Maya Jama has been announced as the new host of Love Island, taking over from Laura Whitmore.
The 28-year-old presenter said: “I’ve always been such a massive Love Island fan and I’m so excited to be hosting one of the nation’s favourite shows! I can’t wait to get into the villa to meet all of the islanders.”
There was much speculation before the annoucement that Jama would get the presenting gig.
On Instagram, both Jama and the official Love Island account shared the news with a video featuring her with one of the show’s famous suitcases, as well as a water bottle, captioned: “Okay, the rumours are true.”
A former Radio 1 presenter known also for TV shows including Glow Up and Save Our Summer, Jama will start her Love Island hosting duties for the ninth season of the ITV2 reality dating show early next year.
This will be the first of two series in 2023 – the first in South Africa and the second once again in Majorca during the summer.
Paul Mortimer, director of reality programming and acquisitions at ITV2, said: “Finding a new host to follow the wonderful Laura Whitmore was never going to be easy.
“In Maya Jama though, we have another high-profile fan of the show who’ll be a great addition to the Love Island family.
“Cool, charming and charismatic, I speak for us all when I say Maya will also bring a unique presenting style to the show, as did Laura and, of course, the very much missed Caroline Flack. We’re very pleased to have her on board.”
Jama is understood to have become engaged this year to the American basketball player Ben Simmons after a high-profile relationship with Stormzy that ended in 2019.
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Her announcement as the new Love Island host comes after Whitmore confirmed she was stepping down.
Whitmore, 37, was announced as a temporary presenter of the show, as well as its spin-off series Aftersun, in 2020. The move was made permanent after the death of Flack, the original host.
Comedian Iain Stirling, Whitmore’s husband, has provided the narration on the programme since 2015.
The 2022 series was won by Ekin-Su Culculoglu, a Turkish actress from Essex, and Italian businessman Davide Sanclimenti.