Strictly's Hamza Yassin has refused to cut his hair since incident 17 years ago

30.10.2022 - 00:05 / dailyrecord.co.uk

Strictly Come Dancing 's Hamza Yassin has been a firm favourite on the show, so much so that he's danced his way to the top of the leaderboard, where he has remained ever since.

The wildlife photographer and presenter has been tipped to win the glitterball after dazzling the judges with his energetic Salsas and Quicksteps alongside professional partner Jowita Przystal.

The 32-year-old was born in Sudan and has credited his African heritage with his sense of rhythm. He was just eight years old when he moved to Northampton where it was thought he would eventually study medicine like the rest of his family, writes The Mirror.

"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