Born in Manchester in 1994, Layton Williams is a musical theater performer and TV actor. Sent from the Dicky Bird estate in Bury to the West End at the age of 12, Williams landed his first role as the lead in Billy Elliot the Musical. With a scholarship from the Italia Conti Academy of Theater Arts, she toured the UK with the hit musicals Rent and Hairspray, as well as starring in the TV comedy Bad Education and the 2021 adaptation of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Williams, a finalist on Strictly Come Dancing in 2023, is currently on her live tour.
This was filmed in a local Bury shopping centre. The person who jumped would be a George in the Asda special. I look so sweet, like butter won’t melt.
I was a good kid. He is very energetic, always running. He’s the kind of person who wants to play with everyone. My brother and I were close in age, we were joined at the hip, and we wore the same clothes. He was wearing the same sweater in his photo at the mall.
I have seven brothers and one sister. I was staying with my mother during the week and seeing my father on the weekends. It was a beautiful but confusing family dynamic. Me and one of my brothers look nothing alike. We have different fathers. Sometimes people didn’t believe we were brothers. I should have said: “Well, yes. “We share the same bedroom and he’s really annoying.”
There wasn’t a lot of representation for boys like me in the 2000s. I was a bitch but inside I was a diva ready to explode
I’ve always been an entertainer; A person who lifts people’s morale. My favorite thing about pre-professional performance was learning dances from music videos. MTV was my only chance to watch the Spice Girls’ Wannabe; didn’t have a laptop to watch it on YouTube. If it happened, I had to be present in the moment and learn as much as I could before the end of the choreography, and then wait another 24 hours to see it again. Then there were Barbies. I would prepare clothes for them and do their hair. I was a very impressive little boy.
As I got older, I realized that I needed to be my own role model, because boys like me weren’t represented very much in the 2000s. I was a bitch, but inside I was a diva ready to explode. Instead of sparkly pants, I was wearing my McKenzie tracksuit and pretending to be one of the kids on the site. Queer kids grow up pretending to be someone else as much as they can until they feel like they’ll be accepted. I couldn’t be myself for the first ten years of my life. I was wearing a straitjacket.
When I went for the Billy Elliot role I was the only person who auditioned who looked like me. It was a room full of white boys, and it made me feel reluctant to go in. It wasn’t normal for me to be in environments where I was the only black person. There were all walks of life on my property, so the whole experience was unknown. Not only that, but I had no idea what an audition was and I had never done those dance steps before. I felt like I didn’t belong. But I did my own thing, my own moves. I faked it until I made it and was hired because of my talent.
I would party. I went out and lived the years I couldn’t live when I felt repressed
When I got these roles I was none the wiser that there would be hoo-ha about being the first black Billy or Jamie; I just did it. Looking back, I think it’s kind of iconic. The best part was setting an example and inspiring people, young kids. There was a moment when I was auditioning the kid who was going to take over from me in Jamie. They were having open talks, and as I headed towards the building I saw hundreds of kids lined up on the corner; white boys, black boys, people of all backgrounds. This made me very proud. If I didn’t have this piece, would that line look like that? I’m not sure it will happen.
When I bought this I moved to LondonBilly’s roleand two years later some ladies named Maria and Val took me in. They were a lesbian couple. Suddenly I was living in a gay household and it was normal to just be me. I can’t emphasize enough how beautiful this is. I lived with them for over a decade and only moved out a few years ago. There were no rules. I could dress however I wanted and express myself. I went from hiding myself to living with this wonderful couple who are the perfect example of love. I would wear these tiny heels to make my breakfast. Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. wandering around the kitchen.
I also embraced the Topshop era. I would go there and buy something pink. I was obsessed. I want whatever piece I can get my hands on that will make me different. I remember being dragged for wearing Converse and Ugg boots. All men wear them now!
Besides Maria and Val, I started meeting people in London who showed me the life I could one day have. When I was training at Italia Conti college in central London, I would be at GAY, the club in Soho, every Friday and Saturday night. I would party. I went out and lived the years I couldn’t live when I felt suppressed. Clearly it was the best to be out there, seeing gorgeous, happy people. That was the number one thing for me: happiness.
However, I’m not Layton all the time, bam-bam-bam, ready to kill. As artists, especially queer people, it’s important for people to know that we are three-dimensional. Of course, I also have an exaggerated version. I definitely felt like I needed to be “on.” But I have a softer, colder side; A side of me that only my friends and family can see.
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Recently, the concept of privacy has become very important. Last six months tested [Williams received criticism online and in tabloids claiming his dancing background gave him an unfair advantage on Strictly]. Many people would have been devastated by the attention I was receiving, and there was a time when I was lying in bed, tears flowing, wondering, “How am I going to make it through this?” There were moments when I thought. But I’ve come to a point where I have to believe that as long as my family and friends accept me, that’s all that matters.
My childhood also prepared me. I’m so used to being scrutinized. When I was 12 I was running an entire West End company, I was the star of the show. Then television work came along and I was in that machine. I was no Lindsay Lohan, but working in this industry from a very young age gave me a thick skin. Now I’m ready for all possibilities.
I used to think that my path to entertainment was a form of escape from my childhood self. But since then I’ve done a 360: I absolutely love being from Bury. I came back recently and was waltzing around the grounds. People stopped me and said: “We’re proud of you, our Bury lad!” It wasn’t like that when I grew up, but now I can own my situation, walk with my head held high and say, “Come take a selfie, my dears!” I can say.