MADE HIS DAY
Richard Madeley makes Strictly’s Hamza Yassin blush with candid revelation about wife Judy
RICHARD Madeley made Strictly star Hamza Yassin blush on today's Good Morning Britain with a candid revelation about wife Judy Finnigan.
In an interview with Hamza and his professional dance partner Jowita Przystal, Richard told the show front-runner that his wife has a crush on him.
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He said: "I have to tell you something. My wife has a crush on you, and my daughter has a girl crush on you [pointing to Jowita]. She thinks you're absolutely beautiful. So you are our favourites."
Richard also praised Hamza's 20lb weight loss, saying it was like an "optical illusion". The wildlife expert has lost over a stone since beginning his gruelling Strictly schedule.
And he is now a surprise favourite for Glitterball glory among leading bookmakers.
have backed the TV presenter for overall winner at a massive 9/4 odds after his fun salsa on Saturday night.
Betting site spokesperson Sam Boswell explained: "Will Mellor (10/3) has dominated the odds as favourite but now Hamza Yassin overtakes him as the new favourite to win Strictly.
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"At one point on Saturday, Hamza drifted as high as 12/1, and now his odds have been slashed to 9/4 to take home the glitterball trophy.
“Hamza’s samba performance saw him sitting pretty at the top of the leaderboard, scoring a total of 39 – just one point off a perfect score and the highest score of the competition so far.
"It's a marked improvement on his week three dance, which saw him in 10th place with 25 points.”
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Hamza and Jowita are putting in the hours of practice, and it's being reflected in the CBBC star's figure.
He told BBC Radio Scotland: "I've lost a lot of weight already, around 6.5kg [one stone], which is unheard of really.
"But if you're training nine hours a day you kind of get that. It's hard. Everything just aches and aches.
"With the Foxtrot my knees ached, then it was my knees and my lower back for the Jive, and this week it's a hard dance [the Salsa]."
He continued: "These guys [the pros] have been doing it for 12-15 years and we have to come to their standards in four days.
"We're never going to get to their standards, but we still have to learn the basics and do a show and perform and deliver it on a Saturday. It's kind of crazy, but I'm absolutely enjoying it."
Hamza also opened up about how Jowita has to "pull out all the stops" to get his energy back up when he starts flagging on a daily basis during rehearsals.
He said: "It does get tough sometimes. Jowita's fitness levels are out of this world, but by about three or four o'clock I'm flagging, so she has to pull out all the stops to bring my energy back up again.
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"It's a little bit like school. You're stuck in a studio listening to the same song a million times and you're trying to do the steps and everything.
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"But it's enjoyable, because if you have a good partner then time flies. Some days we look at the clock and we haven't even eaten lunch and I say, 'Wow, now I understand why I'm hungry.'
"But I'm loving every moment of it with Jowita. She's a really, really good teacher, and she's understanding and caring."
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