Strictly champion Hamza Yassin shares life-threatening cheetah encounter (original) (raw)

What did you miss?

Strictly Come Dancing champion Hamza Yassin has revealed his brush with death when he came up-close-and-personal with a cheetah in Africa.

The wildlife presenter and winner of Stritcly 2022 was a guest on The One Show where he recalled his life threatening encounter while filming in the wild. Yassin explained what had happened when a cheetah cub climbed into his van unexpectedly in the Savannah, and shocked hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp with his reaction.

What, how, and why?

Hamza Yassin is a wildlife presenter and former cameraman. (BBC)

Yassin said: "There was one in Africa where we were filming and two of the cubs went missing somewhere. I was like, 'Oh, they must be on the other side of the van and next minute I hear this [heavy breathing].

"It's probably about that far away [cms] from my head and I was like, 'I know exactly what's happening here.' But in reality, if you have a look at the cheetah, it's a young cub just looking around using its eyes. It's not interested in me whatsoever.

Read more: Strictly Come Dancing

• Nick Knowles left devastated after horrific injury - as his future on Strictly Come Dancing hangs in the balance (OK!, 2 min read)
• BBC Strictly Come Dancing star's fate 'sealed' in competition after week one dances (Manchester Evening news, 2 min read)
• Strictly Come Dancing 2024 line-up in full

"I'm focused in on the mum because I thought the mum's gonna wake up and see her baby next to me She's gonna just [pounce], and I'm gonna get that perfect shot of her coming. But in reality the Cheetah was just using us as a termite mount. And if you know the Savannah, it's like a billiard table. So the minute that you get a little bit higher, you can see so much more. And that's what it was doing. It was just using us as a little termite mound."

Yassin also revealed he would love to star in the West End in The Lion King musical.

Asked by Jones if his experience on Strictly had given him a taste for starring a stage show he said: "You know what? I would love to. Dancing is hard, I don't know about singing, I must admit. I imagine doing something like the Lion King. My playing Rafiki or a young Simba. I would be amazing. I'd love it."

What else happened on The One Show?

Vinnie Jones is doing the Only Fools And Horses live show. (Getty Images)

Vinnie Jones was on the sofa to talk about starring in the live stage show of Only Fools And Horses this Christmas. He revealed he had to run it past friend Guy Ritchie first, because of his Netflix show The Gentleman.

Jones explained: "I gave Guy Ritchie a little call and said, 'Am I alright doing this?' and he said Yeah. Because we go on to The Gentleman in March. We do season two of that." He added: "I grew up with Only Fools and Horses and scar music and Madness, and, you know, and it's part of you growing up."

The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm on weekdays.