The Birthday Game: Derek
Derek from Boreham Street in East Sussex turned 56.
He described himself as a “paint application technician” after being unable to give himself a pay rise as a painter and decorator.
He lived near Herstmonceux Castle and the observatory associated with Patrick Moore and The Sky at Night.
Derek enjoyed hip-hop, particularly Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre.
His first spin was D:Ream’s Things Can Only Get Better. He rejected it.
The second was Basshunter’s Now You’re Gone. He rejected that too.
His compulsory final song was Rosemary Clooney’s Mambo Italiano, which had first reached number one in 1955.
Derek called it upbeat and cheerful and accepted the unexpected result.
Layton Williams
Layton Williams joined Scott after reaching the final of Strictly Come Dancing.
He said he had known he could move but had not realised how far the programme would push his dancing.
Layton and Nikita Kuzmin laughed throughout rehearsals, even when Nikita attempted to become serious.
The pair still spoke regularly, and Layton joked that Nikita had asked why he was doing a press day without him.
The Strictly tour
Layton was preparing for the arena tour and expected plenty of chaos on the tour bus.
Scott remembered asking producers during his own tour whether he should practise more, only to be told he should get worse rather than better.
Layton planned to embrace the arena experience like a pop star and imagined shouting to different cities in an exaggerated American stage voice.
Bad Education
Layton returned as Stephen Carmichael in series five of Bad Education.
His character had begun as a pupil at Abbey Grove and was now teaching there.
Layton said Stephen might be even worse than Jack Whitehall’s Alfie Wickers because he made the pupils do tasks that helped him personally, although the character still had heart.
The final weeks of filming overlapped with Strictly, forcing Layton to travel from live shows at Elstree to south-east London.
He had originally joined Bad Education as a teenager and arrived at his first audition wearing his actual school uniform.
Handover
Scott handed over after playing Loreen’s Tattoo, the track used for Layton and Nikita’s Argentine tango.
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