Strictly's Layton Williams hints racism and homophobia could be to blame for vicious trolling he has endured over his dance background - and hits back saying: 'I'm not the first or last' contestant wi

As a top West End theatre star, Strictly finalist Layton Williams has fallen victim to online trolls who say he is too experienced at dancing to be on the show. Williams, who is dancing with male professional Nikita Kuzmin, 25, says that the level of trolling has been 'shocking' and admits that while Strictly has featured same sex couples in the past, he is the first 'queer' contestant to fully express their 'flamboyant' personality on the ballroom floor. West End theatre star Strictly finalist Layton Williams has fallen victim to online trolls who say he is too experienced at dancing to be on the show The former Billy Elliot performer has hinted that the hate could have been brought on because of his multiracial background and the fact he is gay Williams, who is dancing with male professional Nikita Kuzmin, says that the level of trolling has been 'shocking' Williams – who starred in West End hit Everybody's Talking About Jamie – also claims that his critics only lambast him when he is getting high scores and that his social media quietened down during the weeks he received lower scores from the judges, such as when he danced the Viennese Waltz to There Are Worse Things I Could Do from Grease and was given just 28 points out of 40. The Bad Education actor admits that while Strictly has featured same sex couples in the past, he is the first 'queer' contestant to fully express their 'flamboyant' personality However, in contrast to the online negativity, Williams says when he's approached by Strictly fans in the street, he is shown a lot of love Kuzmin has also called for Strictly viewers to realise that the show hasn't been easy for Williams, saying: 'I would like people to realise that I know he makes it seem easy.