Hamza Yassin has thanked Scotland for getting him through to tomorrow’s Strictly Come Dancing final. And the bookies’ favourite said: “I hope that I do you guys proud.”
The 32-year-old gentle giant has become a Scottish national treasure on the BBC One show. Almost an unknown when he started, he’s waltzed into the hearts of his adopted homeland and needs Scotland to vote to fulfil his dream of winning the Glitterball.
He said: “I was born in Africa, raised there a little bit, but my newfound love is Scotland and I want to say thank you to all the Scottish people voting and helping me through and I hope that I do you guys proud this weekend.”
Cameraman and presenter Hamza, who wore a kilt for last Sunday’s semi-final, has lived in Scotland since his early twenties. His home for almost 13 years has been in Kilchoan, on the peninsula of Ardnamurchan beside the Sound of Mull in Lochaber. He said: “It’s such a beautiful place to be in, and I truly feel that I’m a Scotsman.”
His village is right behind him as are the rest of Scotland ahead of tomorrow’s 2022 final. It means the world to him.
He said: “Scotland is my home, and where I cut my teeth as a wildlife cameraman. I started off when I finished university and I moved straight up to Scotland living in the back of my car for nine months. But during that time, I made some amazing friends and got welcomed into the west coast of Scotland and just really saw how amazing the people are there and now I’ve been there nearly 13 years.
“It’s crazy because when I first came to the UK at the age of 13 I got my first kilt. After that, I’ve always been wearing kilts whenever I get the chance, so so it means the world to me. It will always be my home and I will never leave it, as such. I might travel the world and go see and film some beautiful places but I’ll always come back to my homeland of Scotland.”
The last man standing, he and pro partner Jowita Przystal, 28, are up against Helen Skelton, Fleur East, Molly Rainford and their partners. He’d love to win the show and said: “It would be like the icing on the cake, Christmas, Easter and birthdays all mixed together.”
The show has already done him a lot of good. He’s lost a stone-and-a-half in weight and four or five inches around his waist. He said: “I’m seeing body parts redefined. I feel so much happier, fitter and healthier and hope I can keep it going. It’ll be amazing if I can.”
Showing his suit, he pointed out it was tailored to fit him at the start in September and he now has to wear a belt to keep the trousers up. Strictly has also helped with what had been a crippling lack of self-confidence.
Even during the press conference – on the eve of the Strictly final that lack of belief returned. Hamza, who is dyslexic, admitted his lack of confidence had been his “main struggle” in the competition.
He revealed: “Confidence is a tough gig. Each week is a new dance and it feels like you’re back at square one again and you’re learning a different hold. You have to act some of the dances.
“I’m certainly out of my comfort zone. If you put me with my cameraman in front of a charging lion I’d be like ‘cool’ I know what it’s going to do and I’m confident. But on Strictly I’m in clothes I’d never wear doing stuff I wouldn’t normally do.
“I don’t hear the music I feel it. But I feel my dyslexia helps me out in my dancing. So I have that to rely on. The 3D thinking I know where we are meant to be. But my confidence is certainly better.”
The emotions got the better of him at the start of the week when he got through to the final. Despite his and Jowita’s two semi-final dances – the Charleston and the Waltz – making them the highest scoring couple on Sunday, he couldn’t hide his shock that they were through to the final.
Unbelievably Hamza thought he would be voted out EVERY week despite some amazing performances. For many he was the man to beat after the opening show when he and Jowita scored 34 out of 40 for the first live show for their Jive to Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca.
Then who could forget week seven when he and Jowita scored three perfect 10s for their cha cha cha to The Four Tops’ I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch). It got a standing ovation from judges Motsi Mabuse and Shirley Ballas who gave them 10s as well as fellow judge Anton Du Beke. Meanie Craig Revel Horwood spoiled the party with an eight.
They also topped the leaderboard in weeks four and five. And while Hamza thought each week he’d be voted out, it was perhaps his secret weapon as he went out to do the best that he could.
Hamza, who admitted after the first live show that his feet were so sore it felt like he’d run a marathon, said: “Every week I thought this is the week I’m gong to go out. Might as well give it a roll. Want to do one lift? Let’s do three.”
Now he’s in tomorrow’s final he has to pinch himself. He added: “I didn’t think we’re going to be here. I thought week one – get going. I didn’t think I could dance. I still don’t think I can dance.”
Strictly fans will, of course, be shocked to hear that, given just how good he is. Trying to explain his process it’s clear that he’s leaned heavily on Polish professional Jowita.
Their bond is strong. He said: “In training she sees me day one step one. She goes: ‘it’s week seven’. No, it’s week one because it’s a brand new dance. Then she sees the finished product. I can’t give her anything in life she can’t get herself. The only thing I can do is my best on that dancefloor.”
Hamza is nervous but also excited ahead of the final and can’t wait to “have fun and relive some cool memories”. He added: “The whole journey has gone so fast.”
While Hamza has become a big dancing fan through Strictly, nature will always be his first love. As a cameraman on Countryfile and Animal Park as well as a presenter on Scottish wildlife programmes including Channel 4’s Scotland: My Life in the Wild and Scotland: Escape to the Wilderness he is most at home surrounded by nature.
His biggest aim is to “look after Mother Nature” and hopes whether he wins or not he’ll have a platform to do more documentaries about his passion. Hamza already has a trip to Peru for a documentary booked and will be on the Strictly tour at the start of 2023 including five shows at the Glasgow OVO Hydro from February 10-12.
He also hopes to bring Jowita to see his home in Scotland and go to Poland. And he promised: “I can guarantee I will keep dancing – just maybe not 10 hours a day.”
● The final of Strictly Come Dancing airs tomorrow on BBC One at 7.05pm.
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