Strictly’s Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin FINALLY get perfect score after mesmerising Paso Doble

Saturday night’s Strictly Come Dancing was a show of highs and lows as Musicals Week saw Nigel Harman withdraw from the competition and Layton Williams get his first 40 of the season. 

Dancing a mesmerising Paso Doble to songs from Moulin Rouge, the Bad Education actor and his dance partner Nikita Kuzmin blew the judges away with their immaculate performance – topping the leaderboard and marking the first time all four judges have issued the pair tens across the board.

In a dark and dynamic duet, Layton and Nikita swept across the floor in perfect synchronisation. Take a look at their perfect Paso in the clip below…

 Layton received a standing ovation from judge Motsi Mabuse, who said: “This is how you come back from a dance off.”

She added: “I have to commend both of you, because of all of this negativity you have been receiving, and to shine week on week, never losing yourself, always trying to push the boundaries and bring something different and special. You were STUNNING!”

Craig Revel-Horwood, the only judge yet to give Layton and Nikita a ten in the competition, simply said: “Fab-U-lous!”

Musicals Week was one close to Layton’s heart, as the star first made a name for himself on the stage when he was cast as Billy Elliot in the West End in 2007. 

© Guy Levy

After landing in the dance off last week, the 29-year-old star took a short break from social media, before finally breaking his silence alongside his dance partner. 

© Guy Levy

“Hey guys, we haven’t spoken to you a lot this week because we [have been] pushing and pushing a lot after being in the dance-off which was obviously not the greatest thing in the world,” Nikita began.

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© BBC

“But we’re coming back for you, we’re coming back for ourselves, and come back fight. The paso doble to Moulin Rouge feels fun, and we’re 100 percent committed to the role, and Layton’s doing a really good job.”

© Guy Levy

Layton then added: “We hope to do you all proud and go out there and hopefully absolutely smash it. It’s musicals week, it’s the quarter finals, so we shall see. But we’re feeling good about it.”