Layton Williams' life off-stage with tough times, expulsion, and big heartbreak

04 August 2023 , 18:23

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Layton is joining the Strictly line-up (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Fans of Strictly Come Dancing will be thrilled that it's getting ever closer to the show being back on our screens once more and as such the line-up of stars taking part in 2023 has started to be revealed.

As confirmed on The One Show this evening (August 4), star of the stage and screen, Layton Williams, will be one of the celebs competing to win the Glitterball trophy this year.

The 28-year-old is best known for playing the lead role in Billy Elliot when he was just 12 years old, becoming the first black actor to do so, and he has since gone on to star as the first Black actor playing the lead in the London stage production of Everybody's Talking About Jamie, as well as having roles in TV shows such as Beautiful People alongside Olivia Colman, and Jack Whitehall's Bad Education.

He starred in Billy Elliot as a child (Getty Images)

The actor, dancer, and singer has been performing from a young age in London but grew up on an estate in Bury, Greater Manchester. He was initially state educated but after securing his starring role on stage, he also managed to get a scholarship for the Sylvia Young Theatre School.

However, when his time playing Billy Elliot came to an end, Williams hit a major snag in the road as he found himself forced to leave London and the life he had come to know. He previously told Attitude Magazine how he ended up getting expelled from drama school around the same time as he was "a bit of a clown" and after coming from his life on the estate he found all the rules and regulations of private school rather challenging. "I'm not going to sugar-coat it: I actually got expelled from my first theatre school, which was Sylvia Young. I can talk about it now because I've had closure," he explained. "It just wasn't working."

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He went on to claim that as he was mostly doing shows, he was only at the school part-time and was "causing too much havoc". While he was having an amazing time at the school, he admits that he completely understands the decision that was made to kick him out. But he says returning to Bury was the "toughest point of [his] life". While in London, Williams who is gay, felt like he'd become a different person, and returning to his former home was a little like going "back into the closet".

Thankfully, he found a way to get back to the capital as a TV producer and her partner offered him a place to stay in the city. He explains how the couple essentially became his guardians and they've become a "beautiful, dysfunctional family and queer household". Having a second home meant that the actor could also continue his work and he was able to film the second season of Beautiful People. In addition to this, he went on to secure a three-year scholarship at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts so that he could finish high school.

He's come out the other side after some tough times (Dave Benett/Getty Images for PIM)

After coming through the other side of his "tough" time, Williams was desperate not to let anything mess up the life he had built for himself once again, so despite being a teen in a big city, he stayed on the straight and narrow. And he's built an incredibly successful career, going on to appear in numerous West End shows as well as films and TV shows such as I Hate Suzie and The Bad Education Movie.

He also founded his own company, Pros From The Shows, which offers students at schools, colleges, universities, and other institutions dance workshops with expert West End dancers, as well as professionals working in film and television. Williams is the director of the company. As well as the highs that life has had to offer, he's also experienced other forms of lows over the years - including great heartbreak. The star was previously dating fellow theatre actor Michael Craig Dawson and the pair had even started house hunting together when Williams was ready to move out of his guardians' home.

However, the pair have since split and he told Attitude that he'd "never felt heartbreak like it". He added: "It clearly wasn't meant to be. But it's all love and respect. I've never had messy breakups; it's always mature." Williams has reportedly been single ever since their split, as it's been claimed his career is keeping him so busy that he doesn't have time for a boyfriend.

Courtney Pochin