Maya Jama

Maya Indea Jama is a British broadcaster and media personality. She rose to prominence through her early work as a presenter on MTV and BBC Radio 1. She is widely known for hosting major television programmes, including the reality competition series The Circle, Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star, and the dating reality show Love Island. Additionally, Jama joined the panel of The Masked Singer as a panellist in 2025.

Jama was born and raised in Bristol, where she attended Cotham School. She is of Somali descent on her father's side and Scottish and Swedish descent on her mother's side. She was named after the American author and poet Maya Angelou and was raised alongside a brother. Her father served time in prison for violence-related crimes during most of her childhood. At age 12, Jama chose to stop visiting him, though she later reconnected with him in 2017 while working on the documentary When Dads Kill.

In 2012, Jama relocated to London to pursue a media career covering acting, television presenting, and fashion modelling. Her early presenting work included hosting music video countdowns on JumpOff.TV and working with TRACE Sports and Copa90. She joined MTV in August 2014 as the host of The Wrap Up. In 2017, she co-presented the game show Cannonball on ITV and became the youngest person to co-host the MOBO Awards.

Jama's television profile expanded as she co-hosted the first series of The Circle in 2018, Stand Up to Cancer, and served as a team captain on the rap panel show Don't Hate the Playaz. She later presented BBC One's Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer, took over as host of Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star in 2021, and hosted the music competition Walk The Line. In October 2022, she was named the host of Love Island, later hosting its spin-off Love Island Games. She also co-hosted the 2024 BRIT Awards.

Alongside her television roles, Jama was an active radio broadcaster. She hosted the drive-time show #DriveWithMaya on Rinse FM from 2014 to 2017. Joining BBC Radio 1 in 2018, she co-presented Radio 1's Greatest Hits and hosted her self-titled show, Maya Jama, until departing the network in May 2020. In 2017, she began hosting the podcast When Life Gives You Melons, interviewing various female guests.

Outside of broadcasting, Jama has worked on commercial and entrepreneurial ventures. She launched clothing collections with PrettyLittleThing in 2018 and 2019, and introduced her own face and eye mask brand, MIJ Masks, in 2020. She has served as an ambassador for organisations and brands including Savera UK, Adidas, and Aussie. Jama lives in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, and is a football fan who supports Bristol Rovers and West Ham United.