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Maya Jama has been confirmed as the new Love Island host.
The TV presenter, 28, will replace Laura Whitmore. She will host the first of two series filmed in South Africa, in early 2023.
Maya said in a statement: ‘I’ve always been such a massive Love Island fan and I’m so excited to be hosting one of the nation’s favourite shows! I can’t wait to get into the Villa to meet all of the Islanders.’
Fresh start: Maya Jama, 28, has been as the new Love Island presenter
Farewell: The TV presenter had been hotly-tipped to replace former host Laura Whitmore (pictured) as the host of the popular ITV2 reality dating programme
Record-breaking viewing figures saw Love Island become the most-watched series ever on ITV Hub, with more than 269 million streams this summer, attracting the biggest 16-34s audience on any channel this year. Content posted on the Love Island social accounts had a reach of almost 2 billion.
Director of Reality Programming & Acquisitions and Controller, ITV2, ItvBe & CITV, Paul Mortimer said: ‘Finding a new host to follow the wonderful Laura Whitmore was never going to be easy.
‘In Maya Jama though, we have another high profile fan of the show who’ll be a great addition to the Love Island family.
‘Cool, charming and charismatic, I speak for us all when I say Maya will also bring a unique presenting style to the show, as did Laura and, of course, the very much missed Caroline Flack. We’re very pleased to have her on board.’
Laura announced in August this year that she was quitting Love Island and will not be returning to host the next series of the ITV2 dating show.
The Irish presenter, 37, joined the show back in 2020 and has hosted the hugely popular reality programme and its spin-off Aftersun for three series.
Laura – who is mother to a 16-month-old daughter with Love Island voiceover star Iain Sterling – took to her Instagram at the time to confirm she would be leaving, saying she has found flying back and forth from the villa ‘very difficult’.
Favourite: An ITV source said: ‘Maya was ITV’s dream option. She is fun, beautiful and a brilliant presenter’
The broadcaster’s stint on the ITV2 dating show received mixed reviews this season; some viewers praised her handling of sensitive topics, while others criticised her for ‘encouraging slut-shaming’ in a segment which sparked 427 Ofcom complaints.
Laura replaced Caroline Flack as the presenter of Love Island when she stood down in December 2019. Caroline tragically took her own life aged 40 in February 2020.
In her statement, Laura said she was only planning to fill in for Caroline for one series, emotionally saying that she hope she did her late friend ‘proud’.
Exit: Laura announced in August this year that she was quitting Love Island and would not be returning to host the next series of the ITV2 dating show
Leaving: She took to her Instagram to confirm that she would be leaving the show, saying she has found flying back and forth from the villa ‘very difficult’
Taking to Instagram, Laura said: ‘Some news! I won’t be hosting the next series of Love island.
‘There are certain elements of the show I’ve found very difficult that cannot be changed some due to the format, including the flying back and forth to South Africa along with my new conflicting projects.
‘I wish it was still possible but know you’ll be in safe hands. I was only planning to fill in for Caroline for a series and it turned into 3 series. I hope I did you proud Caroline.’
Host: The Irish presenter, 37, joined Love Island back in 2020 and has hosted the hugely popular reality TV show for three series
Speaking of Laura’s exit, an ITV spokesperson said at the time: ‘Laura has been a fantastic host across the last three series of the show.
‘We are so grateful for everything she has brought to the programme but understand and respect her decision, and we look forward to working with her on upcoming ITV projects.’
Maya has presenting experience on shows such as Walk the Line and Soccer Aid while Vick has fronted spin off shows for The X Factor, The Voice and I’m A Celebrity.
Laura’s exit from the show came after she opened up about the ‘exhausting’ and ‘tough’ aspects of hosting Love Island.
She told the Distraction Pieces podcast: ‘With stuff with Love Island, it’s just a bit exhausting sometimes because some of the stuff is just mental.
‘As a host, this takes up not a huge amount of my time compared to my other work. It’s over eight weeks.
‘The host only comes on three or four times, it’s always been the way, but it gets the most attention. It’s a bit exhausting and it’s tough.’
Bye: Irish TV star Laura (pictured) revealed her shock decision to quit her job after three years this summer – blaming, in part, the format of the show for her career choice
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