Yahoo News Hamza Yassin reveals 'Strictly' weight loss from 'hard on the body' training
Hamza Yassin has revealed that his tough Strictly Come Dancing training schedule has made him drop more than a stone in weight.
The fan favourite in this year's BBC One series achieved the highest score so far last weekend, bagging three perfect 10s for his salsa to Ecuador by Sash! featuring Rodriguez.
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But he told Good Morning Britain on Wednesday that gruelling hours in the training room had been "hard on the body".
'I've lost 8 and a half kilos.. over a stone!'
Strictly's @HamzaYassin3 and Jowita reveal the toll that dancing has had on his body, the secrets of his hair and what we can expect from their dance this week. pic.twitter.com/hMlQ0ux6wL— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) October 19, 2022
Richard Madeley, hosting the ITV breakfast show, said: "Is it an optical illusion or is there a lot less of you?
“Honestly you’ve lost weight haven’t you?”
Yassin replied: “I have yes, I have. I’ve lost nearly eight and a half kilos (1.3 stone) … All thanks to (dance partner Jowita Przystal).
“Nine hours a day we’re trying to train and it’s hard on the body… My knees and legs are hurting.”
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Yassin also admitted that he came close to “dropping his partner” in his high-scoring Salsa on Saturday which ended with a series of daring throws and lifts.
😲 Those lifts 😲 Hamza and Jowita's Salsa literally raised the bar #Strictly pic.twitter.com/pO1J8kslFs
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) October 15, 2022
He said: “There was a few times where the last lift, I wobbled (and) luckily I caught her.
“There was a whole fear through the whole dance… three or four hurdles…. that I had to get over and I wasn’t really getting them yet.
“There’s one point where I’m lowering her down, she saw the struggle in my face… She basically gave me words of encouragement and I was like, ‘Okay here we go’.”
Yassin added that he pins his long hair, which he has not cut in 17 years, to his shirt during training.
He said: “There’s been bits that have been trimmed (because) I was in the Arctic.
“I had a bit dipped in engine oil and it gets snipped off every now and again, but hair is kind of part of me.
“Jowita is nice enough to put up with it in training… Sometimes it’s pinned to my shirt.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.40pm on BBC One.
Watch: Who is Strictly's Hamza Yassin?
