Cha cha charming Hamza rises to the top once more

Ardamurchan-based Hamza Yassin went back to Latin on last weekend's Strictly Come Dancing and cha cha chad his way through to week eight of the competition.

 

Hamza and his partner Jowita Przystal come out on top once again as they pulled off an top notch performance to the Four Tops hit I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch).

 

So good was the wildlife presenter's routine that Queen of Latin herself Shirley Ballas branded it the 'best cha cha cha I've ever seen' before awarding it a maximum score of 10.

 

Fellow judges Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke agreed and scored likewise, while stingy Craig Revel Horwood gave the couple an eight, citing 'turned in feet and a few heel leads,' as his reasons after Du Beke said that he had struggled to find faul

 

An overall score of 38 points, however, saw Hamza go to the top of the leader board. He has now scored more 10s than any other couple in the competition.

 

Speaking to the show's co-host Claudia Winkleman afterwards, Hamza admitted that the rigorous training regime was taking its toll on his body and that this week he had found the complex counting of the routine difficult.

 

'It was like learning a different language,' he said.

 

'Nothing made any sense in it. It was like juggling while riding a unicycle and smiling at the same time.'

 

Never-the-less Hamza's feet did the talking for him and voting members of the public understood perfectly. The couple were the third pairing to learn their fate on Sunday night's live vote-off, which saw Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds and her dance partner Nikita Kuzmin leave the competition following a dance-off against Mollie Rainford and Carlos Ru.

 

This weekend Hamza and Jowito will be bringing some Afro beats to the dance floor when they perform their 'Couples Choice' routine.