Hamza Yassin admits wildlife scenes are faked to gain viewer sympathy

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The BBC’s Hamza Yassin has admitted some of his wildlife scenes are faked in order to elicit sympathy from viewers.

The cameraman, 33, who won Strictly Come Dancing last year with pro partner Jowita Przystał, said the shows are edited to make TV watchers feel more emotional.

Yassin has been touted as the next Attenborough, having worked on programmes such as Animal Park and Countryfile – and more recently his Strictly: Birds of Prey documentary.

Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, he revealed that footage is ‘dramatised’ to create a story.

Hamza said: ‘The amount of times we’ll film a cheetah family, and she’s got three babies, and we just zoom in slightly and crop out the last baby.

Films: The BBC’s Hamza Yassin has admitted some of his wildlife scenes are faked in order to elicit sympathy from viewers

Talented: The cameraman, 33, who won Strictly Come Dancing last year with pro partner Jowita Przystał, said the shows are edited to make TV watchers feel more emotional

‘Then you bring in a lion and the lion goes “Grr” and you think, “Oh, the lion’s killed the baby!”.

Who is Hamza Yassin?

Hamza Yassin is a BBC presenter, wildlife photographer and cameraman.

He has his own popular live-action shows on the children’s channel CBeebies called Ranger Hamza’s Eco Quest and Let’s Go For A Walk.

He is also a regular presenter on Countryfile and Animal Park.

Hamza has previously worked for BBC rival ITV when he shared his knowledge of film-making on This Morning.

‘And then, five minutes of drama, and we just zoom back out again and then you say, “Ah, it’s all a happy story”.

‘No. That didn’t happen. We are dramatising what we are seeing.’

The reasoning behind the editing is to get viewers behind environmental causes.

Hamza continued: ‘I want to tell the truth. I want to say what’s happening in this world.’

Viewers were blown away by Hamza: Strictly Birds of Prey when it launched in September that some said the presenter could become the next Sir David Attenborough.

On the BBC1 show, wildlife cameraman Hamza, who was a little known camera man before he won Strictly Come Dancing in December, travelled across the UK to track down and attempt to film his favourite birds.

In one touching moment, Hamza visited the home of wildlife photographer David Plummer in East Sussex, where he saw an owl swoop down and snatch prey from right under his nose.

Many of those watching the show were wowed by Hamza’s passion for British wildlife, with some saying they had even been left in tears over the programme.

One wrote: ‘Surely Hamza has to be the next David Attenborough when David stands down. A brilliant programme so far.’

Viewers were blown away by Hamza: Strictly Birds of Prey last night – with saying the presenter could become the Sir David Attenborough

Hamza has previously revealed his dream to be like the legendary wildlife broadcaster Attenborough, 97, after his dyslexia stopped him from going into the medical profession.

Speaking in 2022, he said: ‘I was following in the family footsteps being in the medical profession but then declined it for zoology when I had a heart to heart with my parents.

‘I said to them look, I’m severely dyslexic this is going to be an absolute nightmare. As much as I’ve love to please everybody by becoming a medic I’ve got to follow my dreams of becoming a wildlife cameraman and zoologist.

‘I am someone who has fallen deeply in love with mother nature and want to look after it thanks to the people like Sir David Attenborough and Steve Irwin, God rest his soul. They gave me the love of mother nature and I want to pass that onto the next generation.’