Love Island 2023: who is the new presenter? Everything you need to know about Maya Jama

ITV2’s Love Island is set to return to screens on Monday 16 January with brand new host Maya Jama and ten new contestants looking for romance.

The winter series is being filmed in South Africa, where temperatures rise to around 30 degrees at this time of year therefore making it the perfect location for bikini clad islanders.

It will be the ninth series of Love Island and second winter series. The full list of contestants has been confirmed including Michelle Keegan’s body double, Olivia Hawkins, and the first ever partially-sighted contestant, Ron Hall.

This will be Maya’s debut presenting the show as she takes over from previous host Laura Whitmore, who quit the show after the last summer series.

Who is Maya Jama?

Love Island host Maya Jama, 28, was born in Bristol and went to Cotham School. Her mum Sadie was just 19 when she gave birth to Maya who is named after the author and poet Maya Angelou.

Maya’s mother is of Swedish descent and her father - who she has no contact with - is of Somalian descent. Maya’s father was in prison for most of her childhood and at the age of 12 she stopped all contact with him.

She has one brother called Omar who is a professional model and two years younger than her.

In 2012, Maya moved to London to pursue a career in acting before turning to presenting.

What is Maya famous for?

Love Island isn’t Maya’s first TV presenting role. She has been presenting since 2014 with shows such as Maya’s FIFA World Cup Cities, The Brit Awards pre-show party, Cannonball, The Circle and more recently make-up competition Glow Up.

Maya has also been a radio presenter on Rinse FM and Radio 1 co-hosting with Scott Mills and Chris Stark, before going on to host her own show on Fridays and Saturdays.

In 2018 Maya launched her podcast ‘When Life Gives You Melons’ in which she interviewed female guests about life, work and relationships. Celebrity guests included Laura Whitmore, Vicky Hope, Cherry Healy and Katie Piper.

She has worked with clothing brand Pretty Little Thing to launch her own clothing collection. As well as being featured in brand collaborations with JD Sports and Adidas, Maya launched her own face sheet and eye mask brand MIJ Masks in 2020. The first release sold out in the first 24 hours.

Who is Maya Jama dating?

In a recent interview Maya said that she is: “really really single”.

Fans will be disappointed as it had been rumoured that Maya had rekindled her romance with rapper Stormzy, whose real name is Michael Ebenezer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr. The couple dated for four years, from 2014 - 2019.

Maya said that when they got together they were just babies. She was just starting her career and he hadn’t even released a single at that point. The split is said to have inspired Stormzy to write the song ‘Lessons’.

Stormzy isn’t her only celebrity relationship as up until September 2022, Maya was engaged to NBA star Ben Simmonds. The couple started dating in May 2021 and quickly fell in love with Ben proposing a few months later in December 2021.

The couple split eight months later due to work commitments and long distance putting a strain on the relationship.

What did Maya say about Love Island?

After Laura Whitmore quit Love Island many fans took to social media to say that they wanted Maya to be the next presenter of the show.

Maya confirmed she would be hosting the show in an Instagram video of herself with all the Love Island mechanise.

The caption read: “Okay, the rumours are true Say hey to your brand-new #LoveIsland host”.

What is Maya Jama’s net worth?

The Love Island presenter has a reported net worth of over £1.5 million and has been a millionaire since the age of 24. That amount is expected to soar after presenting the dating show alongside brand collaborations.

For more information on Maya Jama head over to People World.