Strictly Come Dancing’s Layton Williams was awarded a perfect score for his incredible first performance on Saturday.
The actor, 29, has come under fire amid claims his West End experience has given him an unfair advantage in the competition.
Layton and pro partner Nikita Kuzmin took to the floor with a lively quickstep after they previously performed it in week two.
Judges Judges Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood gushed and even gave a standing ovation, saying how Layton had inspired young boys at home to dance.
Branding the performance ‘perfect’ and ‘amazing’ with notoriously hard to please Craig even scored a 10, seeing the duo walk away with the full 40 points.
Strictly Come Dancing ‘s Layton Williams was awarded a perfect score for his incredible first performance on Saturday (pictured with partner Nikita Kuzmin)
The actor, 29, has come under fire amid claims his West End experience has given him an unfair advantage in the competition
Judges Judges Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood gushed and even gave a standing ovation, saying how Layton had inspired young boys at home to dance
Earlier in the show it was Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola who become the first couple taking to the floor with very steamy Paso Doble.
The duo, who are rumoured to be an item, sizzled in their skimpy costumes before bagging nearly a perfect score and earned a standing ovation.
The Judges were full of praise as they revelled in the former soap star’s improvement throughout the series.
‘Everything was absolutely spot on,’ Shirley gushed while Anton said the dance made him emotional.
Ellie and Vito were then left speechless as their first dance of the evening earned them 39 point out of a possible 40.
Bobby Brazier and Diane Buswell also impressed with the EastEnders actor even being tipped for Hollywood.
Following their Samba Anton branded Bobby a ‘legend’ as pointed out his ‘snake hips’ with the dance earning a score of 39 out of 40.
Ellie and Vito’s second trip around the floor proved a little less unsuccessful that saw a few mistakes and a failed lift.
Earlier in the show it was Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola who become the first couple taking to the floor with very steamy Paso Doble
The duo, who are rumoured to be an item , sizzled in their skimpy costumes before bagging nearly a perfect score
Judges Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood all praised the routine, which they previously performed earlier in the series, and revelled in the former soap star ’s improvement throughout the series
Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell also impressed the judges with the soap actor being tipped for Hollywood by the judges
Following their Samba Anton branded Bobby a ‘legend’ as pointed out his ‘snake hips’ with the dance earning a score of 39 out of 40
‘Do you know what’s amazing’ Shirley said of the tumble, ‘How how you saved it, you didn’t panic’.
As the couple then joined host Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly for the scores they were awarded 36 out of 40.
It comes after viewers were moved to tears as Amy Dowden made her return to the show’s dance floor during the final.
The professional dancer, 33, was diagnosed with breast cancer in May, and underwent a mastectomy in July, taking this year off from the show while she underwent treatment.
Ellie and Vito’s second trip around the floor proved a little less unsuccessful that saw a few mistakes and a failed lift
‘Do you know what’s amazing’ Shirley said of the tumble, ‘How how you saved it, you didn’t panic’
While she has made appearances on the programme and its spin-off It Takes Two, she had not danced with her fellow professionals before the final.
But on Saturday she took to the dance floor once again, opting to go without a wig having lost her hair following her chemotherapy.
Each celebrity and their professional dance partners will have to dance three times; their favourite dance from the series, a show dance and judges’ pick.
EastEnders actor Bobby, 20, and Dianne Buswell, 34, are set to dance their Couple’s Choice to This Woman’s Work by Maxwell.
The lyrical dance is a tribute to Bobby’s mother who died in 2007 aged 27 after a short battle with cervical cancer.
Their show dance will be to La La La Land Medley while the judges have asked them to perform their Samba to Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton.
As for Ellie, 22, and Vito, 31, they will do their show dance to Jennifer Lopez Megamix, judges’ pick Paso Doble to Insomnia by 2WEI, and their favourite routine which is the American Smooth to Ain’t That A Kick In The Head by Robbie Williams.
Layton, 29, and Nikita, 25, will showdance to Friend Like Me by Ne-Yo, do the judges’ pick which is their Quickstep to Puttin’ On The Ritz by Gregory Porter and perform their favourite dance, the Tango to Tattoo by Loreen.
Strictly Come Dancing’s 2023 final kicked off in incredible style on Saturday with a showstopping group routine
And viewers were left in ‘floods’ of tears as professional dancer Amy Dowden made her surprise return to the floor amid her cancer battle
Fans were quick to take to social media after the dancer take centre stage and strut her stuff
Strictly Come Dancing 2023 kicked off in September, hosted once again by Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman with the return of judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas.
The 15 celebrities taking to the dance floor this year were revealed to be Bobby Brazier, Annabel Croft, Les Dennis, Angela Rippon, Nigel Harman, Zara McDermott, Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Amanda Abbington, Ellie Leach, Angela Scanlon, Nikita Kanda, Adam Thomas, Eddie Kadi, Jody Cundy and Layton Williams.
Professional dancers Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Vito Coppola, Graziano Di Prima, Amy Dowden, Carlos Gu, Karen Hauer, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Gorka Márquez, Luba Mushtuk, Lauren Oakley, Giovanni Pernice, Jowita Przystał, Johannes Radebe, Michelle Tsiakkas, Kai Widdrington, and Nancy Xu also returned.
Star Amy Dowden sadly was unable to take part, after being diagnosed with breast cancer earlier in the year, but was able to make several cameos during the series.
Week One saw the couples perform for the first time and saw Nigel topping the leaderboard while Angela received a standing ovation for her Cha-cha-cha.
The first celebrity to be sent home was sadly Les, after he and his partner Nancy ended up at the bottom of the leaderboard with just 15 points.
STRICTLY COME DANCING 2023: THE CONTESTANTS’ PROFILES
Layton Williams
Age: 28
Profession: Actor
Layton says: ‘Absolutely buzzing to confirm that I will be taking part in THE most iconic dance competition in the UK! It’s time to bring it to the Ballroom. So excited to learn new skills from the best. Bring on the sequins… ALL the sequins!’
Ellie Leach
Age: 22
Profession: Coronation Street star
Ellie says: ‘It still doesn’t feel real that I’m going to be doing Strictly!! It’s always been a dream of mine so I guess dreams really do come true!!!!’
Bobby Brazier
Age: 20
Profession: EastEnders star and model
Bobby says: ‘I’m so excited to be part of the Strictly line up, I can’t wait to start training like a professional dancer and adding a few moves to my locker. I’m looking forward to performing in-front of everyone.’