Hamza Yassin talks wildlife, hope and Strictly as he heads to Northampton

Wildlife cameraman and presenter Hamza Yassin is on a new adventure to help people experience the wonder of the natural world as he hits the road with his debut tour.

Hamza is known for presenting Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles, Hamza’s Strictly Birds of Prey, on Countryfile and Animal Park, winning Strictly with his partner Jowita Przystał in 2022, and the CBeebies’ TV series Ranger Hamza.

“I love what I do,” a beaming Hamza Yassin says at the start of our chat. “I’m one of the luckiest men ever. I get to do what I love most – film wildlife and have an incredible time doing it.”

Hamza has loved the great outdoors and being in nature from his earliest days – growing up in Sudan before moving to the UK aged eight. “Tell me any child under five years old who isn’t interested in animals, being outside, enjoying the natural world. I am a child at heart and have just managed to keep that feeling,” he explains.

“I had no more passion about nature and animals than any other child. But I never had it taken out of me. You know, children aren’t scared of spiders, not until they notice an adult being scared of them. Many adults don’t give children the opportunity to stay in love with nature as they grow up, but I was given the opportunity to be childlike, to spend my time outdoors investigating wildlife, to follow my dream. The love of animals is there for everyone.”

Hamza’s inspiration came, unsurprisingly, from David Attenborough’s programmes, and perhaps more surprisingly Steve Irwin’s more hands-on, gung-ho approach. They “lit the spark” for Hamza to make that love of nature his profession.

“I thought ‘I don’t look like David Attenborough or Steve Irwin, so I can’t be them – but I can be the man behind the camera filming them’, and that’s what I worked for,” he said. “I really do love nature and wanted to share it.

“From a young age, I heard David speaking so wonderfully about animals and nature, and then I’d change channels and see Steve literally hugging a crocodile. I grew up seeing crocs in Sudan, but we didn’t hug them!

“And Sir Peter Scott, who founded the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), also inspired me. He was the son of Scott of the Antarctic, and his dad, on his deathbed told his wife to make sure their child goes out in nature. That was his number one message at that moment and look at what it inspired!”

For Hamza, going on tour gives him the opportunity to share his inspirations, to answer the questions he’s most commonly asked when out and about – and to give an important message.

“The tour is about my life, in different ways,” he says. “I get asked a lot of the same questions, and when the opportunity came up to share those answers in one place to more people, I liked the idea, so here I am going around the country explaining how things are done ‘Behind The Lens’.

“I talk about how I first fell in love with the natural world, about my first camera, about the camera I have now and other technology we use. The close encounters and near-death experiences. I go through my trials and tribulations. You know this job of being a wildlife cameraman is definitely a lifestyle – you can be away from home eight months a year.

“But overall, the message that I hope to bring to people through the tour is ‘hope’ – hope about the natural world. There is a lot of doom and gloom out there at the moment, not just around the natural world – about everything, and it’s understandable. But despite all that, there is still hope and I want to share that with people.

“So that’s really what it’s about. And giggling – there’s always a bit of a giggle in there!”, he adds for anyone worried it might all be a bit serious.

Hamza has made his home on the remote west coast of Scotland, and hasn’t been tempted to move to a more central location to pursue his career – in fact, as a self-confessed “hermit”, you wonder if life on tour is a challenge.

“I’ve always felt like a hermit when I’m in a city,” he admits. “I struggle in large crowds. Yes, I danced in front of 16 million people on live TV and I go and talk in front of a thousand people in a theatre, but I have control in a way in those situations. I like being with people, don’t get me wrong, but only in situations where I feel comfortable or when I can take myself away if I need to.

“That doesn’t mean I think cities are bad, just that they aren’t good for me. I do believe life is better, healthier in the countryside.

“In the city, you can sleep eight hours, get up and spend an hour traveling to work, spend 9am to 5pm in an office, another hour traveling home, then maybe walk your dog quickly, before sitting down in front of the TV every day. Sitting down all day. That’s not what we are meant for – people need dirt under their fingernails!”

One of the topics on Hamza’s list of most asked questions is, of course, his glitterball-winning appearance on Strictly Come Dancing in 2022.

Although already established as a popular children’s presenter as Ranger Hamza on CBeebies’ series Let’s Go For A Walk and Eco Quest, and known for appearances on Countryfile and Animal Park, it was his turn on Strictly that made Hamza a household name.

But you have to wonder why someone who is happiest when away from cities and in the great outdoors, agreed to take part in one of the biggest TV shows in the world.

“I thought I was going out in week one, and I would just be that ‘nature dude’ who once went on Strictly Come Dancing,” he says, smiling.

“I definitely didn’t expect to win it! With Jowita, we were doing it for each other. It was her first year so she was new to it, and each week was just a blessing. It was really special to bring wildlife to that huge audience and the people who found me on Strictly have now followed me into the natural world.

Hamza is also hugely grateful for the opportunities Strictly brought him.

“I wouldn’t have thought about touring before Strictly. I did speaking events, but that’s different to a full solo tour like My Life Behind The Lens – but having done the Strictly tour, I understood more what it was like to be in front of a huge live audience.

“I have a lot to thank that show for. It changed my life and I am so thankful to the people who have come on this journey with me, who follow me on social media, who watch the documentaries – with record viewing figures!

Hamza Yassin comes to the Royal & Derngate on Thursday May 28. Visit nothird.co.uk to book.