Last Updated: 8 October 2026
Who is Maya Jama? If that question has crossed your mind this autumn, you are in very good company. Searches asking who is Maya Jama have climbed again as BBC One viewers watch her play a Traitor in the second series of Celebrity Traitors, while ITV2 audiences know her as the calm, quick-witted host who has run the Love Island villa since 2023. Few British presenters move between radio, reality television and primetime entertainment as easily as she does.
The short answer is easy, but the full story is far more interesting. To answer who is Maya Jama properly, you have to start in Bristol, follow a teenager to London with acting dreams, pass through pirate-style radio studios and football shows, and arrive at a presenter who now fronts some of the biggest formats on British television. Let us take it step by step.
Who is Maya Jama? Maya Jama is a British television and radio presenter born on 14 August 1994 in Bristol. Of Somali and Swedish heritage, she rose through Rinse FM and BBC Radio 1 before hosting Love Island from 2023, fronting Glow Up, joining The Masked Singer panel and playing a Traitor in Celebrity Traitors in 2026.
Who Is Maya Jama? Early Life in Bristol
Anyone asking who is Maya Jama should start with her roots, because they explain a lot about her warmth on screen. Maya Indea Jama was born on 14 August 1994 in Bristol, in the south-west of England, which makes her 32 years old. She is British, with a Somali father and a Swedish mother, and she has often spoken with pride about the mix of cultures she grew up with at home.
She grew up in Bristol with her younger brother, Omar. Friends and teachers from those years tend to describe the same person viewers see now: funny, confident and happiest when she was performing for a room. School plays, family gatherings and any spare microphone became early rehearsals for a career that, at that point, still looked like a daydream rather than a plan.
That background matters because British broadcasting has not always made room for presenters who sound like her audience. A Bristol accent, a mixed heritage and a state-school upbringing were once treated as obstacles in television. In her case they became calling cards. When people ask who is Maya Jama, part of the honest answer is “a presenter who never sanded down the edges that made her distinctiveâ€.
The Move to London: Acting Dreams, Presenting Breaks
As a teenager, she made the decision that changed everything: she moved from Bristol to London to chase acting work. The capital offered auditions, agencies and opportunity, but also rent, rejection and long odds. Like many teenagers who arrive with more ambition than money, she took the jobs that were actually available and learned the industry from the inside.
Acting roles proved slow to arrive, yet cameras kept finding her. Early presenting work included online and youth-focused outlets such as JumpOff.TV and TRACE Sports, where she learned to talk to a lens as if it were a friend. Those low-budget shoots were a practical education: no autocue safety net, no second takes, just personality, preparation and nerve.
A bigger early break came in 2014, when she presented Copa90’s FIFA World Cup Cities series, travelling through football culture during the World Cup in Brazil. Football presenting suited her: she genuinely liked the game, she could interview fans without talking down to them, and she was funny on her feet. It was the first clear sign of who is Maya Jama as a broadcaster — knowledgeable enough to be trusted, light enough to be entertaining.
Who Is Maya Jama on Radio? Rinse FM to BBC Radio 1
Radio is where the answer to who is Maya Jama really takes shape. In 2014 she joined London station Rinse FM, hosting the drive-time show #DriveWithMaya until 2017. Rinse had grown out of underground music culture, and its listeners were young, loyal and quick to spot a fake. Holding their attention, day after day, taught her timing, music knowledge and the art of sounding spontaneous while staying in control.
Television kept calling alongside radio. She presented MTV’s The Wrap Up, adding pop-culture commentary to her football and music work, and built a reputation as a safe pair of hands for live youth television. Producers value that combination more than almost anything: a presenter who can be funny without the show falling apart around her.
In 2018 she stepped up to BBC Radio 1, the biggest youth station in the country, and stayed until 2020. Radio 1 confirmed what Rinse listeners already knew. A useful definition helps here: a broadcaster, in the British sense, is not simply someone who reads a script aloud. It is a presenter trusted to carry a live audience, handle surprises calmly and give a whole programme its personality. By that definition, asking who is Maya Jama by 2020 had a simple answer — a national broadcaster.
| Year | Milestone | Show or role |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Football presenting break | Copa90 FIFA World Cup Cities |
| 2014–2017 | Drive-time radio host | #DriveWithMaya, Rinse FM |
| 2017 | Reality format presenter | The Circle |
| 2018–2020 | National radio presenter | BBC Radio 1 |
| 2021–2022 | Primetime talent-show host | Glow Up |
| 2023– | Host of Love Island | Love Island, Games and All Stars |
| 2025– | Panel show regular | The Masked Singer panellist |
| 2026 | Celebrity Traitors player | Traitor, series 2, BBC One |
That timeline shows a steady climb rather than an overnight leap. Each job was slightly bigger than the last, and each audience she won — football fans, radio listeners, music television viewers — followed her to the next one.
Who Is Maya Jama as Host of Love Island?
For many viewers today, the first answer to who is Maya Jama is simply “the host of Love Islandâ€. She took over the ITV2 dating show in 2023, one of the most scrutinised jobs in British entertainment television. The host sets the tone of the whole series: part presenter, part referee, part older sister to contestants whose summer can change their lives.
Her style in the villa is noticeably different from pure script-reading. She arrives slowly, delivers bad news kindly, teases contestants without mocking them and saves her sharpest jokes for the moments that need air. That balance is harder than it looks, and it is why the franchise kept extending her role beyond the main summer series.
Alongside the flagship show, she has hosted the spin-offs Love Island Games and Love Island: All Stars, which bring returning islanders and international contestants back into the format. Fronting three versions of the same franchise in rotation makes her, in practical terms, the face of Love Island for the current generation of viewers — a useful measure of who is Maya Jama in British popular culture right now.
It is worth pausing on how demanding that job is in the social media age. Every entrance, reaction and one-liner is clipped, captioned and judged within minutes, and the host absorbs much of the audience’s frustration whenever a favourite islander is dumped. She handles that pressure with humour rather than defensiveness, joking with viewers online between episodes and treating the fandom as part of the show rather than a problem to manage. That ease with the audience she grew up inside — the group chats, the memes, the second-screen commentary — is a large part of why her casting worked from the very first series.
The Circle, Glow Up, The Masked Singer and Celebrity Traitors
Love Island is the headline, but her format history is broader. Back in 2017 she presented The Circle, the social-media reality experiment that became a cult favourite, showing early on that she understood internet culture better than most television hosts of the time. It was an early glimpse of a presenter whose career would be built as much online as on screen.
In 2021 and 2022 she fronted Glow Up, the BBC make-up competition, bringing the same mix of warmth and mischief to a very different studio. Since 2025 she has also sat on the panel of The Masked Singer, guessing the celebrities inside the costumes — a job that rewards exactly her strengths: pop-culture fluency, quick jokes and genuine delight when a reveal lands. You can read more about her career and credits in her Maya Jama biography on Wikipedia.
October 2026 brought her most talked-about role yet, and it is not a presenting job at all. In series 2 of Celebrity Traitors on BBC One, she was chosen as a Traitor alongside Richard E. Grant, and the pair recruited James Acaster to join them, while Amol Rajan became the first contestant murdered. Watching a famously friendly presenter lie sweetly at the round table has delighted viewers — and it explains the current spike in people asking who is Maya Jama. Our Celebrity Traitors 2026 guide has the full cast and the latest castle drama.
Who Is Maya Jama the Businesswoman? Sproud and MIJ Skincare
There is a second career running quietly beside the television one, and it is part of who is Maya Jama in 2026. She co-owns Sproud, the pea-protein drinks brand, stepping into the crowded wellness market not as a hired face but as an owner with a stake in the business. That distinction matters: endorsements end, ownership builds something that lasts beyond a series run.
She is also the founder of MIJ Skincare, her own beauty label, a natural extension for a presenter whose Glow Up years put her at the centre of British beauty television. Skincare is a market built on trust and routine, and her brand leans on the same quality her presenting does — straightforward, unpretentious and aimed at people who feel talked down to by traditional luxury labels.
Seen together, the two ventures show a clear strategy. Television fame is rented attention; brands are owned attention. Plenty of presenters lend their names to products for a fee. Far fewer build companies they part-own or found themselves, and that business instinct is a large part of the modern answer to who is Maya Jama.
How Old Is Maya Jama? Quick Facts and What Comes Next
Because “how old is Maya Jama†trends every time a new series starts, here are the essentials in one place. A quick-facts list settles the basics that readers search for most often:
- Full name: Maya Indea Jama
- Born: 14 August 1994, Bristol, England
- Age: 32
- Heritage: Somali father, Swedish mother
- Family: younger brother, Omar
- Famous for: hosting Love Island since 2023; BBC Radio 1; Glow Up
- Businesses: co-owner of Sproud; founder of MIJ Skincare
- Current show: Celebrity Traitors series 2, BBC One (as a Traitor)
Why does the question who is Maya Jama keep trending? Three reasons stand out. First, she appears in different worlds at once — radio listeners, Love Island fans and Traitors viewers each discover a slightly different version of her. Second, she is unusually visible for a presenter: the host, not a contestant, is the constant in every Love Island series. Third, her Traitors turn has flipped her public image in the most entertaining way, from everyone’s favourite host to a smiling castle villain, and audiences love a surprise.
There is also a discipline behind the ease. Live radio teaches a presenter to fill silence without panicking, to interview nervous guests kindly and to keep energy up at unfriendly hours. Colleagues describe preparation as her quiet habit: she arrives knowing the format, the contestants and the running order cold, which is exactly why she can afford to look relaxed when the cameras roll. That professionalism, built across Rinse FM and Radio 1, is the engine room of who is Maya Jama on screen.
Her rise also says something wider about British television. The traditional route — local radio, regional television, a slow climb over decades — has been replaced by something faster and more public, where a presenter builds an audience on social platforms long before a channel offers a primetime slot. She belongs to the first generation to complete that whole journey in public view, which is why younger presenters study her career so closely. Understanding that shift is part of understanding who is Maya Jama: not just a host who got lucky, but a case study in how modern broadcasting careers are actually built.
What comes next? Her Love Island role continues across the main series and its spin-offs, her seat on The Masked Singer panel keeps her in Saturday-night entertainment, and her businesses give her a life beyond any single contract. Whether the Traitors castle brings her victory or a banishment at the round table, this autumn has already widened her audience again.
Who is Maya Jama?
Maya Jama is a British television and radio presenter from Bristol. She hosts Love Island on ITV2, fronted the BBC make-up show Glow Up, sits on The Masked Singer panel, and in October 2026 she is playing a Traitor in series 2 of Celebrity Traitors on BBC One.
How old is Maya Jama?
Maya Jama was born on 14 August 1994 in Bristol, so she is 32 years old. She celebrated her 32nd birthday in August 2026, shortly before Celebrity Traitors series 2 began on BBC One.
Where is Maya Jama from?
Maya Jama is from Bristol in the south-west of England. She is British, with a Somali father and a Swedish mother, and she has a younger brother called Omar. She moved to London as a teenager to pursue acting and then presenting.
When did Maya Jama start hosting Love Island?
Maya Jama took over as host of Love Island in 2023. She has since fronted the main ITV2 series as well as the spin-offs Love Island Games and Love Island: All Stars, making her the face of the franchise for its current generation of viewers.
Is Maya Jama a Traitor in Celebrity Traitors?
Yes. In series 2 of Celebrity Traitors on BBC One in October 2026, Maya Jama was chosen as a Traitor alongside Richard E. Grant. The pair recruited James Acaster to join them, while Amol Rajan became the first contestant to be murdered.
What businesses does Maya Jama own?
Maya Jama co-owns Sproud, the pea-protein drinks brand, and she is the founder of MIJ Skincare, her own beauty label. She launched the businesses alongside her television career rather than simply endorsing other brands for a fee.
So, who is Maya Jama? She is the Bristol-born daughter of a Somali father and a Swedish mother who moved to London as a teenager, learned her trade on Rinse FM and Radio 1, and grew into the defining British presenter of her generation — host of Love Island, founder, co-owner and, this month, the Traitor everyone is watching. If this is your first proper introduction, browse the FAQs below and follow our Biography coverage for the next chapter of the who is Maya Jama story.
