ANTON Du Beke has defended giving Layton Williams top marks on Strictly Come Dancing after the contestant was accused of being a "professional dancer".
The judge explained his reasons for being so generous on It Takes Two while chatting to former pro and presenter Janette Manrara.
Anton explained Layton's salsa during Halloween week was "outstanding."
He added on the BBC Two spin-off: "Really, there wasn’t anything to not like.
"Again, I talk about this wonderful package of a dance, and it all came together perfectly.
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"I think about it in a way, I’m not sure what else he would be able to do, even if he had more time. So for me it was perfect. It was a 10."
But Anton insisted Layton still had lots of room for improvement along with the other celebrities.
He added: "Talking about Layton, they’ve all struggled with ballroom. And they’ve all struggled with posture."
Throughout the BBC One dance contest, the former pro has been kinder to the celebs and handed out higher marks than his fellow judges.
Anton's antics have left fans unimpressed though as they insisted he wasn't being fair.
Meanwhile, the stars of Strictly Come Dancing are said to be ‘frustrated’ about competing against Layton because of his dance background.
The West End star, 29, has scored a series of high marks throughout the series thanks to his impressive routines with Nikita Kuzmin.
But according to reports, Layton is starting to rub the other celebs up the wrong way.
A source told the Mail on Sunday: “Of course there have always been dancers of different standards on Strictly, that's part of the show's greatness.
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“But this is ridiculous, he is as good or even better than his professional partner. There is such an uneven playing field here that it is impossible for any of the other contestants to have a chance of winning, even if the viewers do enjoy watching a celebrity's journey.
“While there might not be a rule that professional dancers can't take part, it absolutely goes against the spirit of the show.”
They added: “Look at someone like Krishnan Guru-Murthy, he has built up a huge fan base and is wonderful to watch, and Angela Rippon. But they are blown out of the water each week by someone who is a professional dancer.”
Former star James Jordan also thinks Strictly has "gone too far" by having professional dancers on the show.
He told HELLO!: "He is a fully trained, professional dancer. When they came out, you had essentially two professional dancers next to each other.
"Do I feel Strictly are going too far by bringing on professionally trained l dancers? Yes."
Layton studied street dance and drama at Carol Godby's Theatre workshop in Bury.
He has also studied ballet at Centre Pointe, Manchester.
Other recent stage credits include Rent, Hairspray The Musical and The Car Man.
