Hamza Yassin has been receiving some ‘pretty forward’ fan mail since Strictly win

Wildlife presenter went from being relatively unknown to a fan-favourite on the dancing competition

Hamza Yassin has revealed he has been receiving some interesting fan mail since appearing on the 2022 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

The wildlife presenter won the competition last year with his professional dancing partner Jowita Przystal, and earned many fans with his smiley disposition and super-strength moves.

When asked by The Times if his Strictly success has given him more confidence, he replied: “It’s probably made me less confident with girls, if anything, because people know who I am.”

Yassin, 33, said he is single “and ready to mingle”, with journalist Jane Mulkerrins noting that he has been getting “some pretty forward fan mail” since the dance competition aired.

Speaking about how it will be hard for him to find a relationship thanks to work commitments, he said: “My life has been so busy. I can be away for months of the year in a remote place you can only get through to on a satellite phone, and then I come home and then a week and a half later I’m back off to somewhere in Asia and then there for three months and come back again.

“It’s not sustainable. How do you have a relationship through a satellite phone? ‘Are… you… alive?’”

He said he would like to have a partner and a family but he’s in no rush: “I’m not worried, and good luck to whoever she is. I’m such an old man now – I’m so set in my ways.”

Hamza Yassin (PA Media)

Elsewhere in the interview, Yassin, who moved to the UK from Sudan as a child, talked about how he has broken the mould as a presenter of colour in wildlife programming. “Most of the time, you see white middle-aged males, pretty good-looking,” he said. “I am short, squat, wider than I am tall. I didn’t think anyone wanted someone of my demeanour or looks.”

Yassin is promoting his new book about bird-watching, Be a Birder, which will be published on 14 September.