Table of Biography
Maya Jama is a British multi-talented personality. Maya Jama is a model, actress, television, and radio host. She is also an ambassador for many brands including Adidas, Aussie Hair, and Savera UK among others.
Early Life
Maya Jama was born on August 14, 1994, and she is currently 28 years old. She is originally from Bristol and later moved to London at the age of 16 to pursue a career as an actress. She attended Cotham School in Bristol. Likewise, she is of Somali descent on her father’s side and Swedish descent on her mother’s side. Moreover, her mother’s name is Sadie.
Her full name is Maya India Jama and her zodiac sign is Leo. Her parents named her after the civil-rights activist and celebrated poet Maya Angelou. It was because her mother read the famous poem, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, during her pregnancy with her. Other than this, there are no other details about her personal life, education, and family.
Caption: Maya Jama posing for a photo with her mother Sadie. Source: CelebPie
Relationship with her Father
Further, talking about her father, she opened up on a Loose Women panel about her complicated relationship with her father. He was jailed when she was only three years old. She has also made a documentary When Dad Kills: Murdered in the Family. This documentary explores how children are affected if they have a parent in jail.
She also explained how she cut ties with her dad when she was 10 because he kept “doing bad things”. Also, she previously said in a Beat London 103.6FM interview that she felt responsible for her father going to prison. It was because she told the police where he was hiding when they came to him. The documentary follows her as she decides whether or not to reconnect with her dad after all this time.
Career and Professional Life
Professionally, Maya Jama is a television and radio host known for credits like Technobabble, Rinse FM, 4Music, and, The Wrap Up. She has also worked extensively as a model and actress, aiding in her sizeable social media presence with over 1.7 million Instagram followers.
Likewise, Jama began her career as a teenager presenting the series JumpOff.TV in London. Then she gained significant popularity hosting Copa90’s Maya’s FIFA World Cup Cities, a travelogue covering the 2014 FIFA World Cup. She is also friends with YouTube star David Vujanic.
Jama has also worked for Sky on TRACE Sports and was later a weekday DJ on Rinse FM. Then in August 2014, she joined MTV as a presenter for The Wrap Up. She then co-hosted the channel’s nine-part World Cup Taxi series dedicated to the event of World Cup 2014 in Brazil.
In September 2017 and February 2018, she appeared as a guest panelist on ITV’s Loose Women. In November 2017, she also became the youngest person to co-host the MOBO Awards on Channel 5 with fellow presenter Marvin Humes. Moreover. She has also worked closely with The BRITS, hosting its 2017 Pre-BRITS Party and hosting a live Facebook stream from the Red Carpet.
The presenter also co-presented the Saturday night game show Cannonball on ITV working alongside Freddie Flintoff, Frankie Bridge, Radzi Chinyanganya, and Ryan Hand in the year 2017.
Caption: Maya Jama with Emily Atack and Joel Dommett appearing in Love Island Aftersun in July. Source: The Mirror
2018 and Beyond
In the spring of 2018, she joined the airstaff of BBC Radio 1, presenting Radio 1’s Greatest Hits on Saturdays and co-presented every Friday working alongside Scott Mills and Chris Stark.
She hosted her first ever TV show on MTV’s True Love or True Lies with Dani Dyer and The Circle on Channel 4 with Alice Levine. She later went on to co-present Stand Up to Cancer with long-standers Alan Carr and Adam Hills. Then in October 2018, she became the team captain on the ITV2 rap panel show Don’t Hate the Playaz presented by Jordan Stephens. Since then, she has appeared on shows such as A League of Their Road Trip and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year among many others.
She presented her BBC Radio 1 show on Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00 am–1:00 pm GMT. This show recently brought her to our screens with her first appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show. She appeared alongside punk legend Iggy Pop and British comedian Jack Whitehall on this show. She has also dabbled in acting and comedic roles.
Beyond Presenting/Hosting
Besides presenting, Jama has gone on to become an ambassador for lingerie brand Freya and host their podcast, When Life Gives You Melons. She also launched her collection with fashion brand Pretty Little Thing in the summer of 2018, followed by a second collection in February 2019.
Caption: Maya Jama interacting with students during Mental Health Awareness programs at school. Source: Instagram
As an ambassador for Adidas, she has appeared in the European JD Sports Christmas campaign. Likewise, she is also an ambassador for the Australian haircare brand, Aussie Hair. Further, she also appeared in a global GAP campaign and a Spring/Summer 2019 campaign for Kurt Geiger.
In 2018, Jama became an ambassador for Savera UK which operates across the United Kingdom. They worked together to provide services to individuals from black ethnic minority communities who are at risk of domestic abuse. Then in the year 2019, she donated blood for an NHS campaign. Donating blood helped her find that she had the rare and in-demand Ro blood subtype.
In November 2019, she won the People’s Choice Award for the best-dressed star, and later she opened and hosted the 2020 EE BAFTA red carpet in a 5 G-powered AR dress. As of May 2020, the BBC confirmed that Jama had left Radio 1 after two years. She decided to not renew her contract. Then in early June 2020, she began co-presenting the Saturday evening BBC One TV program Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer.
Maya Jama – Net Worth 2023
Moving on, Jama has a net worth estimation of approximately £1.5 million. However, this is not her confirmed net worth but rather a speculation.
Relationship Status
Maya Jama was romantically involved with rapper Stormzy. The duo dated in secret for over a year before they slowly began going public with their romance in the year 2016. Stormzy even dedicated his song titled Birthday Girl to her on her 22nd birthday. She said that this was a “great present because it will last forever.”
Furthermore, she even made appearances in some of her former lover’s music videos, including Big For Your Boots, and the pair would regularly make red-carpet appearances together. Moreover, before their split, Stormzy was ready to propose to his lover!
Alas, the lovers have split since then. Fans assumed about their split in June 2019. It was when they pictured her in a cab with Liam Payne. This was after a boozy night at the Serpentine summer party in Kensington Gardens. Fans saw them clambering into the backseat of a taxi as the night came to an end. However, it turns out that it was nothing more than an innocent encounter between the two stars.
Before all the fame, she was in a relationship with her first love at the age of 16 years. She was on the phone with her first love Rico Gordon. Rico had traveled from London to visit her in her native Bristol in the year 2011. However, he was caught in the crossfire between rival gangs and he instantly lost his young life during this unfortunate incident.
Caption: Maya Jama is on the red carpet with her ex-boyfriend Stormzy. Source: The Sun
Body Measurements
Maya Jama stands tall at a height of 5 feet 8 inches and weighs approximately 60 kg. Other than this, there are no details regarding her chest-waist-hip measures, dress size, shoe size, etc. Likewise, she has dark brown eyes and hair of the same color.
Maya Jama – Social Media
Talking about her social media presence, Maya Jama joined Twitter in November 2009. So far, she has earned over 532.3K followers on her @MayaJama account. Likewise, she goes by @mayajama on Instagram and her account boasts 1,590 post shares and 1.7 million followers at the time of writing this biography.
Likewise, Maya Jama created her self-titled YouTube channel “MayaJama” on February 15, 2012. As of August 2020, she has earned over 27k subscribers as of August 2020.