The first song I remember hearing
‘Happy Birthday To You’
“It’s just the first jingle that anybody, surely, learns. When you were a kid it always felt nice to be celebrated, didn’t it?”
The first album I bought
Busted – ‘A Present for Everyone’
“Busted had like the most amazing Christmas advert – it was just like, ‘This is the album that you need to buy for Christmas.’ When you’re so young, you’re just like, ‘OK, well I guess that’s what I want!’ I wasn’t necessarily a Busted fan. No shade, but that’s just the truth.”
Did you know that this album won Worst Album at the NME Awards 2005…
“Well there you go. I wish it was something more poignant but I was genuinely pulled in by the marketing. So shoutout to their team. I was obsessed.”
The first gig I went to
The Pussycat Dolls at MEN Arena, Manchester, 2006
“It was on their first tour, which was The PCD World Tour. Not Doll Domination, though I went to both. I was with my mum and my step-mum, which was the cutest thing. They took me as a double present. They opened the show by coming through a tunnel [while singing] the song ‘Buttons’. I’d never had that feeling of seeing an artist that I loved before, and I was absolutely obsessed with them. So I think I started crying… My mum told me to get a grip!”
The song that reminds me of home
Ashanti – ‘Happy’ feat. Ja Rule
“It makes me think of my mum – being at home in Greater Manchester, just singing along. Back in the day, we’d have the music channels on… and singing this song made me feel happy.”
The song I wish I’d written
Jamie Woon – ‘Street’
“I saw him at Latitude Festival years ago. I was with my friend. It’s not usually my type of music but he really had us all in the palm of his hand. I remember being like, ‘OK, I’m definitely gonna get into his stuff.’ Then I remember specifically playing this song in Thailand when I was there for a couple of weeks. It reminds me of happy times.”
The song I can’t get out of my head
Whitney Houston – ‘Million Dollar Bill’
“We had a good old dance to that last week on Strictly Come Dancing [Williams is currently competing on the BBC dance competition] and got our highest score so far. It’s an absolute bop. When you’re dancing to a bop, it kind of doesn’t leave your brain. So it’s still in there.”
The song I can no longer listen to
Terry Jacks – ‘Seasons In The Sun’
“It’s my granddad’s favourite song and they played it at his funeral. So whenever I hear that come on, which is very rare, it makes me a bit sad. It was even more sad because I was sat with my nan. She and my granddad divorced before I can even remember. So it was the first moment in my life that I realised how much love my nan had for my granddad because I’ve never seen them together. Seeing how emotional this song made her, made it even more emotional for me.”
The song that makes me want to dance
Whitney Houston – ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’
“If you’re at a function when this song comes on and you’re not dancing on the dance floor, then you are dry.”
The song that makes me cry
Billy Elliot The Musical – ‘The Letter’
“It was a song that, as my character [Williams performed in Billy Elliot in London’s West End], I used to sing to my mum who had passed in the show and it always made me think of my mum. So if that song plays, it really pulls on the heartstrings.”
The song I do at karaoke
Grease medley
“You know those holidays you go on when you’re a kid with your mates? There was a karaoke bar in Nerja, in Spain just north of Malaga, and we used to go there all the time for pre drinks before we got into Plaza Tutti Frutti [the centre of Nerja nightlife]. Anyway we used to go to this bar for free drinks and to sing for like an hour and a half. That was a perfect night.”
The song I want played at my funeral
The Pussycat Dolls – ‘When I Grow Up’
“It’d be kind of ironic when I’m, hopefully, very old and gone.”
Layton Williams is currently performing on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, which airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Saturday evenings