Strictly Come Dancing star Layton Williams has revealed the moment he began to embrace his sexuality and came out as gay.
The 29-year-old West End star moved to London in 2007 to star as Billy Elliot before playing Kylie Parkinson in the BBC series Beautiful People, which first aired in 2008.
Layton appeared on The One Show on Wednesday and credited his teachers with making him comfortable enough to be his true self.
The One Show celebrated Teachers’ Week and co-host Alex Jones said: ‘Layton, of course, Bad Education. You play a teacher in it.’
Layton interjected, “Potentially the worst teacher ever.”
“I didn’t want to say that, but you said it.” Alex joked before asking Layton, “Have there been any teachers who have inspired you along the way?”
Inspired: Strictly Come Dancing star Layton Williams told his teachers he was comfortable enough to come out as gay when he appeared on The One Show on Wednesday
Child actor: Layton moved to London in 2007 to star as Billy Elliot in the musical of the same name before playing Kylie (pictured) in BBC’s Beautiful People, which first aired in 2008
Layton replied: “Yes, I think when I first moved to London. I had some teachers who were very open, cheerfully gay and wonderful, and it was the first time I ever saw that as a young boy.
‘So I was kind of thinking, “Oh my God, you seem happy and fantastic too, I might try that.”
“That made me come out of my shell a little bit more, and honestly, jump out of the closet.”
‘So it was wonderful. You don’t realize how those little bits of representation can be very meaningful.’
Layton finished, “Shout out to Matt and Damian. I love you.'(sic).
The West End star is currently competing in season 21 of the celebrity dancing competition, and his partner Nikita Kuzmin, 25, joined him on the sofa.
Layton and Nikita have collected the most points in the competition so far with 319, but Ellie Leach and Vita Coppola are hot on their heels with 309.
Both pairs achieved a near perfect score of 39 during Week 9: Blackpool Week, with 9, 10, 10, 10.
Perfect Couple: Layton and Nikita Kuzmin, 25, are currently the highest grossing couple on Strictly Come Dancing (pictured during their Week 9 performance)
Genie: Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Essiedu star in Richard Curtis’ new film Genie, which he describes as a ‘solid rom-com’
Also on the sofa was Richard Curtis, the man behind Love Actually, Notting Hill and Four Weddings And A Funeral, who was there to talk about his new film Genie, starring Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Essiedu.
Fans were eager to know whether the movie, which was released that day, was a rom-com or not, and co-host Jermaine Janas asked Richard the question.
Richard replied, “It’s kind of a regular rom-com.
‘It starts with a man whose life falls apart, and his wife and his child leave him because he just works too hard and is never there and misses his birthday, and then we fix the ‘rom’ so that I hope, I hope, it ends happy.’