Maya Jama is a television host and DJ from Britain. She worked alongside Peter Crouch and Alex Horne as a co-host on BBC One’s Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer, and also presented the third and fourth seasons of BBC Three’s competition Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star. Additionally, she was the presenter for series 9 of ITV2’s dating show Love Island.
Early Life
Maya Indea Jama was born on 14 August 1994 and grew up in Bristol, where she studied at Cotham School. Her father’s ancestry is Somali, while her mother’s is a mix of Swedish and Scottish.
Jama’s mother, Sadie, was only 19 years old when she had her, and she chose to name her after the renowned American writer and poet, Maya Angelou. Jama also has a sibling.
During the majority of her childhood, Maya Jama’s father was incarcerated for violent offenses, including involvement in pub fights and brawls. When she was 12 years old, she chose to cease visiting her father in prison and for the next 10 years, she purposely avoided thinking about him.
Maya Jama’s Career
In 2012, Maya Jama relocated to London with the goal of building a career in the media industry. Initially, she pursued acting, but eventually found her calling as a TV host and fashion model. Although she had originally aspired to be an actress, Jama discovered that being a presenter was a better fit for her.
Some of the people who inspired her in her youth were Davina McCall and June Sarpong. Jama’s first experience as a presenter was when she was a teenager hosting the music video countdown on JumpOff.TV. She then went on to work for Sky UK on TRACE Sports.
In 2014, Jama was the host of Maya’s FIFA World Cup Cities for Copa90, a travel show that followed the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. She also co-hosted the Copa90 World Cup Taxi series, which consisted of nine episodes focused on the event. In August of that year, Jama began working as a presenter for The Wrap-Up on MTV.
In February 2017, she worked with the Brit Awards by hosting their 2017 Pre-Brit Awards Party and doing a live stream on Facebook from the red carpet. In September 2017, she hosted the Saturday night game show Cannonball on ITV with Andrew Flintoff, Frankie Bridge, Radzi Chinyanganya, and Ryan Hand.
Jama appeared as a guest panelist on ITV’s Loose Women in both September 2017 and February 2018. Additionally, in November 2017, she co-hosted the MOBO Awards on Channel 5 alongside Marvin Humes, making her the youngest co-host at the time (23 years old).
Maya Jama joined forces with Alice Levine to co-host the inaugural season of The Circle on Channel 4 in September 2018. The following month, she teamed up with Alan Carr and Adam Hills to co-present Stand Up to Cancer. Additionally, she took on the role of team captain on the ITV2 rap panel show Don’t Hate the Playaz, presented by Jordan Stephens.
She made an appearance on A League of Their Own Road Trip in 2019, where she co-starred with actor and comedian Tom Davis. Additionally, she was featured on Channel 4’s The Big Fat Quiz of the Year in both 2019 and 2020.
In June 2020, she hosted the BBC One TV show Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer on Saturday evenings. Maya Jama also co-hosted The Big New Year’s In on BBC One later that year.
In January 2021, the BBC said Jama would host Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star. She will replace Stacey Dooley, who hosted the first two seasons of the show.
Jama made an appearance as a celebrity guest judge on the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in February 2021. It was later revealed in September 2021 that she would be hosting Simon Cowell’s new music competition game show, Walk The Line.
Maya Jama was revealed to be the new host of ITV2’s dating reality series Love Island, replacing Laura Whitmore, in October 2022. Later, in August 2023, it was announced that Jama would also be hosting Love Island Games, a worldwide spin-off of the show.
Dating History
Maya Jama recently announced her second breakup with Stormzy and is now single. She had dated Stormzy for four years before their initial split in August 2019. Since then, she has kept her romantic relationships private until she was seen wearing an engagement ring in 2021, less than a year after dating NBA player Ben Simmons.
Net Worth
Previously, Maya Jama disclosed that she achieved millionaire status at the age of 24. The well-known host resides in a luxurious residence in London, which she purchased with her own earnings. According to sources, she has an estimated net worth of £3 million. It is believed that she receives a six-figure salary for each season of Love Island.
