each other – more of those relationships, I say!"
Williams has gone on to break several taboos during his time on the show, including being the first male contestant to wear a skirt during a performance. Playing the character of Rizzo in Grease during Movie Week, Layton was proud to feel comfortable in what he was wearing, confessing: "I went out there, I felt beautiful."
He also added that despite the numerous firsts being broken during his participation, he continues to be barraged with online abuse due to the male-male partnership. However, despite being bombarded with hateful comments, being able to promote oneself and the ability to be okay in his skin helps him out of the rut.
"The abuse did get me down the other week, but then I saw this message from this young boy's mum who said, 'He's been wearing fairy wings; he's been loving the performances.' It warms my heart that we're on mainstream TV to 8 million people a week, just us being happy," he said.
Strictly Come Dancing airs every Saturday and Sunday on BBC One.
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