BBC Countryfile star was homeless for months

A Countryfile star shares the ups and downs of living in Scotland while filming for the BBC wildlife show.

Countryfile’s resident cameraman, Hamza Yassin, opened up about the moment a local resident “knew” that he was living in his car. The 2022 Strictly Come Dancing winner detailed his less-than-glamorous living situation before buying his home in Scotland’s rural Ardnamurchan peninsula. The BBC star explained that he has lived in the remote Highlands for 17 years, in what he described as an “awesome little village” which is also home to around 150 people.

Although Hamza is now living in a “cottage in the Hebrides style,” for the past 10 years, his arrival in the area saw him spending nine months living out of his “Vauxhall seven-seater.” Eventually, the cameraman was able to upgrade to a caravan, but then disaster struck after he was left with no heating or running water. He was thankfully offered a second caravan. In conversation with The Times, Hamza said the most difficult thing about living in his car was “not being spotted sleeping in the back by the locals.”

He recalled: “I was waking up at 8am, pretending I was going on the ferry. It turned out that they knew, they just never quizzed me. I didn’t have a fridge.

“I had showers at a local campsite. I’m sometimes asked if I find it tough being a black man in the countryside. I usually say that the wildlife doesn’t care. People were curious, not suspicious. They’d say, ‘What are you doing here?’

Earlier this year, Hamza made a candid admission about his mental health and the impact of nature on his wellbeing, as he revealed that being in the outdoors brings him a sense of being “at peace.”

During a Countryfile episode in June, the programme took an emotional turn as the cameraman confessed that his profession helps him to “clear my mind.”

Hamza Yassin opened up about sleeping in his car (Image: BBC)

Hamza reflected: “I get asked all the time, ‘what’s it like being a wildlife cameraman?’ and to me it’s having the world’s best job. I get to go on safari.

“I get to travel the world but more importantly, I get to come back with memories that are in my mind and memories that are on a card that I can look back to.”

The wildlife expert continued: “One of the best things when I am busy, rushing around, my mind is all scrambled. I love just going out and going to a place like this, where you see the wildlife, and see what happens to your mental health.”

“I feel like someone has just gone through and cleared my mind of all the clutter and I’m at peace. I am meditating and being in nature stops time and before you know it, it’s the end of the day and the sun’s going down and I’ve had an absolutely fantastic day,” Hamza added.