17 December 2023 , 14:45
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Strictly Come Dancing drew to a close on Saturday evening, December 16, with Coronation Street star Ellie Leach lifting the coveted Glitterball trophy.
It ended in tears and joy but sadly some fans weren't too happy with the results. Taking to social media yesterday, viewers claimed Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin were 'robbed' after they lost out in the competition. During the final, Layton and Nikita secured two perfect scores for two of their dances when the judges gave a total of 40 points.
Nikita Kuzmin is best known for his dancing skills after finding fame on Strictly Come Dancing. The star is no stranger to the spotlight and is one of the most loved professionals on the show, but away from the limelight he lives a relatively quiet life.
Viewers claimed Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin were 'robbed' after failing to win show (BBC)The Ukrainian dancer was destined for a life of success after winning multiple dance competitions before moving to TV. Here's a look at Nikita's life:
Diabetes diagnoses
Nikita has been open about being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 13 and still continuing his dancing career. He calls it his "superpower" and despite worrying at first it might impact his dancing, he soon found out many other famous faces live with the disease.
Strictly's Molly Rainford and Tyler West fuel romance rumours while on tour
Appearing on Morning Live, he said: "When I found out, I thought, 'My career's over,' and the next morning I woke up and I saw all those kids smiling and they were happy and they were diabetics just like me. I went out of my room and - this is one of my best memories in my life - there was this wall of fame.
"It was all of the famous, successful diabetics - Olympians, Paralympians, presidents, actors - everything. And actually, I think I made quite a few of them up because I thought there was quite a few more people than there actually were. I checked a couple of days ago and most of them were not even there."
Nikita joined Strictly in 2021
Nikita is currently in a same-sex couple on StrictlyLove Life
Nikita is currently in a relationship with Australian TikTok star Charlie Backshall. Little is known about their relationship but the pair are said to have been dating for months. Before this, he was in a long term relationship with choreographer and designer Nicole Wirt but they called time on their romance in 2022 after five years together. While they were an item they kept their romance low-key and rarely posted about each other on social media.
During 2022's series of Strictly Nikita was rumoured to be dating contestant CBBC star Molly Rainford. However, this rumour was short lived as she is now in a relationship with fellow contestant Tyler West.
He is currently in a relationship with Australian TikTok star Charlie Backshall (nikita__kuzmin/Instagram)
Nikita is smitten with his girlfriend (Instagram)Dancing career
Nikita first joined the Strictly cast back in 2021 and has danced alongside Tilly Ramsay and Ellie Simmonds. He and Ellie were the sixth couple to leave the show in 2022 whereas, Tilly managed to reach the show just before the quarter finals.
However, before Strictly, Nikita had quite the impressive dance career. After growing up in Ukraine, when he was just nine he and his family moved to Italy so his sister could pursue her dance career.
But, it wasn't long before the family realised Nikita had quite the talent as well, as he now has six national Italian championship titles to his name. Before joining Strictly, he was a dancer on the German competition show Let's Dance for one series.