Maya Jama facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Maya Jama
Jama in 2018
Born	Maya Indea Jama (1994-08-14) 14 August 1994 (age 30) Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Occupation	Television presenter radio presenter
Years active	2012–present

Maya Indea Jama (born 14 August 1994) is a popular British television presenter and radio DJ. She is well-known for hosting big TV shows like Love Island on ITV2. She also co-presented Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer on BBC One and was the presenter for Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star on BBC Three.

Maya has hosted many different shows, from music countdowns to game shows and reality series. She has also been a radio host, sharing music and chats with her listeners.

Early life

Maya Jama was born and grew up in Bristol, England. She went to Cotham School. Her dad's family is from Somalia, and her mom's family is from Scotland and Sweden.

Maya's mother, Sadie, was 19 when Maya was born. She named Maya after the famous American writer Maya Angelou. Maya also has a brother.

During much of her childhood, Maya's father was in prison. When she was 12, she decided to stop visiting him. She later shared that her dad's family was very supportive. They made sure she and her brother felt loved and didn't miss out on anything. In 2017, Maya made a documentary called When Dads Kill. This show looked at how young people deal with similar family situations. Through this, she decided to meet her father, who was out of prison by then.

Maya is still very close to her mother. They sometimes appear on TV shows and at events together.

Career

Television shows

In 2012, Maya moved to London to start her career in media. She first wanted to be an actress, but then found that being a TV presenter suited her even better. She looked up to presenters like Davina McCall and June Sarpong. Maya started presenting when she was a teenager. She hosted a music video countdown on JumpOff.TV and later worked for Sky on TRACE Sports.

In 2014, she hosted Maya's FIFA World Cup Cities for Copa90. This show was about her travels during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. She also co-hosted the World Cup Taxi series. In August 2014, Maya joined MTV as a presenter for The Wrap Up.

In February 2017, she worked with the Brit Awards. She hosted their Pre-Brit Awards Party and a live stream from the red carpet. In September 2017, she co-presented the game show Cannonball on ITV. She worked alongside Andrew Flintoff, Frankie Bridge, Radzi Chinyanganya, and Ryan Hand. Maya was also a guest on ITV's Loose Women in 2017 and 2018. In November 2017, at 23, she became the youngest person to co-host the MOBO Awards on Channel 5 with Marvin Humes.

In September 2018, Maya co-presented the first series of The Circle on Channel 4 with Alice Levine. In October 2018, she co-presented Stand Up to Cancer. She also became a team captain on the ITV2 rap show Don't Hate the Playaz. In 2019, she appeared on A League of Their Own Road Trip. She also appeared on Channel 4's The Big Fat Quiz of the Year in 2019 and 2020.

In June 2020, she presented the BBC One show Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer. Later that year, she co-presented BBC One's New Year's Eve programme The Big New Year's In. In January 2021, the BBC announced that Maya would be the new presenter of Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star. She took over from Stacey Dooley. In February 2021, Maya was a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race UK. In September 2021, it was announced that Maya would host Simon Cowell's new music game show Walk The Line.

In October 2022, it was announced that Maya would become the new presenter of the ITV2 dating show Love Island. She took over from Laura Whitmore. In August 2023, Maya was also announced as the host for Love Island Games, which is a global spin-off show.

Radio shows

From 2014 to 2017, Maya hosted #DriveWithMaya. This was a weekday show on Rinse FM.

In 2018, she joined BBC Radio 1. She presented Radio 1's Greatest Hits on Saturdays. She also co-presented with Scott Mills and Chris Stark every Friday. From 2018 to 2020, she had her own show, Maya Jama, on Fridays and Saturdays on BBC Radio 1.

On 15 May 2020, the BBC announced that Maya had left Radio 1 after two years. She decided not to continue her contract because she had "a lot of exciting commitments" planned. Her last show was on 3 May 2020.

Other work

In 2018, Maya hosted a podcast called When Life Gives You Melons. In this podcast, she interviewed different women about their work, lives, and relationships. Some of her guests included Cherry Healey and Laura Whitmore.

That same year, Maya became an ambassador for Savera UK. This group helps people in the United Kingdom who are at risk of or have experienced 'Honour' Based Abuse. In 2019, she donated blood for an NHS campaign. It was found that she has a rare and much-needed blood type called Ro.

Maya also launched a successful clothing collection with PrettyLittleThing in June 2018. She released a second collection in February 2019.

She is an ambassador for Adidas and has appeared in their European Christmas campaign for JD Sports. She is also an ambassador for the hair care brand Aussie. She has also been part of a global GAP campaign and a Spring/Summer 2019 campaign for Kurt Geiger.

In December 2020, Maya launched her own line of face and eye masks called MIJ Masks. Her first release sold out very quickly, within 24 hours.

In March 2024, Maya hosted the BRIT Awards alongside Roman Kemp and Clara Amfo.

Personal life

Maya Jama lives in West London. She is a big fan of football. She supports two teams: Bristol Rovers and West Ham United.

Between 2014 and 2019, Maya was in a relationship with British rapper Stormzy. Their breakup even inspired his 2019 song "Lessons". In 2021, it was reported that Maya was dating NBA player Ben Simmons. They later ended their engagement in August 2022. In August 2023, Maya and Stormzy were seen together again. However, on 17 July 2024, they announced that they had separated once more. They shared on Instagram, "We tried, and it didn't work, and that's okay.”

Filmography

Awards

In November 2019, Maya won the People's Choice Award for best dressed star. In 2020, she also opened and hosted the EE BAFTA red carpet. She wore a special dress that used 5G technology and AR.