Maya Jama Quits Love Island After Three Years and Nine Series
Maya Jama is leaving Love Island. The presenter announced on Sunday, 8 November 2026, that she is stepping down as host of the ITV reality show after three years and nine series — ending one of the most talked-about presenting jobs in British television.
Jama, 32, shared the news on Instagram alongside a highlights reel of her time on the programme. “What an incredible era and what an unforgettable time I’ve had, it’s been far too much fun to put into words or a video..but as all good things must come to an end, it’s my time to step down as the host of my beloved Love Island,” she wrote.
She added that it was “time to throw myself into something new” — and said she had always believed “that to truly grow, you have to take a leap every now and then.”
The announcement surprised many fans. Jama had only just finished a celebrated run as a contestant on the BBC’s Celebrity Traitors, where she reached the final and won praise for showing a very different side of herself. Now, just weeks later, she has closed the chapter that made her a household name.
This article explains what Jama said, what she achieved in three years on Love Island, how she got there, and what happens next for the show.
What Maya Jama announced
Jama posted a video montage of highlights from her time on Love Island, with clips of her famous slow-motion walks into the villa, her nights around the fire pit and her live shows.
In the caption, she thanked the people who campaigned for her to get the job in the first place. “Firstly, I want to thank all of the people who rooted so hard for me to host the show in the first place. I wouldn’t change a thing,” she wrote.
She also looked back on how young she was when she started. “I started hosting the show aged 28 and during the nine incredible series met the most wonderful humans along the way. I’ve loved every slow-mo walk, fire pit and live show.”
And she made clear there was no bad feeling behind the decision. “While my own Love Island journey has come to an end, I wish the show and the team all the success in the world, I’ll be cheering you lot on from the sidelines forever,” she wrote.
ITV confirmed the departure in a statement. An ITV spokesperson said: “Maya has been a fantastic and much loved host on Love Island — we thank her for everything she has brought to the show over the last three years and wish her every continued success.”
Jama gave no details about her next project, and ITV has not yet named a replacement. The new host will be the show’s fourth, following the late Caroline Flack, Laura Whitmore and Jama herself.
Nine series in three years
Jama’s time on Love Island was short by television standards, but it was packed. She hosted nine series across three different versions of the format.
She was announced as the new host in October 2022, taking over from Laura Whitmore, and made her debut in the winter series of Love Island in early 2023 — the show’s ninth season.
From there she hosted the main UK show through season 13, which aired earlier this year. In between, she fronted the first season of Love Island Games in 2023 and three seasons of Love Island: All Stars, starting in 2024.
That adds up to five seasons of the main show, one of Games and three of All Stars — nine series in all, in just three years.
It was, as the BBC noted, the biggest presenting role of her career to date. Love Island is one of the most popular reality shows in the UK, and its host becomes the face of the summer for millions of viewers.
How a girl from Bristol got the biggest job in reality TV
Jama’s rise to the Love Island villa took almost a decade, and it started a long way from the world of reality television.
She grew up in Bristol. When she was 15, she auditioned for the cult Channel 4 drama Skins, which was set in her home city, and reached the final stage for a role. The show went on to launch the careers of actors Daniel Kaluuya and Dev Patel. Jama did not get the part, but she had caught the acting bug.
At 16, she moved to London to try to build a career in the entertainment industry. Her first presenting work was a weekly music video countdown for the production company JumpOff TV. In 2014, she joined MTV as a presenter on The Wrap Up.
Her profile grew quickly from there. In 2017, she became the youngest person ever to host the MOBO Awards, presenting the ceremony alongside Marvin Humes.
She first built her name in radio, including a role on the London station Rinse FM, before landing a presenting job on BBC Radio 1 in 2018. On television, she went on to present a string of programmes, including Channel 4’s Stand Up To Cancer and ITV2’s Don’t Hate the Playaz, before taking over as host of BBC Three’s Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star in 2021.
When ITV needed a new Love Island host in late 2022, Jama was the fans’ favourite for the job — and she got it.
The Celebrity Traitors effect
Jama’s announcement comes hot on the heels of her appearance on the BBC’s Celebrity Traitors, the celebrity version of the hit reality game show.
She appeared as a contestant in the series, which aired in October 2026, and was chosen as a traitor in the very first episode. She played alongside actor Richard E Grant, YouTuber King Kenny and comedian James Acaster, and reached the final.
She did not win the show, but the appearance was widely seen as a success. One commentator said that, despite not winning, she had emerged as a winner of sorts because she was able to present herself as “less like the presenter of Love Island and more like a genuinely versatile television star”.
The Times went further, speculating that her success on the show could mean she would be able to “get £1m per deal” from brands and broadcasters.
It is easy to see why. On Celebrity Traitors, viewers saw Jama scheming, bluffing and surviving round after round — a very different skill set from the glamorous, composed presenting they knew from the Love Island villa. For a presenter who has spent three years being identified with a single show, it was a reminder that she can do much more.
Her acting career has also been growing. She recently made her acting debut in the second series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix drama The Gentlemen, appearing alongside Theo James and Kaya Scodelario.
The rumours she denied in the summer
Jama’s exit will surprise some viewers — but the question of her future had been in the air for months.
In July 2026, she spoke to the entertainment website Deadline after rumours spread that she was leaving Love Island to host The Voice UK. She pushed back firmly at the time.
“I never decide if I’m doing the next series until the end of one. So it’s fake news that I’m leaving, but I always decide at the end of a series if I’m going to continue the next year,” she said.
In other words, she made the decision at the end of a series, exactly as she always said she would. This time, the answer was no.
What she does next is not yet known. She said only that it was time to “throw myself into something new”. Given her recent run on Celebrity Traitors and her acting debut, television presenting, drama and big commercial deals are all likely to be in the mix.
What happens to Love Island now?
Love Island will go on without her — but the timing is tight.
Love Island: All Stars is due to return for a fourth season in 2027, heading to South Africa in January. That is only about two months away, and ITV has not yet announced who will host it.
The main show’s 14th season is also expected in 2027. The new host is expected to be announced in the next few weeks, according to reports, and will be only the fourth person to hold the job since the show’s modern revival.
Whoever takes over will face a tough act to follow. Jama’s presenting style — warm, funny and calm under pressure — won over viewers who had been unsure about her at first. Her slow-motion entrances into the villa became a signature moment of every series, and her handling of the show’s dramatic recouplings and dumpings earned her a loyal following.
The wider Love Island franchise is also continuing. Love Island USA and Love Island Games are both due back in 2027, with Ariana Madix hosting both shows.
A show loved and criticised in equal measure
Love Island is one of the biggest shows on British television, but it has always divided opinion.
The format is simple: a group of single contestants, known as Islanders, are coupled together in a villa. They complete tasks, swap partners and try to find love, while viewers vote on who stays and who goes. The winning couple takes home a cash prize.
For its fans, it is joyful, funny and addictive summer television. For its critics, it is something else. Some argue the show is misogynistic, and concerns have been raised for years about the welfare of contestants after they leave the villa.
The broadcast regulator Ofcom has previously received tens of thousands of complaints about Love Island, including about alleged misogynistic and bullying behaviour by some contestants. The watchdog has previously described the show as “emotionally charged” with “confrontational scenes” that can upset some viewers.
Jama herself largely stayed out of that debate. Her job was to host the show, not to defend it — and she did it with a lightness that many viewers appreciated. Her departure removes one of the show’s most popular figures at a time when reality television is under more scrutiny than ever.
Why this exit matters
Presenters come and go, but this one matters for a few reasons.
First, three years is a long time to be the face of a single show, and Jama made the role her own. She took over from Laura Whitmore, who had herself followed the much-loved Caroline Flack, and she turned a difficult inheritance into a success. Love Island did not just survive the change of host — it thrived.
Second, the timing tells its own story. Jama is leaving at the top, fresh from a hit appearance on Celebrity Traitors and with an acting career beginning. She is not being pushed out; she is choosing to go. That is a rare and powerful position for a television presenter.
Third, the exit is a test for ITV. The channel must now find a fourth host who can hold the show together, keep the audience happy and handle the live finals. The last two changes of host were both closely watched, and this one will be too.
For Jama, the next step is unknown — and that is the point. As she put it herself: “I’ve always believed that to truly grow, you have to take a leap every now and then.”
Frequently asked questions
Why is Maya Jama leaving Love Island?
She says it is time to “throw myself into something new” and that to grow, “you have to take a leap every now and then”. She announced the decision herself on Instagram on Sunday, 8 November 2026. She thanked fans and the production team and said she would be “cheering you lot on from the sidelines forever”.
How long did Maya Jama host Love Island?
Three years, from her debut in early 2023 to her announcement in November 2026. In that time she hosted nine series: five seasons of the main UK show (seasons 9 to 13), one season of Love Island Games and three seasons of Love Island: All Stars.
Who hosted Love Island before Maya Jama?
Laura Whitmore hosted the show before Jama, and the late Caroline Flack hosted it before Whitmore. Jama was announced as Whitmore’s replacement in October 2022.
Who will replace Maya Jama as Love Island host?
ITV has not announced a replacement yet. The new host will be the show’s fourth, and is expected to be named in the coming weeks — before Love Island: All Stars returns in January 2027.
What is Maya Jama doing next?
She has not said. She recently appeared as a contestant on the BBC’s Celebrity Traitors, reaching the final, and made her acting debut in the second series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix drama The Gentlemen.
When does Love Island return?
Love Island: All Stars is due back for a fourth season in January 2027, and the main show’s 14th season is expected later in 2027.
Conclusion
Maya Jama’s exit ends a three-year run that turned her from a popular presenter into one of the biggest names in British television. She hosted nine series, won over a sceptical audience and left on her own terms, at the top of her game.
For Love Island, the challenge now is to find a new host who can do what she did. For Jama, the challenge is the opposite: to prove, as her Celebrity Traitors run suggested she can, that she is much more than the host of one show.
Whatever comes next, her message to fans was simple: she loved every minute of it, she would not change a thing — and she will be watching from the sidelines.
Sources
- BBC News (via Everywhere News) — “Maya Jama steps down as host of reality TV show Love Island” (8 November 2026): https://www.everywherenews.net/news/articles/cwzrd5jj47ndo
- Just Jared — “Maya Jama Exits ‘Love Island UK’ as Host, Releases Statement About Her Decision to Step Down” (8 November 2026): https://www.justjared.com/2026/11/08/maya-jama-exits-love-island-uk-as-host-releases-statement-about-her-decision-to-step-down/
- LADbible — “Maya Jama announces she is quitting Love Island after three years” (8 November 2026): https://www.ladbible.com/entertainment/tv/maya-jama-announces-she-is-quitting-love-island-935479-20261108
- Entertainment Now — “‘Love Island UK’ Host Maya Jama Out After 9 Seasons” (8 November 2026): https://entertainmentnow.com/reality-tv/love-island-host-maya-jama-exits/
- Media Mole — “Maya Jama quits Love Island after nine series” (8 November 2026): https://mediamole.co.uk/tv/maya-jama-quits-love-island-after-nine-series/46547/
This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.
