What other shows did Maya Jama work on before she was hired as the host of Love Island?-Pierra Willix-Entertainment – Metro

Love Island host Maya Jama has presented countless shows (Picture: ITV)

The latest season of Love Island is officially here and, along with a new group of singles, new host Maya Jama has also jumped on board.

Taking over duties from Laura Whitmore, Maya, 28, had to keep things so strictly under wrap before the announcement that she even had to lie to her own mum to avoid the news getting out.

But once she made her debut, fans couldn’t get enough and have praised her presenting, with Maya then thanking them for the support they’ve shown.

A self-confessed ‘massive fan’ of the show, she’s also turned heads with her showstopping outfits, which has even lead those watching along at home to joke that the boys might want to couple up with her.

Before jetting off to South Africa last week, Maya appeared on This Morning and admitted she’d had lots of ‘pinch me moments’ recently.

‘I mean, everyone has their dreams, like one day I want to be on telly and I want to be doing this, but you’re like is that actually going to happen?’ she questioned.

Maya has admitted she was a ‘huge fan’ of the dating series before being hired (Picture: ITV)

‘You just work loads and one day you wake up and you’re like, I’m actually doing the things that I said I wanted to do and that’s amazing, but you never really take it in properly.’

Although some people may have heard her name because of high-profile relationships with people like Stormzy and NBA player Ben Simmons, Maya has been building up her public profile in her own right.

But just what shows did she work on before this?

Maya has been working in the media for over a decade now (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage )

What is Maya Jama’s career timeline?

Making the move from her hometown of Bristol to London when she was just 16, Maya knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in the public eye.

Setting up her own YouTube channel, soon after she also landed a job presenting for JumpOff TV.

She then moved over to MTV, where she worked as the host of MTV’s The Wrap Up, before moving on to host MTV Essentials and MTV News.

During the 2014 World Cup she also fronted a travelogue called Copa 90’s Maya’s Fifa World Cup Cities.

In 2017, she became the youngest person ever to co-host the Mobo Awards and then joined BBC Radio 1 and got her first lead presenter gig on MTV’s True Love Or True Lies.

Maya used to appear as a panellist on Loose Women (Picture: Jerry Syder)

That same year she worked on a season of the reality game show Cannonball, before going on to host the MTV show True Love or True Lies in 2018, and the first series of The Circle.

During that time she was also a panellist on Loose Women.

The following year, in 2019, she became the new host of BBC Three’s Glow Up, taking over from Stacey Dooley.

She also took over hosting Glow Up in 2019 (Picture: BBC)

She was also a guest judge on the second season of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK that year.

Although it was eventually cancelled, Maya also presented one season of Simon Cowell’s music game show Walk the Line in 2021.

But last year her biggest job to date came calling, with the offer of being the frontwoman for Love Island.

When announced as the new host Maya said she was ‘so excited to be hosting one of the nation’s favourite shows’.

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In a recent interview reflecting on her career so far, Maya said: ‘Growing up, I never saw an East African woman host a show, and no Black or mixed-race woman hosts such a big primetime TV show, other than June Sarpong.

‘This is definitely a big moment for all of us in that sense, and I hope it just opens way more doors for other people from similar backgrounds and cultures as myself,’ she told Vogue Magazine.

Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.

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