Layton Williams "didn't want to harp on" about being in a same-sex couple on 'Strictly Come Dancing'.
Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin reached the final of Strictly Come Dancing in 2023
The 29-year-old actor reached the final of last year's edition of the BBC Latin and ballroom competition with professional partner Nikita Kuzmin, 26, and he found fans of the show could see a "great friendship" between the pair instead of only seeing two men dancing together.
He told Metro newspaper's Sixty Seconds column: "I love it. That was what was the great thing about me and Nikita Kuzmin. I really didn't want to be harping on about the same sex thing - we're past that.
"People could see a great friendship and the fact we really got on. And we were bringing something a little bit different because I am a bit different."
The West End star - who became part of the fourth same-sex coupling on the show following Nicola Adams and Katya Jones in 2020, 'Bake Off' winner John Whaite and Johannes Radebe in 2021, and comedienne Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer in 2022 - was "really glad" to have been paired up with Nikita, and now he sees his co-star as more of a brother.
He said: "I was really glad to do it with Nikita because he wasn't on my mood board at first, which he knows but I still feel bad for saying.
"The fact he's a straight man living his best life, we had a lot of parents telling us their boys could see themselves in Nikita being confident holding my hand and being affectionate in a platonic, brotherly way."
Layton is also known for his role as Stephen Carmichael in the BBC Three comedy series 'Bad Education' and recently reprised the role for the fifth series, but he joked there is often confusion between fans of Netflix hit 'Sex Education' because of the similar titles.
He said: "Could they not have chosen another name? People think I'm being rude when they come up to me and say, 'Oh I love you in 'Sex Education'. I'm like, 'I'm not in it, I'm in 'Bad Education'.
"We should do a crossover episode - I'd love that!"
Tagged in Nicola Adams Layton Williams John Whaite