After three years and nine series at the centre of ITV's summer fixture, Maya Jama has chosen to step away from Love Island, a programme that had come to feel like a kind of shared seasonal ritual. She made the decision public with a warm farewell to the cast, crew and viewers, framing it as a call to take a leap while she still can. It is the sort of quiet turning point that reminds us how even the most familiar faces on television are always, in their own way, moving on.
Maya Jama Steps Down as Love Island Host, Citing a Desire to 'Throw Herself Into Something New'
"Time to throw myself into something new."
Mark
Why does this one matter beyond a presenter changing jobs?
Mimi
Love Island is one of ITV's biggest shows, and the host is its public face. Jama has held that role for nine series over three years, so the question of who follows her is a real one for the programme.
Mark
She says she wants to take a leap. Is that the whole story?
Luke
It's the reason she gave, and that's all we have. Nothing in the reporting points to another cause, and nothing rules one out.
Mark
The timing seems to follow Celebrity Traitors.
Mimi
It does. She was a traitor who stayed undetected until the finale, and her profile rose with it.
Luke
Careful, though. The sequence is established, but the link isn't. Neither she nor ITV connects the two.
Mark
And the £1m per deal figure?
Luke
That's the Times speculating that she could earn it. It isn't a confirmed fee or a reported offer.
Mimi
Still, it explains why people are watching where she goes next.
Mark
Does ITV say who replaces her?
Luke
No. The statement only thanks her. A successor is simply unknown right now.
Der Puls
- Maya Jama has stepped down as host of Love Island after three years, leaving ITV with an unfilled chair at the heart of its biggest summer show.
- Her Instagram farewell, a highlights reel and a promise to keep cheering from the sidelines, landed as a gracious exit rather than a dramatic rupture.
- ITV has praised her as a fantastic and much-loved host but has not yet named who will take over the next series.
- Her strong run on BBC's Celebrity Traitors, where she hid her identity until the finale, has put her in demand, with speculation about large fees still unconfirmed.
After three years and nine series at the centre of ITV's summer fixture, Maya Jama has chosen to step away from Love Island, a programme that had come to feel like a kind of shared seasonal ritual. She made the decision public with a warm farewell to the cast, crew and viewers, framing it as a call to take a leap while she still can. It is the sort of quiet turning point that reminds us how even the most familiar faces on television are always, in their own way, moving on.
Maya Jama has told her followers she is leaving Love Island. The 32-year-old presenter announced the news on Instagram, posting a reel of highlights from her time on the ITV show and saying it was time to throw herself into something new. She has hosted for three years, taking over from Laura Whitmore when the programme returned for its ninth series in 2023.
In her message she wished the show and its team well, singling out the slow-mo walks, the fire pit and the live shows as moments she would miss. She said she had started hosting at 28 and had met some of the most wonderful people across nine series, and that she has always believed you have to take a leap every now and then.
ITV responded warmly, calling her a fantastic and much-loved host and wishing her continued success, though it has not yet said who will replace her. Her exit comes after a standout turn on the BBC's Celebrity Traitors, where she went undetected until the finale, a run that has fuelled press speculation about her earning power. What her next chapter holds remains open, for her and for the broadcaster.
Maya Jama has told her followers she is leaving Love Island. The 32-year-old presenter made the announcement on Instagram, posting a highlights reel of her time on the ITV reality show and saying it was "time to throw myself into something new." She has hosted for three years.
In her message she wished the programme and its team well. "While my own Love Island journey has come to an end," she wrote, she would be "cheering you lot on from the sidelines forever." She thanked fans and the production crew, describing an "unforgettable time," and singled out the show's rituals: "every slow-mo walk, fire pit and live show." She also said she had started hosting at 28 and had met "the most wonderful humans" across nine series. Her reason for going was framed as a matter of growth: she has always believed, she said, that you have to take a leap every now and then.
An ITV spokesperson responded in warm terms, calling her a "fantastic and much-loved host" and thanking her for what she had brought to the show over the three years. The broadcaster wished her continued success. It did not, in the statement quoted, say who would replace her.
Jama took over from Laura Whitmore when the show returned for its ninth series early in 2023. She had been touted as a possible host years earlier, after it was confirmed in 2019 that Caroline Flack would step down, but that role went to Whitmore instead.
The departure follows a high-profile turn on the BBC's Celebrity Traitors, where Jama played a traitor and went undetected until the finale. Her popularity from that series prompted speculation in the Times that she could "get £1m per deal." That figure is the newspaper's speculation, not a confirmed fee.
Her route to the Love Island job began early. Jama moved to London at 16 to pursue a career in entertainment. She started in broadcasting co-hosting Trending Live on 4Music and Cannonball on ITV, before presenting her own BBC Radio 1 show on Fridays and Saturdays. In 2017, at 23, she became the youngest person to co-host the Mobo awards on Channel 5, alongside the JLS star turned presenter Marvin Humes.
What comes next is open on both sides. ITV has yet to name a successor for the show, and Jama has not said what the "something new" will be.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
While my own Love Island journey has come to an end, I'll be cheering you lot on from the sidelines forever.— Maya Jama, Instagram
Maya has been a fantastic and much-loved host on Love Island.— ITV spokesperson
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