Maya Jama, 28, is a presenter of Somali and Swedish descent.
Her parents named her after poet Maya Angelou because her mother read the famous poem I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings while she was pregnant.
Maya grew up in Bristol with her brother Omar but moved to London at the age of 16 to pursue her broadcasting career.
Her father was in prison for most of her childhood for violent crimes including bar fights and fights – she stopped speaking to him at the age of 12 but is still incredibly close to her mum.
Maya’s parents named her after poet Maya Angelou because her mother read the famous poem I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings during her pregnancy
She set up her own YouTube channel and landed a gig as a presenter for JumpOff TV.
Her first major gig was as the host of MTV’s The Wrap Up before moving on to host MTV Essentials and MTV News.
She co-hosted Trending Live! on 4Music from 2015 to 2017, Cannonball on ITV in 2017, the MTV show True Love or True Lies in 2018 and the first series of The Circle with Alice Levine on Channel 4.
In November 2017, aged 23, she became the youngest person to co-host the MOBO Awards on Channel 5 with presenter Marvin Humes.
She became team captain on the ITV2 rap panel show Don’t Hate the Playaz presented by Jordan Stephens.
Maya has enjoyed a successful career as a radio host. From 2014 to 2017 she hosted #DriveWithMaya on Rinse FM and co-hosted Radio 1’s Greatest Hits and presented her own show Maya Jama on BBC Radio 1 from 2018 to 2020.
In 2020, she announced she was leaving BBC Radio 1, a station she had been a presenter for for two years.
Like Twins: Maya pictured with her lookalike mother
In an Instagram post she said at the time: My love, I made the very difficult decision not to continue my Radio 1 contract from June.
“As you know, I’ve been juggling and there are many exciting commitments that would mean I wouldn’t be able to devote the time it takes me to my weekly radio show.
Maya dated rapper Stormzy in 2016. They split three years later but remained friends (pictured June 2018).
“I have loved every moment of my time at Radio 1 and would like to thank the team for their hard work and friendship over the past two years. It was a JOURNEY.”
In September 2021, it was announced that Jama would be the host of Simon Cowell’s new music competition game show Walk The Line.
As for her personal life, Maya dated famous rapper Stormzy in 2016. They split three years later but remained friends.
Stormzy seemed to address rumors he’d strayed into in his subsequent music releases – with his song Lessons, which was said to be about the heartbreaking breakup, and the lyrics in which he confessed he “did the dirt” on the TV star.
However, the award-winning musician later revealed that he had not been unfaithful throughout their relationship, instead admitting to showing “disrespect” to his famous ex.
In August, she split from fiancé Ben Simmons six months after their engagement over a long-distance relationship.