Williams, 29, who is known for his role in BBC Three’s Bad Education, was revealed to be partnered with professional dancer Kuzmin, 25, in Saturday’s launch episode, becoming the series’ only same-sex couple.
Discussing the moment he found out his partner was Kuzmin, Williams told the PA news agency: “I was a little surprised, just because I didn’t think I was gonna be with Nikita.
“But I feel like, even over the last few days, we’ve spent so much time together this week, we’re raring to go.” Talking about the spot where they met, Williams said: “It was so beautiful, we met each other on this part of town that overlooks the whole city, but it’s really nostalgic for me”
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“It’s where I used to go with my grandparents and just go for like cute walks when I was a kid and I’ve literally not been there since I was a kid.”
Speaking on what it was like to be partnered with Williams, Kuzmin said: “It’s like a scene out of a movie, to see the whole view… Layton just standing there.”
“Me tapping on his shoulder, him turning around very surprised, hopefully positively surprised, with a big smile. It’s just honestly such a cool moment.”
Williams, who is an experienced dancer and performer, having starred in the musicals Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Billy Elliot: The Musical, said that he was “ready” for any criticism from the judges.
He said: “I’m ready. I’m an actor so part of my job is to do something and then the director to come up to me and be like ‘child you better do that better, because I wasn’t believing it.”
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“So I can take a note. I would like to think, very much so, like if you’re giving me a note that is gonna make me look better, my performance better… I feel like constructive criticism is cute.”
He added: “I think I deal with pressure pretty well. I am used to doing some elements of live performance, however not to millions of people. So that’s just different.”
The same-sex dance couple follow in the footsteps of Nicola Adams and Katya Jones, who competed as Strictly’s first same-sex couple in 2020.
John Whaite and Johannes Radebe were the first male same-sex couple to perform on the show in 2021. Strictly Come Dancing will return on Saturday September 23 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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