Who is new Love Island host Maya Jama? MailOnline takes a look at the radio presenter’s career

She has a successful career with MTV and BBC Radio 1.

And as Maya Jama has been confirmed as the new Love Island presenter, MailOnline takes a look at the presenter who will replace Laura Whitmore – after the Irish star stepped down after a two-year stint on the hit ITV2 show.

Maya, 28, currently lives in London and is of Somali and Swedish descent. Her parents named her after the poet Maya Angelou because her mother read the famous poem I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings during her pregnancy.

Maya grew up in Bristol with her brother Omar, but moved to London at the age of 16 to pursue her broadcasting career.

Her father spent most of her childhood in prison for violence-related crimes such as bar brawls and brawls – she stopped speaking to him when she was 12, but remains incredibly close to her mother.

She set up her own YouTube channel and landed a gig as a presenter for JumpOff TV.

Her first major appearance was as the host of MTV’s The Wrap Up, before presenting MTV Essentials and MTV News.

She co-presented Trending Live! on 4Music from 2015 to 2017, Cannonball on ITV in 2017, the MTV show True Love or True Lies in 2018 and The Circle’s first series with Alice Levine on Channel 4.

In November 2017, she became the youngest person, then 23 years old, to co-host the MOBO Awards on Channel 5 with fellow presenter Marvin Humes.

She became the team captain on ITV2 rap panel show Don’t Hate the Playaz hosted by Jordan Stephens.

Maya has enjoyed a successful career as a radio host. She presented #DriveWithMaya on Rinse FM from 2014 to 2017, co-presenting Radio 1’s Greatest Hits and presented her own show, Maya Jama on BBC Radio 1 from 2018 to 2020.

In 2020, she announced that she would be leaving BBC Radio 1, a station she has hosted for two years.

In an Instagram post at the time, she said: My dear, I have made the very difficult decision not to continue my Radio 1 contract from June.

“As you know I’m juggling and there are a lot of exciting commitments going on that would mean I won’t be able to spend the time it takes on my weekly radio show.

“I have enjoyed every moment of my time at Radio 1 and I would like to thank the team for their hard work and friendship over the past two years. It’s been a JOURNEY.’

In September 2021, it was announced that Jama would be the host of Simon Cowell’s new music competition game show Walk The Line.

Most recently, Maya it was announced that they first of two Love Island series to be shot in South Africa from early 2023.

Maya said in a statement, “I’ve always been such a huge Love Island fan and I’m so excited to be hosting one of the country’s favorite shows! I can’t wait to enter the Villa to meet all the islanders.’

Both Maya and Love Island shared a video scrolling through stories that she was the rumor host on various media.

The Love Island account shared: ‘Okay, the rumors are true Say hello to your brand new #LoveIsland host @mayajama!’

As for her personal life, Maya rose to fame with rapper Stormzy in 2016. Three years later, they broke up, but they remain friends.

Stormzy seemed to be addressing the rumors that he had strayed in his next music releases – his song Lessons would be about the heartbreaking split and lyrics in which he confesses that he “made the dirt” on the TV star.

However, the award-winning musician later revealed that he had not been unfaithful during his relationship, but instead admitted to showing “disrespect” to his famous ex.

In August, she divorced her fiancé, Australian professional basketball player, Ben Simmons, six months after getting engaged, over long distance while he was playing for the Brooklyn Nets in New York.