Hamza Yassin has left Strictly Come Dancing viewers feeling emotional after breaking down in tears during the semi-finals.
The wildlife photographer, who treated viewers to a Scottish-themed dance in a kilt to Paolo Nutini, was overcome with emotion while chatting to host Claudia Winkleman after his performance.
Hamza performed the Charleston to Pencil Full of Lead by Paolo Nutini, before taking on dance partner Jowita Przystał's favourite ballroom dance, the Waltz. After two excellent routines, Hamza and Jowita topped the Strictly leaderboard with 76 points.
Following their waltz, Hamza and Jowita received high praise from judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton du Beke and head judge Shirley Ballas. While they waited to receive their scores, host Claudia asked Hamza: “How was that waltz for you?”
He replied: “Yeah just really beautiful because this is Jowita’s favourite ballroom dance to do, so to be able to do that and just dance our last ballroom is, yeah, something special.”
Earlier in the show, Jowita played a series of video messages from Hamza's family and friends wishing him luck and expressing how proud they are. After watching the clip, the 32-year-old was visibly emotional seeing the messages from his loved ones.
Claudia brought this up while chatting to Hamza on the live show. Wiping away tears, he said: “Thank you to everybody, it’s just been an amazing journey. Wow!”
Jowita gave Hamza a comforting hug as he tried to hold back his tears and compose himself. The CBeebies star was met with raucous applause from the Strictly audience after Claudia announced the judges marks were in.
The couple received a 9 from Craig, Shirley and Anton while Motsi scored them a 10, totalling 37.
Upon hearing their scores, Hamza and Jowita hugged before he broke down in tears again, bringing his hand to his face. He told Jowita: “You are such a brilliant partner,” with Claudia then asking her: “Why does this boy deserve to be in the final?”
The Polish professional dancer replied saying: “I mean, the first time when I met you I asked you for the trust, and your energy, and you gave me much more than that. And seeing you every day going out of your comfort zone and working so hard and giving me 120% every time, it’s amazing.”
“But what makes me the proudest teacher in the world is that you always go there on the night and you dance from your heart, and thank you for that.”
Strictly Come Dancing results show will air at 8:15pm on BBC One tomorrow night.
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