Layton Williams wows judges on Strictly Come Dancing scoring four nines
Strictly judge Shirley Ballas said she was ‘lost for words’ after Williams’ performance.
Musical theatre star Layton Williams wowed on the second week of Strictly Come Dancing and was awarded the highest score of the series so far with four nines from the judges – 36 points in total.
Williams, 29, performed with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin and danced the quickstep to Puttin’ On The Ritz.
The series’ only same-sex dance couple performed last and impressed all the judges, including Craig Revel Horwood, who said Williams’ talent was “ridiculous”.
Judge Shirley Ballas said she was “lost for words”.
Another celebrity who impressed the judges this week was actress Amanda Abbington who wowed with complex-looking lifts and a handstand.
Abbington, 49, dazzled in a sparkly dress and performed the salsa to a song by Gloria Estefan with her partner Giovanni Pernice.
Revel Horwood admitted that the performance was “amazing” and the pair were awarded 32 points.
EastEnders star Bobby Brazier was the first celebrity of the night to take the dance floor and dazzled in hot pink trousers with partner Dianne Buswell.
Judge Anton Du Beke said Brazier had a “great swivel” and Craig Revel Horwood called the dance “fantastic” before the dancers were awarded 29 points.
Next up was former tennis player Annabel Croft who quick stepped to 22 points, when she danced to Walking On Sunshine with partner Johannes Radebe.
Donning a chic-looking yellow gown, Croft and Radebe ended the performance by jumping into a ball pit.
Revel Horwood, who awarded the couple a score of four, said that Croft looked “terrified” in parts of the dance.
Paralympian Jody Cundy was dressed in black when he danced the pasodoble with dance partner Jowita Przystal and the couple were given a score of 16.
Soap opera star Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola performed the foxtrot to Perfect by Fairground Attraction and Leach wowed in a rainbow 1950s-style pin up dress.
Revel Horwood said he “loved” the dance and the judges awarded the pair 31 points.
After this came Casualty star Nigel Harman and Katya Jones who danced the Viennese waltz to the song Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez.
Harman and Jones had come out on top last week with an impressive score of 32 points and this week they were unable to top their best and went home with 27.
Shirley Ballas said there were too many “technical errors” in the dance but Revel Horwood said Ballas was being “picky”.
Nikita Kanda danced the Charleston with her partner Gorka Marquez to Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyonce and dedicated the performance to her mother, who was sitting in the crowd.
The radio presenter who shone in a turquoise 1920s-style dress was told the dance was very “heavy” and “lacklustre” by Revel Horwood and was awarded 18 points.
Former Family Fortunes host Les Dennis danced the samba with his partner Nancy Xu, who was seen getting to know Dennis’s family in a preview clip before the dance.
Dancing to Rock The Boat by The Hues Corporation, Dennis was told by Revel Horwood that he looked like he was “limping with a broken ankle” in one part of the dance.
Revel Horwood awarded Dennis a two, the lowest individual score of the episode, and the pair received 15 points altogether, the lowest judges’ scores of the episode.
Performing the tango was Waterloo Road’s Adam Thomas and his partner Luba Mushtuk with a dramatic performance to the song Somebody Told Me by The Killers.
The couple earned 23 points and Motsi Mabuse said Thomas had been “more engaged” this week.
Broadcaster Krishnan Guru-Murthy, whose daughter was in the crowd on Saturday, performed the foxtrot with his partner Lauren Oakley to Love Really Hurts Without You by Billy Ocean.
The couple were given 20 points.
Next up was comedian Eddie Kadi and his partner Karen Hauer who were awarded 21 points after dancing the cha cha.
Wearing a 1970s-style getup was reality star Zara McDermott who performed a quickstep with her partner Graziano Di Prima.
Ballas said that McDermott needed to “work on synchronisation” to improve and the judges awarded the pair 23 points.
Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon and Carlos Gu danced a jive and were dressed like two ruffians.
Ballas said she was “in awe” of Scanlon’s leg positions and Du Beke agreed and said that the swivels were “beautiful” and “tremendous”.
The pair were given a score of 29 out of 40.
Next was veteran broadcaster Angela Rippon who danced the foxtrot among a plethora of plants and trees with her partner Kai Widdrington.
The couple were awarded 31 points and Revel Horwood said the dance was “beautiful” whilst Ballas said Rippon had showed that “dance has no age limit”.
Strictly Come Dancing was live on Saturday from 6.20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
