Maya Jama Steps Down as Love Island UK Host

On November 8, Maya Jama announced she is stepping away from hosting Love Island UK after nine seasons on the dating show. She shared a farewell message on social media, describing her time with the series as an unusually enjoyable chapter and saying she is ready to pursue something new.

Jama thanked viewers for their support and credited the show’s production crew for working for months each year to bring the series to the screen. She also said she was grateful to those who had supported her appointment and to the people she met during her time on the programme.

She began hosting at age 28, taking over from Laura Whitmore in 2023. Jama recalled the show’s slow-motion entrances, fire-pit scenes and live broadcasts as highlights of the experience. She said she wished the programme and its team well and would continue supporting them from outside the show.

Jama has also appeared in the second season of Celebrity Traitors, reaching its final episode as the only original Traitor to do so. This year, she took on her first screen acting role in season two of The Gentlemen, a series created by Guy Ritchie. She has not named a replacement host.