Hamza Yassin tops Strictly leaderboard with Scotland-inspired dance routine

Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal during the live show of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1. Picture date: Sunday December 11, 2022.

Dancing to Paolo Nutini’s Pencil Full of Lead, the Scotland-based actor even donned a kilt to perform his Scottish-themed Charleston with partner Jowita Przysta.

And the Scottish connection clearly struck a chord with the judges, with the pair fighting off stiff competition from Molly Rainford to top the leaderboard.

Wildlife cameraman Yassin moved to the Scottish Highlands at the age of 21 to study the local wildlife and develop his career – and has lived there ever since.

Judge Craig Revel Horwood said his lifts were “absolutely crazy spectacular”, while head judge Shirley Ballas said: “You make everything look so light, airy, it can be powerful but there is never a heavy stuck feeling, I loved it.”

However his second performance, a waltz to What The World Needs Now by Burt Bacharach, failed to strike the same chord with Ballas, who noticed mistakes she has “never seen him make”.

Despite a score of 37, Yassin began shedding tears after his partner Przysta said: “First time when I met you, I asked your for the trust and the energy and you gave me much more than that.

“Seeing you every day going out of your comfort zone, giving me 120% every time… you dance from your heart – thank you for that.”

Actress and singer Rainford was just one point behind Yassin on the leaderboard following her “absolutely fantastic” paso doble to Survivor by 2WEI featuring Edda Hayes.

The dancing programme was moved from Saturday to Sunday this week due to the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, in which England lost to France.

Strictly will keep up the Scottish theme, with the last results show of the series airing on Monday at 8.15pm with a performance from Lewis Capaldi and a group number featuring Revel Horwood.

Prior to his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing, Hamza was probably best known for the CBeebies shows ‘Let's Go for a Walk’, where he played the role of ‘Ranger Hamza’.

In 2020, he presented a documentary about his life for Channel 4 entitles ‘Scotland: My Life in the Wild’, and has also appeared on the BBC’s The One Show and as a guest presenter on Countryfile.