Hamza Yassin quickly danced his way to the top of the Strictly leaderboard, and has been there ever since.
Tipped to win the BBC contest, the wildlife photographer and presenter has dazzled the judges with his energetic Salsas and Quicksteps alongside professional partner Jowita Przystal.
The Glitterball hopeful was born in Sudan and has credited his African heritage with his sense of rhythm. Aged eight, Hamza moved to Northampton where it was thought he would eventually study medicine like the rest of his family.
"I planned to follow my family, who are all medics, into the profession," the star - who is also known as CBeebies' Ranger Hamza - told The Herald.
"I felt pressure to do it, so I decided to be a dentist like my brother. But when I saw his textbooks, and what he had to do, I realised it was going to be super-hard for me. I am dyslexic and it was definitely a factor in my decision – but I also had another dream to follow, which had always been in my head growing up.
"So, I told my family I wanted to do wildlife film-making, switched to zoology and they were 100 per cent behind me."
Hamza, 32, graduated with a degree in zoology with conservation from the University of Bangor in 2011, followed by a Master's degree in biological photography and imaging from the University of Nottingham.
After that, he fell in love with the wildlife in the Scottish West Highlands, in particular the golden eagles and the red deer, and spent two weeks convincing his parents to let him leave the family home and move there.
At 21, he drove more than 500 miles to start a new life, living in his estate car and washing his clothes at the community centre for months just so he could be close to nature.
Eventually, the locals took him under their wing and helped him find holiday homes to stay in.
They are also his eyes and ears when it comes to tracking down wildlife.
He told the Daily Record: "Everybody knows what I do and I have 150 pairs of eyes on wildlife for me.
"Someone will tell me, 'Hamza, there's buzzards nesting in the tree.' It's lovely to have that relationship."
Hamza has always marched to the beat of his own drum, so much so that he's refused to have his hair cut for the last 17 years.
His long locks trail down to his calves, and he won't let anyone with a pair of scissors anywhere near him - least of all his mum.
"I remember, my mum used to sit me down, me, my brother and my dad, and just give us the number two the whole time," he recalled on This Morning, sharing the moment that led him to say 'enough'.
"I just rebelled one year, I'm like, 'I'm done'. And that was it!" he expained.
The last exception he made came after an incident on one of his adventures.
"There's been bits that have [been] trimmed because I was in the Arctic and it dipped in a bit of engine oil so it'll get snipped off every now and then," he told Good Morning Britain.
"My hair is part of me and Jowita's nice enough to put up with it in training."
*Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 6:50pm on BBC One
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