Hamza Yassin: Who is the Strictly Come Dancing 2022 finalist?

Wildlife presenter has made it to the final

Strictly Come Dancing is drawing to a close.

Among the finalists competing for the Glitterball Trophy is Hamza Yassin – but who is he, and what has he said about Strictly 2022?

Most will know Yassin best from his work on Countryfile as a guest presenter and cameraman.

As well as this, he can be seen on the BBC programme Animal Park, and has presented other programmes about Scottish wildlife.

Younger viewers will recognise him from the CBeebies live-action show Let’s Go For A Walk. He will also appear in the forthcoming series Ranger Hamza’s Eco Quest.

He is coupled up with Jowita Przystał.

Speaking about how he hoped Strictly would improve his fitness, he said: “My biggest challenge will be my weight and my fitness, I’m a big dude and I think I’m strong but imagine me like a rhino where I can have a short burst of energy and then I’m knackered afterwards.

Yassin and partner Jowita Przystał (BBC/Guy Levy)

“So I don’t want to be a rhino, I want to be a dolphin that’s constantly moving through water that can go for hours and hours. I want to be the fittest that I’ve ever been in my life. I’m an ex rugby player. What we do in rugby is completely different to what you do on the dance floor, but I reckon a lot of it will transfer.”

Yassin found himself at joint top of the Strictly leaderboard during the show’s first week with an impressive 34 points after wowing with a Foxtrot to “Islands in the Stream”. In week two, his Jive got him to third place on the leaderboard, but his week three Rumba saw him drop down to near the bottom with 25 points.

In week four, Yassin astonished the audience and the judges with his incredible lifts in his Salsa. He scored 39 – the highest points anyone in the series had achieved at that point.

In week five, Yassin wowed the judges once again with a Cha-cha-cha that Shirley Ballas called “one of the best I’ve ever seen”. He was scored 38 in total, after being awarded three 10s. He missed out on the chance to get full marks due to Craig Revel Horwood’s score of eight.

Week eight saw Yassin bring Afrobeat to the ballroom. Anton Du Beke said he was “sunshine and joy”. He impressed once again with brilliant lifts, which are fast becoming his speciality. He scored 38.

In week 10 – the quarter-final – Yassin performed a Samba, and received a score of 36.

Strictly Come Dancing’s finale airs tonight.