Meet Layton Williams & Nikita Kuzmin, 'Strictly's New Same-Sex Dance Couple

We’re already Team Layton & Nikita!

Season 21 of Strictly Come Dancingwill feature yet another same-sex pair in the series: actor Layton Williams and pro dancer Nikita Kuzmin.

A triple-threat actor, singer, and dancer, Williams is best known for his musical theater work on the West End, starring in the TV show Bad Education, and recently narrating the gay British dating series I Kissed a Boy.

On the West End, Williams has performed in theater productions of Billy Elliot, Hairspray, Rent, and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. In fact, during his time starring as the titular character in Jamie, Williams performed alongside Bianca Del Rio – who played Hugo Battersby / Loco Chanelle – in the musical.

Kuzmin is a dancer and choreographer who made his television debut on Let’s Dance season 13, which aired in 2020. A year later, Kuzmin was cast as a pro dancer in season 19 of Strictly Come Dancing, where he competed alongside Tilly Ramsay and placed sixth overall. He returned for season 20 and was paired up with Ellie Simmonds, this time finishing in 10th place.

Now, Williams and Kuzmin will take over the ballroom of Strictly season 21 as the only same-sex couple of the season. “I’m happy so long as it’s a guy,” Williams said in his introduction video for the show. “I’ve said I want to dance with a man, I want to be thrown around.” After being paired up with Kuzmin, the actor added:

“He is going to whip me into shape and keep me on the straight and narrow. I do like to think I know what I am doing and do the most, but I really don’t have a clue!”

Needless to say, we’ll be rooting for this duo to snatch some trophies on Strictly Come Dancing!

Scroll through to see pictures of Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin – and make sure to follow them on Instagram at @laytonwilliams and @nikita__kuzmin.

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin

Layton Williams

Nikita Kuzmin