Who is Love Island host Maya Jama?
The 29-year-old presenter took over from Laura Whitmore
In 2023, Maya Jama took over as the host of Love Island, ITV2's hugely popular dating show.
The 29-year-old star inherited the gig from outgoing host Laura Whitmore and will continue to front Love Island 2024.
With that in mind, it's about time we got clued up on everything Jama. Read on to find out all you need to know about Love Island's frontwoman.
Who is Maya Jama?
Maya Jama is a 29-year-old TV and radio presenter from Bristol. As well as the main series of Love Island, she has also hosted two spin-offs, Love Island Games and Love Island: All Stars.
Her early TV jobs included work on MTV and hosting roles for the Brit Awards, as well as reality show The Circle and BBC Three's make-up contest Glow Up.
In 2017, at the age of 23, she became the youngest person to host the MOBO Awards.
Read more: All the Love Island winning couples so far
Away from TV, Jama has also presented a number of shows on BBC Radio 1, but left the station in 2020.
As well as her TV and radio work, she is known for her relationship with rapper Stormzy. The pair began their romance in 2015 but broke up in 2019, then got back together in 2023.
She was previously engaged to basketball star Ben Simmons before splitting in 2022.
Why is Maya Jama the perfect match for Love Island?
Almost as soon as Whitmore announced she was quitting Love Island, Jama's name began being touted as the perfect replacement for her.
Not only is she a popular presenter and fits with the age group the show appeals to but Jama also happens to be a huge fan of the series.
She said: "I've been a fan for years. It was the first reality show, other than Big Brother, that I made sure I was back at a certain time to watch and all my friends and family were speaking about.
"Everyone gets involved, everyone has opinions – from the older people in your family to the younger ones.
"It's just fun, it's fun to see how people play out in different situations and wonder what you would do if you were in the same position. Most of us have had a bit of a holiday romance before and it's like watching that on telly."
Who else has presented Love Island?
Cast your mind back to the 2005 celebrity series of Love Island that the current incarnation is based on, and you might just remember that it was originally hosted by Patrick Kielty and Kelly Brook.
There was a second celebrity series in 2006, this time hosted by Kielty and Fearne Cotton, before Love Island went on to hiatus until its 2015 reboot.
Late TV presenter Caroline Flack made the new version of Love Island hugely successful from 2015 to 2019, but stepped down from the 2020 winter series after allegations that she had assaulted her boyfriend Lewis Burton, and shortly before her death.
Flack's friend, Laura Whitmore, who is also married to series narrator Iain Stirling, took over as host from the 2020 winter series onwards, until she announced her decision to leave following the summer 2022 series.
Maya made her hosting debut fronting Love Island's winter series in early 2023.
Love Island returns on Monday, 3 June at 9pm on ITV2.
