Strictly Come Dancing: Bury stars reach top of leaderboard

The 29-year-old Bad Education star danced the salsa with his partner Nikita Kuzmin and earned an almost perfect score from the judges.

The pair said how this was the first week they’ve had to include lifts into their routine which Layton admitted was “really scary”.

Read more: Bury's Layton Williams talks about his accent on Graham Norton Show

They came out dancing to a Spanish themed song and received a standing ovation from Motsi Mabuse for their performance.

She said: “Sometimes when I go back home, I watch everything over and over again but this dance is going to be my wake up call. It was incredible.”

Head judge Shirley Ballas said: “This is a very magical team. You are both on the same page when it comes to choreography and movement.

“For me this was A star!”

They received a near perfect score with a total of 39, receiving three 10s from Motsi, Shirley and Anton Du Beke and a nine from Craig Revel Horwood.

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Nikita said after the dance: “We always want to bring something to the show and every week our only mission is to make a good performance and just make everybody happy.”

Claudia Winkleman revealed to the pair that they hadn’t had a score of 39 in week five for 13 years.

Layton and Nikita received a near perfect score (Image: BBC Iplayer)

Layton and Nikita made Strictly history last weekend, picking up the earliest ever 10 for a cha cha cha.

Bury-born star Ellie Leach also received high praise from the judges after she danced the Paso Doble with her partner Vito Coppola to Insomnia.

Read more: Layton Williams top of leaderboard

Anton said: “Sometimes you get a moment where everything is just right and that was the moment.”

Ellie and Vito scored their first 10 (Image: BBC Iplayer)

The pair picked up a score of 37 and received a 10 from Motsi Mabuse and nines from the other judges making them second from the top of the leaderboard in tonight’s episode.