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Hamza Ahmed Yassin (born 22nd February, 1990) is a British wildlife cameraman and presenter, known for his role as Ranger Hamza on the children's television channel CBeebies and his work on shows such as Countryfile and Animal Park, as well as presenting programmes about Scottish wildlife. In 2022, he won the twentieth series of the BBC contest Strictly Come Dancing.

Early life and education

Yasin was born in Sudan on 22nd February, 1990. His parents worked as gynaecologists. The family moved to Northampton in the UK when Hamza was eight years old. When he arrived in the UK, he only spoke four words of English: he began to learn the language by watching David Attenborough's series The Life of Birds. After being diagnosed as dyslexic as a teenager while a student at Wellingborough School, he was supported throughout the rest of his studies. He went on to achieve a degree in Zoology with Conservation from Bangor University and a Masters in Biological Photography and Imaging from the University of Nottingham.

Career

When he was 21, Yassin moved to the Scottish Highlands to study the local wildlife and develop his career; he now lives in Kilchoan.

Yassin is known for the CBeebies shows Let's Go for a Walk, in the role of Ranger Hamza, and he has written a book based on the series. In late 2020, he presented Scotland: My Life in the Wild, a one-off Channel 4 documentary about his life and the wildlife living on the Ardnamurchan peninsula in the Highlands of Scotland.

Yassin has appeared on The One Show and as a guest presenter on Countryfile, and in 2021 he joined the BBC series Animal Park about the lives of keepers and animals at Longleat Safari Park. In the same year, he presented Scotland: Escape to the Wilderness, a four-part Channel 4 series in which he took four celebrities (Martin Clunes, Baroness Warsi, Ben Miller and Richard Coles) to wild locations around Scotland, showing them the local wildlife.

In 2022, he appeared as a contestant on the twentieth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnering with Jowita Przystał. On 17th December, 2022, despite finishing bottom of the leaderboard in the final, they were announced as winners of the series, which also meant Przystał won the Glitterball the first time she had a celebrity partner.

References

1. ^ Martha Kearney (12 December 2024). This Natural Life (Radio broadcast). BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
2. "'I'd rather face a polar bear than step on the dancefloor': Strictly's Hamza Yassin on salsa, Scotland and singledom". the Guardian. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
3. Clark, Rylan (2023). "How to be a man: Hamza Yassin". bbc.co.uk.
4. "'Strictly Come Dancing: Hamza Yassin's mum's pride at former Wellingborough School pupil's achievement". Northamptonshire Telegraph. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
5. McDonald, Sally (19 September 2022). "Countryfile's Hamza Yassin on why Highland life will help him on the dancefloor". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
6. "BANGOR UNIVERSITY ZOOLOGY ALUMNUS SHARES HIS PASSION FOR CONSERVATION IN CHANNEL 4 DOCUMENTARY". The Bangor Aye. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
7. Alao, Lola Christina (6 October 2022). "Who is Hamza Yassin? Family, career, dyslexia, and his remote Scottish home". Evening Standard. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
8. "Strictly star Hamza can't wait for Scotland's home crowd roar". BBC News. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
9. "Let's Go for a Walk". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
10. Ranger Hamza (1 June 2021). Let's Go for a Walk. Ivy Kids. ISBN 978-0711264458.
11. "Hamza Yassin". Retrieved 28 September 2022 – via PressReader.
12. Nicole Vassell (23 September 2022). "Who is the Strictly Come Dancing 2022 contestant Hamza Yassin?". The Independent. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
13. grace@carameldesign.com (20 December 2021). "Wildlife Cameraman & Conservationist, My Life in the Wild (Ch4), 'Let's Go for a Walk' (CBeebies), Strictly Come Dancing 2022 ContestantHamza Yassin". DML Talent. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
14. "Animal Park: Summer 2021 Episode 1". bbc.co.uk. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
15. Green, Alex (19 September 2021). "Four celebrities to explore Scottish wildlife in Channel 4 show". Irish Independent. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
16. "Hamza Yassin is our thirteenth celebrity contestant for Strictly 2022!". Strictly Come Dancing. 11 August 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.

External links

• Hamza Yassin at IMDb 

• 1990 births
• English photographers
• Nature photographers
• Living people
• English people of Sudanese descent
• Sudanese photographers
• Alumni of Bangor University
• Alumni of the University of Nottingham
• People educated at Wellingborough School
• Strictly Come Dancing winners
• People from Lochaber
• Sudanese emigrants to the United Kingdom
• People with dyslexia